About Us: Food Connect is building the infrastructure that ensures good food reaches people who need it
most: efficiently, equitably, and with dignity. Food Connect is a multi-market nonprofit technology
and logistics organization operating at the intersection of food access, health, and last-mile
infrastructure. As we scale, we are transitioning from startup systems to institutionalized
leadership infrastructure.
Now, we are intentionally strengthening the systems, leadership infrastructure, and cultural
foundation that will support the next phase of scale. This is an opportunity to help shape the
backbone of an organization that is redefining how food systems work.
The VP of People Operations & Culture will play a central role in building a thriving workplace
culture, strengthen the people and governance systems to support the work, and enhance
performance management systems and processes required to move from entrepreneurial
growth to institutional excellence.
Location: Hybrid, 70% remote with 30% in-person meetings/travel
Position Type: Full-time, Salaried
Salary Range: $95,000 - $125,000
Reports To: Chief Executive Officer
Role Overview
The VP of People Operations & Culture is the architect of Food Connect’s people infrastructure.
This executive leader partners with the CEO, leadership team, and Board to:
Translate bold vision into structured execution
Build performance systems that elevate excellence
Create processes and decision-making clarity across departments
Strengthen trust, transparency, and communication
Ensure governance and compliance
If you are someone who thrives at the intersection of systems, leadership psychology, and
mission-driven growth, and you are excited by the challenge of transforming a scaling nonprofit
into a high-performing institution, this role is the right fit.
You will help design the structure that allows Food Connect to scale responsibly, sustainably,
and boldly. This role is responsible for designing and strengthening how Food Connect’s people,
leaders, and teams operate as the organization scales.
This role partners closely with the CEO and team to ensure that organizational structure,
leadership capacity, performance systems, culture, and people analytics are aligned with Food
Connect’s mission and growth goals.
Core Responsibilities
Strategic Partner to the CEO
Serve as a trusted thought partner to the CEO on organizational design, leadership
effectiveness, and scaling decisions.
Translate strategic priorities into clear roles, accountability, and decision structure
Identify people and organizational risks early including capacity gaps, leadership strain,
and burnout.
Support leadership planning with data driven insights
Organizational Design and Effectiveness
Design and evolve org structure, role clarity, and reporting models
Implement RACI or similar accountability frameworks across departments
Partner with team leaders to ensure clean handoffs between execution and people
systems
Support restructuring, growth phases, and change initiatives with clear communication
and transition planning
Culture and change management
Translate Food Connect’s values into clear behaviors and expectations
Ensure culture shows up in how leaders lead, teams communicate, and decisions
are made
Lead change management efforts during periods of growth or transition
Monitor culture health and intervene early when misalignment appears
Audit and refine organizational structure to support growth
Define and document decision structures and escalation pathways
Partner with senior leaders to reduce bottlenecks and strengthen delegation
Ensure major transitions are supported by structured communication plans
Performance Management
Design and operationalize a clear, consistent, and measurable performance management
system that reinforces accountability, growth, and fairness.
Build and implement a structured annual goal-setting process aligned to organizational strategy
Establish performance check-ins and leadership review rhythms
Standardize documentation practices for feedback, performance improvement, and corrective action
Develop clear guidelines for managing underperformance, including formal Performance
Improvement Plan (PIP) frameworks
Train managers on delivering candid, constructive, and well-documented performance conversations
Ensure performance decisions are consistent, transparent, and aligned with documented expectations
Track performance trends and identify systemic capability or capacity gaps
Create clear job descriptions with measurable expectations and success metrics
Employee Relations
Serve as a trusted resource for employees and leaders to navigate workplace concerns
constructively.
Establish clear channels for employee relations and communication
Lead employee and team building activities that support a thriving culture aligned with
organizational values
Implement safeguards and reporting pathways
Ensure consistent and legally sound handling of workplace issues
Design manager training programs focused on communication, feedback, and accountability
Implement structured learning plans tied to role expectations in partnership with managers leading it
Build training systems for compliance, performance management, and workplace conduct
Recruitment & Hiring
Improve hiring readiness by ensuring roles are clearly defined with measurable success criteria
Partner with hiring managers to design structured interview processes
Implement standardized evaluation tools and scoring frameworks
Implement and refine onboarding and offboarding processes to support strong work culture and organizational values
Train managers on objective candidate assessment and management
Ensure employment decisions are aligned with best practices and well-communicated
HR & Compliance
Audit and maintain employment compliance practices across markets
Develop internal controls for HR processes
Partner with Finance and Operations to ensure regulatory compliance alignment
Ensure required state and federal compliance standards are met across markets
Serve as liaison to employment counsel
Align HR policy updates with evolving legal standards
Additional Benefits:
● Paid Vacation Leave (10 days/year after 3 months)
● Paid Sick Leave (5 days after 3 months)
● Paid Birthday Leave (1 day/year after 3 months)
● Paid Work Anniversary (1 day/year after 3 months)
● 12 Paid US Holidays
● 4-week paid leave at 5-year work anniversary
● 401k benefits
● Healthcare benefits
● Work from home with as-needed in-person meetings
● Flex-time options
● Supportive work/life balance in a high-performing, friendly team environment