Description: The Director of Kitchen Innovation oversees best practice and resource acquisition and/or creation of operational strategy for kitchens, enterprises, and feeding operations within the Catalyst Kitchens network. This position is responsible for working with our member kitchens to expand network resources, especially foodservice business and operations plans and practices, in order to organize, distribute, and create technical assistance packages, trainings and workshops using those materials. This position will also collect from members best practices related to integrating training programs into kitchen operations, integrating fundraising with social enterprises and hunger relief operations, and collaborate with other Catalyst Kitchens staff on the storage and use of those resources. The Director of Kitchen Innovation will also conduct research with member programs and their partners to understand operational needs and enterprise design, working across member organizations to design initiatives and engage staff to maximize peer learning and knowledge sharing. The Director of Kitchen Innovation works nationally to recruit employer partners and foodservice corporations/businesses to enhance membership value, advocate for the mission of Catalyst Kitchens and its members, and ensure the programmatic strength of the network.

Who You Are: You are an experienced chef or culinary director, potentially across multiple areas, including social enterprise, business innovation, and/or hunger relief. You will drive the organization’s social enterprise and hunger relief growth and ability to aid members in building better kitchens and culinary operations. You have a strong passion for the dual models of hunger relief and social enterprise. Ideally, you may also have experience with teaching kitchens and on-the-job training or workforce development. You are well-versed in business planning and capacity-building, highly energetic, and an intellectually courageous person. This isn’t your first time—you know how to skillfully build culinary operations as well as strategically develop business and operational plans. You will also help to maintain the systems and activities related to an online resource library and professional communities of practice for our network members.

• Writing: Able to convey ideas and facts using language that the reader and audience will best understand and relate to utilizing Catalyst Kitchens’ most up-to-date language and metrics, especially for business plan writing and professional development workshops
• Decision Making & Judgment: Makes timely and informed decisions in choosing projects and relationships to pursue that take into account the relevant facts, goals, constraints, and risks
• Research: Identifies, collects, and organizes the necessary data for analysis and decision-making on hunger relief and social enterprise operations, especially regarding growth and performance over time
• Data Fluency: Understands how to organize, interpret, and work with data from hunger relief and business operations to use trends to find innovative practices to capture and promote
• Accountability & Dependability: Takes personal responsibility for the quality and timeliness of work and achieves results with little oversight
• Attention to Detail: Highly organized, diligently attends to detail and pursues quality in accomplishing work
• Development & Continual Learning: Displays an ongoing commitment to learning and self-improvement through different opportunities
• Ethics & Integrity: Earns others' trust and respect through consistent honesty and professionalism in all interactions, whether it’d be internal or external stakeholders
• Influencing Others: Influences others to be excited and committed to furthering the organization's mission, values, and objectives
• Relationship Building: Builds working relationships (internally and externally) characterized by a high level of acceptance, cooperation, and mutual respect

Primary Responsibilities:

• Works with leadership and members to identify high-performing kitchen models and operational resources and leverage collective impact to package, train, and deliver technical support on those resources to bolster Catalyst Kitchens member programs
• Creates annual plan for member engagement with technical support services, including publishing content produced with knowledge partners and hosting complex events, including member summits & webinars delivered in-person & remotely
• Facilitates multi-stakeholder groups, including the committees of the Catalyst Kitchens Member Leadership Board and working sub-committees
• Leads efforts to cultivate and expand national partnerships with relevant content/knowledge partners, and peer affiliate networks in alignment with strategic priorities, e.g., Feeding America, REDF, National Restaurant Association, Social Enterprise Alliance, Fair Kitchens, America Forward, etc..
• Identifies opportunities for member network innovation by cultivating relationships with peer organizations in the social enterprise and hunger relief arenas
• Along with the Executive Director, leads.....

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