Project Manager - Community Initiatives, Reforming the School Food Experience (San Francisco, CA)

Reforming the School Food Experience (a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives)

Reforming the School Food Experience is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, and the
project’s mission is to implement a vision to comprehensively reform the school food experience in San
Francisco’s public schools in a way that is self-sustaining in the long term, reflects and honors existing
SFUSD labor agreements, and meets the needs and desires of today’s students.
The vision and specific recommendations that will be implemented by the project called Reforming the
School Food Experience were developed by SFUSD and the innovation firm IDEO, and they are outlined
in a book called “SFUSD’s Future Dinning Experience.” This book, which is available on the web at
www.sfusd.edu/nutrition) captures the vision, recommendations, and an implementation roadmap for
reforming SFUSD’s school food experience.

Position Summary 

We are seeking a Project Manager to be an integral part of the team focused on bringing the vision for
SFUSD’s Future Dining Experience to fruition. The person will have the ability to lead work and achieve
results in a resource constrained environment, and jump from a community engagement conversation
one minute to a detailed operations one the next – juggling multiple, complex projects at once.
The person who fills this role will work with an internal team at SFUSD to lead the day-to-day work
associated with implementing the specific roadmap for SFUSD’s Future Dining Experience.
This person will be an employee of Community Initiatives Reforming the School Food Experience project,
and will report to SFUSD’s Director of Student Nutrition Services. It is a full time position with an annual
salary range of $70,000 to $83,000 plus benefits.

Key Activities 

This person will work directly with SFUSD’s Student Nutrition Services (SNS) team and with the
leadership of SFUSD’s Policy and Operations Division.

• Doing great work. Further developing SNS’s capacity to comprehensively reform the school food
experience in San Francisco’s public schools.
• Taking the lead. Planning and delivering on projects and leading select projects were appropriate.
For example: designing, implementing, and evaluating pilots to determine whether and how specific
ideas might be brought to scale; sourcing mobile carts and vending machines; finding warehouse
space and facilitating any retrofits required to meet SFUSD’s needs; determining how many regional
kitchens we should have and where they should be located.
• Building networks. Creating a robust network inside and outside of SFUSD and initiating and
managing partnerships that will help build and support SFUSD’s Future Dining Experience. For
example, forming partnerships with local food incubator programs and chefs.

Skills Required 

We want someone who is curious, inspired, and inspiring, who will bring energy and enthusiasm to the
process and the team. Our work environment appeals to self-directed, flexible team players that have
great interpersonal skills, learn quickly, and relish the opportunity to translate challenges and questions
into opportunities for positive change.

The ideal candidate has a background managing large scale innovative projects. Knowledge of school
food, or large public food service operations, is preferred.

Other key characteristics should include:
• The ability to quickly get up to speed with the goals and be proactive about meeting those goals
• The ability to plan, act, assess, reflect and adjust as needed to successfully to achieve results
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, along with strong presentation skills
• Experience designing, implementing and evaluating pilots
• Experience gathering input and synthesizing it into meaningful, relevant communications
• The ability to multi-task and work efficiently and effectively in an ambiguous and resource
constrained environment
• An ease and comfort in working in collaborative teams and developing connections with people inside and outside SFUSD
• Strategic and judicious decision-making with diligent, consistent follow-through and attention to detail

Experience and Training 

Minimum Qualifications 

Possession of a Baccalaureate Degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in
a subject area closely related to this role.
Three years’ work experience performing professional level project management.

Preferred Qualifications 

Master’s Degree with major course work in public or business administration, project management,
change management, nutrition, or other subject areas closely related to this role.
Ability to speak Chinese, Spanish, or Tagalog a plus.

To Apply 

If you are interested in applying to this position, we would like to see your response to the following two
questions. Applications that include artifacts showcasing your past work are appreciated.

1. What are the most exciting opportunities you see in this role? Why?
(Please limit your response to 300 words or less).

2. The full plan for SFUSD’s future dining experience, along with an Executive Summary, is available
on the web at www.sfusd.edu/nutrition. During the next year we want to make progress with
Phase 1 of the implementation plan (i.e., building capacity). In particular, we are interested in
designing and evaluating the pilots noted in the Executive Summary. How might you approach
this work? How might you go about your first month?

By January 13, 2014, submit your application (including resume, responses to the questions, and
optional portfolio) to:

reickerz@sfusd.edu
Zetta Reicker
Director, Student Nutrition Services
SFUSD
841 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94109