Community Outreach Operator, Local Food Switchboard

Local Food Switchboard Operator

The Maine Food Convergence Project (MFCP) works to build a coordinated, collaborative local food system that supports the well-being of people, communities, and the planet, with a focus on social and racial equity and environmental sustainability. Partnered with seven food system networks across Maine, we create spaces where people working on food, land, and climate issues can build relationships, explore collaborative solutions to complex challenges, and turn shared priorities into collective action. We work to grow community and deepen relationships so that, together, we can create more meaningful and lasting change.

MFCP is a fiscally sponsored project of Third Sector New England, Inc. (TSNE).

Hosted by MFCP and funded collaboratively by Maine foundations and federal grants, the Local Food Switchboard serves as a central hub for coordinating logistics services within Maine's local food system. Specifically, it acts as a "virtual assistant" to the School Food Marketplace (SFM). The Switchboard streamlines local food procurement, connects various interest-holders in Maine's food system, and increases local food sourcing in schools and beyond. It provides detailed information on a) food products and businesses, b) processing, distribution and other supply web infrastructure, and c) food system resources such as financial and technical assistance.

Besides increasing nourishing local food in schools, a key goal of the Switchboard is to build stronger connections with food producers and harvesters who face systemic barriers to capital and market access due to racism, transphobia, ableism, classism, and immigration status. By fostering collaboration, we aim to support their infrastructure, equipment, market access, and resource needs, creating a more equitable and resilient food system.

MFCP seeks a Local Food Switchboard Operator focused on Community Outreach, bringing deep local relationships, food-system knowledge, and community-based expertise to the activation and development of the Switchboard within a defined region, community, or food system sector of Maine.

Community Outreach Operators are locally embedded leaders who strengthen and activate the Local Food Switchboard through deep relationship-building, coordination, matchmaking, and real-world application. While the Switchboard's central team stewards the platform and statewide strategy, Community Outreach Operators bring a place-based perspective to understanding and responding to the realities of producers, institutions, and communities on the ground.

The role is particularly focused on strengthening farm- and sea-to-institution connections, especially with K12 public schools; supporting effective use of food-system infrastructure; and bridging gaps between supply-chain actors through both human coordination and effective use of the Switchboard platform. Given the Switchboard's central role in supporting the School Food Marketplace, experience within school nutrition departments or school nutrition markets is especially valuable to this role.

This is a temporary position that is funded by the Quimby Family Foundation and the USDA/Farm to School 2-year Grant that ends June 30, 2028. Renewal is contingent upon continued funding.

Essential Functions

• Serve as a key community and/or sectoral connector among producers, fishers, processors, distributors, institutional buyers, and other food-system interest-holders, with particular attention to K12 public school markets.
• Draw on knowledge of school nutrition operations procurement cycles, budgets, kitchen capacity, and USDA meal program requirements to help school nutrition professionals identify and act on local sourcing opportunities.
• Facilitate relationships and connections across the supply chain that can help move local products into institutional markets.
• Support coordination related to aggregation, seasonality, storage, processing, transportation, and distribution.
• Identify barriers related to regulations, procurement requirements, infrastructure, market access, or other system conditions and help interest-holders identify potential pathways forward.

Relationship Building & Community Engagement

• Develop and maintain trust-based relationships with regional food-system interest-holders, including small and mid-sized food businesses.
• Engage directly with producers, fishers, processors, distributors, institutional buyers, and community-based businesses to understand needs, challenges, and opportunities, particularly with rural, Wabanaki, immigrant, Black and Brown, Amish, and/or other communities that have historically been underrepresented in food-system decision-making.
• Strengthen connections with Farm & Sea to School networks and other relevant regional and statewide partners.
• Participate in regional meetings, events, and networks where relationship-building and coordination can advance the Switchboard's goals.
• Bring community and regional perspectives into the ongoing development of the Switchboard model.

Platform Activation & User Support

• Support regional interest-holders in creating and maintaining Switchboard profiles, listings, and other relevant information.
• Help interest-holders translate real-world needs into effective use of the platform, including listings, searches, resource connections, and matchmaking.
• Provide onboarding and orientation to the Switchboard for regional users.
• Offer user support that is responsive to varying levels of digital access, technological familiarity, and language access.
• Identify barriers to platform usability and accessibility and communicate recommendations for improvement to the MFCP team.

Data, Insights & System Feedback

• Maintain appropriate records of coordination activities, connections, referrals, and emerging regional needs.
• Contribute information, stories, and observations that demonstrate the real-world impacts of the Switchboard and illuminate gaps within the food system.
• Identify patterns related to supply, demand, infrastructure utilization, procurement, and market access.
• Share relevant insights and recommendations with MFCP to inform platform improvements and program strategy.

Collaboration & Learning

• Coordinate regularly with MFCP staff and other Switchboard team members to support alignment across regional and statewide efforts.
• Participate in team learning, feedback, and reflection opportunities related to the ongoing development of the Switchboard model.
• Share regional insights that may inform policy, investment, infrastructure development, and program design.

Sponsorship Outreach

• Assist with outreach to business and organizational sponsors to sustain the project.

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below. We strongly encourage applicants with lived experience and diverse backgrounds to apply.

Required or strongly preferred experience includes:

• Expertise in value chain coordination
• Experience developing deep connections within food production, fisheries/aquaculture, processing, distribution, or related food-system sectors.
• Experience working within school nutrition departments, school nutrition markets, or institutional food procurement for example, as a school nutrition director, food service staff, distributor serving schools, or Farm & Sea to School partner is strongly preferred.
• Experience living and/or working in northern, central, or eastern Maine.
• Ability to build and foster relationships within rural, Wabanaki, immigrant, Black and Brown, Amish, and/or other communities that have historically been underrepresented in food-system decision-making.
• Familiarity with regulatory environments related to food production, processing, distribution, and/or institutional procurement, particularly USDA Child Nutrition Program requirements.
• Strong relationship-building skills and ability to work across diverse sectors and communities.
• Experience with outreach, facilitation, community-based work, or network development.
• Ability to navigate complex systems and translate between different interest-holders, such as producers and institutions.
• Strong organizational and communication skills; ability to manage multiple relationships and priorities.

Additional (not required but valuable):

• Experience with Farm & Sea to School programs specifically.
• Experience improving accessibility, including language access and inclusive engagement practices.
• Experience with food-system infrastructure, aggregation, distribution, processing, storage, or logistics.
• Comfort supporting people with varying levels of technology access and familiarity.
• Interest in systems change and collaborative problem-solving.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

• Handle, or feel objects, tools or controls;
• Reach; traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); occasionally ascend/descend; and position self (to) move;
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds;
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
• Job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards;
• Likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight;