Food Sustainability and Marketing Mgr

The Food Sustainability and Marketing Manager at Eatn Park Hospitality Group will advance climate commitment goals at Bard College through education and program development. This role involves driving food sustainability initiatives, marketing strategies, and community engagement. Responsibilities include chairing the BardEATS program, enhancing local food sourcing, and promoting sustainability practices. This position is based in Waterville, ME, and is not a remote job.
Parkhurst Dining is a family-owned and operated company that provides culinary, dining and catering services to over 80 organizations and universities. We believe that food is best when made from scratch with locally sourced ingredients, prepared with heart, & served with a smile. This culinary experience is uniquely and authentically Parkhurst. If you've been searching for a place where you can do what you love, love what you do and have room to grow, consider joining our team! Parkhurst Dining is part of Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, a regional portfolio of foodservice concepts serving 50 million guests annually in its restaurants, on college and corporate campuses and in every state through our online store.

?Title: Manager, Food Sustainability & Marketing Reports To: General Manager

Department / Location: Parkhurst Job Code: 112

JOB SUMMARY

The Food Sustainability Manager will work to advance Bard College's climate commitment goals both on campus and across institutions through education, advocacy, program development and frameworks such as the Know Your Source and Forged Partner programs. The Food Sustainability Manager will drive food sustainability, equity and inclusion initiatives within Bard Dining, Bard College and across partner institutions such as Simon's Rock. This position also includes some Marketing accountabilities, including planning, brand activation and strategy, and engagement with clients, guests, and the community as it relates to events and marketing initiatives. This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified candidate to contribute to the growing sustainable food movement in higher education.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Sustainability
• Chairs BardEATS program, with a student co-chair, and functions as the liaison between Bard Dining and students, staff and faculty and participates in the Council of Inclusive Excellence working group as a representative of BardEATS, Bard Office of Sustainability and Bard Dining.
• Use the KYS Report to leverage our commitment to purchasing local and assist the BardEATS representative on populating the Food portion of and AASHE STARS.
• Works with corporate sustainability and procurement manager and campus purchasing managers to increase Know Your Source and Forged Partner purchases and other sustainable food certifications that will forward institutional climate commitment efforts, including to decrease landfill waste, increase recycling and the composting of pre and post consumer products, and keeps within the tenets in the annual Race to Zero Waste.
• Works with corporate sustainability and procurement manager and local vendors to expand, track, and raise awareness about current sustainability practices, programs, and product procurement with the ultimate goal of increasing local, community based, and forged partner certified food purchases at all campus and institutional dining establishments, including catering.
• Develops short- and long-term goals that support Bard College's climate commitment.
• Leads the media and messaging content development with a sustainability lens
• Supervises the Carbon Foodprint program that raises awareness around the importance of local, low carbon and sustainable food choices.
• Partners with the Corporate Support Center to develop sustainability and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and collaborative programming around sustainable food systems in higher education, as well as work to support DEI within the workplace, purchasing and menu curation.
• Works to recruit vendors and student sustainability employees from underrepresented groups (above and beyond the institution-wide DEI and equal opportunity employment efforts).
• Ensures that all sustainability employees complete formal DEI training (e.g., anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion training).
• Becomes a member of the leadership council for Farm to Institution New York State.
• Presents at a minimum of one sustainability conference or webinar per year.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Marketing & Engagement
• Supports account leaders in developing their unit-level marketing plan to maintain alignment with brand standards. Uses insights from industry trends and feedback data to influence decisions that will drive targeted outcomes.
• Develops physical and digital marketing collateral and communications materials that are consistent with brand standards and address target audience demands.
• Leads execution of on-site marketing, advertising, and promotional activities (guerilla marketing, pop-ups, demos, tastings, etc.) that are within budget, reach the target audience, and generate demand.
• Fosters relationships with on-site groups/student organizations and hosts regular feedback events to obtain insights about their dining experience to inform brand activation strategies that will reach ROI and engagement targets.
• Initiates and maintains relationships with local vendors, venues, and community organizations.
• Plans and executes account's participation in community events and measures ROI, to increase brand awareness, auxiliary sales, and strengthen brand perception.
• Connects business development and new vendor opportunities to functional corporate owner.
• Partners with the Field Marketing team to support and direct the work of Marketing interns.

Minimum Requirements
• Bachelor's degree in Sustainability, Environmental Policy, Marketing, Business Management, Hospitality, or Hotel Management preferred.
• Three or more years of experience in local and sustainable food related issues with demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects in a faced-paced environment.
• Preferred experience with contract dining and/or designing and executing of successful guest-facing marketing programs and measure campaign outcomes for insights.
• Interpersonal skills which support the ability to influence without direct authority, holding standards of new programs high and ensuring accountability across initiatives and programs.
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to address content across stakeholders of all backgrounds and professional levels.
• Detail oriented with strong writing skills to create and steward brand materials and voice
• Familiarity with local and sustainable food systems
• Professional image and appearance
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Demonstrated urgency and responsiveness to requests; demonstrated level-headedness in crisis response
• Confident with an outgoing, upbeat, friendly personality
• A demonstrated team player
• DEI trained (anti-oppression, anti-racism, and/or social inclusion training).
• Must be able to perform occasional weekend work during special events or openings
• Must be able to travel, up to 25% within Hudson Valley area and beyond.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:
• Lifting objects up to 40 lbs.
• Bending, reaching, and grasping.
• Walking long distances.
• Exposure to high noise, heat and humidity levels.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and physical demands of the job.

Eat'n Park Hospitality Group provides equal employment opportunities to all team members and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

The annual salary range for this position is $57,200 to $78,650 based on experience.

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