Community Outreach Manager, United States

Join the Community Outreach Response Team

Be First to Feed - Serving meals with Purpose in Times of Need.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is seeking an emotionally intelligent, tenacious, and innovative Community Outreach Manager to lead frontline operations, rapidly build and manage dynamic field teams, and ensure food aid swiftly reaches disaster-affected communities - all in alignment with WCK’s mission, vision and values.

The ideal candidate is a resourceful, compassionate leader, facilitator, and collaborative team player who thrives in fast-paced, unpredictable environments. You should excel at building trust with communities in crisis, leading teams under pressure, synthesizing large volumes of information into actionable steps while adapting to complex, evolving situations. Your role includes:

• Rapid Community Assessment: Be first on the ground to quickly understand the local context, identify urgent food needs, and establish connections within affected communities.
• Rapid Team Building and Management: Recruit, train, and lead dynamic, locally driven community outreach teams to deliver efficient, effective food aid in fast-changing environments.
• Culturally Competent Outreach & Relationship Building: Lead with empathy and cultural awareness, fostering strong relationships across diverse communities to ensure food aid is aligned with cultural practices, community needs, and delivered with dignity.
• Problem Solving in Crisis: Navigate post-disaster environments, creatively overcome obstacles and work with other response units to expediently support communities with food aid— always guided by WCK’s North Star values.
• Bi/Multilingual Communication: Lead inclusive communication, coordination, and culturally aligned community engagement across diverse populations.

This position reports directly to the Response Director during activations, and the Unit Director while off activation.

Target Start Date: December 1, 2026

Preferred Location(s): West, Central & South. Must live within one (1) hour of an international airport.

• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL

Key Responsibilities:

Personnel Management and Training

• Recruit, train, and motivate diverse community outreach teams on activation, ensuring a high-performance culture aligned with WCK’s mission and values.
• Provide leadership, mentorship, training and support to team members, promoting a culture of urgency, accountability, adaptability and continuous learning within the team.
• Address personnel issues on activations in real time, and provide regular performance feedback on Corps members.
• Support the recruitment of Corps members, and manage personnel effectively on the ground to foster growth and ensure a diverse pipeline of activation leadership.
• Identify professional development needs and gaps in team capabilities to arrange for appropriate training, and provide this feedback to relevant stakeholders for implementation.

Activation Management

• Respond within four (4) hours notice to a disaster area to act as Community Outreach Manager, managing relief operations on the ground, or in rare cases, remotely.
• Lead and manage field teams specializing in community outreach and engagement. Ensure strategic and streamlined implementation of relief activities on the ground, operationalizing WCK’s North Star values.
• Design and implement response strategies in the field that are adaptable and robust enough to function in high-stress, dynamic environments affected by natural disasters or conflicts.
• Recruit, onboard, train and manage community outreach teams, including local hires and Corps members in the field.
• Consult on the scope of the response, and manage or implement community outreach operations.
• Provide regular updates on community outreach operations to the Response Director to ensure ongoing, transparent information sharing across the organization.
• Collaborate with all WCK departments on the ground, or remotely to support the needs of the activation.
• Ensure smooth transitions and complete handovers with other Activation Managers, and between Response Corps team members when rotating field teams through phases of the activation.
• Complete the After-Action Report process immediately following activation wind-down, collating and drawing learnings for process improvement.

Community Outreach

• Rapidly scout community needs in a disaster area to design the scope of the response, and ensure that food reaches beneficiaries as quickly and effectively as possible.
• Foster a collaborative environment with local populations; establish and nurture relationships with community members throughout the activation.
• Gather feedback from beneficiaries to understand evolving needs and changes on the ground. Utilize findings to recommend the scope of WCK support, including potential scale up or wind down strategies.
• Build and maintain relationships with community members to understand overall food needs, feedback on WCK performance, and other concurrent mass-feeding activities.

Budgeting and Logistics

• Work with the finance team and Response Director to share cost projections for community outreach operations, focusing on meal production and logistical needs.
• Collaborate with the procurement and logistics team to source materials and supplies efficiently and ensure timely delivery to affected areas.

Community and Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong relationships with local communities first.
• Ensure the teams conduct outreach and engagement activities that contribute to WCK’s reputation as an effective, compassionate, and reliable relief organization.
• Represent WCK in the field, acting as an ambassador to beneficiaries, partners, and the media, as required.

• Ability to spend up to 70% of the time in the field. The typical duration of an activation is four (4) weeks, though timelines could be longer.
• Must live within one (1) hour of an international airport or be willing to relocate.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to remote and potentially hazardous locations within four hours notice.
• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent preferred, or 5+ years of experience in management roles, preferably in fast paced, ever changing environments; including military, emergency response, culinary, humanitarian or event management settings.
• Experience leading, training and coaching large teams in challenging and rapidly changing environments.
• Ability to synthesize a large volume of information into actionable steps under pressure.
• Ability to work independently with minimal infrastructure and resources.
• Willingness to work in challenging environments with austere living conditions. For example, responders may not have access to running water, communications, or electricity and they may have to sleep outdoors and use bucket toilets.
• Ability to work well with others and take directions to protect yourself and the team.
• Demonstrated negotiation and diplomacy skills in complex and potentially volatile situations.
• Exhibit a calm and composed demeanor during crisis situations, with the capacity to make sound decisions under pressure.
• Be physically fit and have the stamina to work long hours doing physically demanding tasks in varying and potentially extreme climates.
• Strong mental resilience and emotional intelligence to cope with the stressors associated with working in conflict environments.
• Display cultural awareness and sensitivity, recognizing and respecting diverse backgrounds that allow us to positively work with local communities.
• Fluency in English is required; proficiency in additional languages relevant to common disaster or conflict zones is highly desirable (Spanish, French, Portuguese).
• Must have a valid Driver's License.
• Must have a valid Passport.

By joining us as a Community Outreach Manager, you will dedicate your professional expertise to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected by crises. Your leadership will ensure that our response efforts are prompt, strategic, and compassionate, delivering hope and essential aid at a time when it is needed most.

Duration : The Community Outreach Manager is a two (2) year contract term position with the opportunity for renewal, offering a unique chance to lead and help shape WCK's responses.

References and Background Checks To help ensure the safety of our communities and our teams, our selection process will include reference and background checks, subject to any legal or regulatory requirements.

Equal Opportunity WCK is an equal opportunity employer committed to inclusion and diversity and to ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other protected characteristics.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment at this time.

E-Verify For US based employment, WCK participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9. Please view the E-Verify posters here with important information.

Para empleados en los EEUU, WCK participa en E-Verify y proporcionará al gobierno federal la información de su Formulario I-9 para confirmar que usted está autorizado para trabajar en los EE.UU.. Los empleadores sólo pueden utilizar E-Verify una vez que usted haya aceptado una oferta de trabajo y completado el Formulario I-9. Haz clic aquí para ver los carteles de E-Verify con información importante.

No recruiters or agencies, please.

Salary Range: $80,000 - $100,000 USD, depends on experience

Why Join Us?

Innovative Environment : Be part of a forward-thinking team that values creativity and innovation.
Global Impact: Your work will have a direct impact on building a diverse and talented global team.
Professional Growth: Opportunities for continuous learning and career development.
Dynamic Team: Work with a supportive and enthusiastic team that values collaboration and fun.

WCK is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Join us in being a part of WCK's global talent journey!