Job Description and Responsibilities
Position Title: Director of Distribution Partnerships
Reports to: COO
About Last Mile Food Rescue
Last Mile Food Rescue is a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that operates on a simple thesis: hunger is a logistics problem. Since November 2020, we have rescued more than 18 million pounds of food and delivered nearly 16 million meals to neighbors in need — powered by a network of 400+ nonprofit agency partners, a dedicated volunteer corps, and a growing fleet operation.
We are a logistics-first organization scaling rapidly. This role sits at the intersection of our mission and our growth — and it is one of the most consequential hires we will make.
The Opportunity
We rescue and move more food every year — 30%+ growth annually. But volume alone does not solve hunger. The missing piece is demand-side intelligence: a clear, data-grounded picture of where food-insecure people live, where our network is under-serving them, and a community-based strategy to close those gaps.
This Director will build that picture and then go build the network to match it. That means combining rigorous data analysis with deep community relationship work — mapping food deserts and then going into those communities to stand up the access points that don't yet exist.
You will also inherit a proven program innovation ready to scale: Last Mile On The Go, a repack model developed with Easterseals that converts bulk rescued food into individual meal containers distributed through partner pantries. The playbook works. Your job is to take it to the next level.
This is not a coordination role. It is a builder role. The distribution strategy for Last Mile Food Rescue does not yet exist in its full form. You will create it.
What You Will Own
Distribution Strategy
- Build LMFR's demand-side intelligence layer — mapping food insecurity geographically using census data, ALICE data, SNAP participation, and agency coverage analysis against our current rescue and delivery footprint
- Identify where we are over-serving (easy logistics) and under-serving (hard-to-reach populations), and design a needs-based allocation logic to correct the imbalance
- Develop and own LMFR's distribution strategy — a durable framework that answers the question: where are the hungry people, and how do we get food to them reliably?
- Work with the dispatch and operations team so that strategy informs execution — not the other way around
Network Development & Community Access
- Grow and strengthen LMFR's 250+ agency partner network — identifying geographic gaps, recruiting new partners, and expanding the capacity of existing ones
- Build new food access endpoints in underserved communities: working with congregations, community organizations, and neighborhood leaders to stand up pantries, repack sites, and distribution models where none exist
- Support the Mobile Market community strategy — helping neighborhoods develop self-sustaining food access capability over time, not permanent dependency
- Serve as a visible, trusted presence in the communities we serve — this work requires showing up, earning trust, and sustaining relationships over time
Last Mile On The Go — Program Scaling
Last Mile On The Go is a proven repack model: LMFR delivers rescued food in bulk to partner organizations with clean room capacity, who break it down into individual meal containers for grab-and-go distribution at their pantries. Launched with Easterseals, the model works. The next step is scale.
- Identify and recruit agencies across the region with clean room or food handling capacity — food banks, workforce programs, shelters, faith communities — as Last Mile On The Go partners
- Provide startup support to new partners: onboarding, food safety guidance, volume planning, and ongoing supply
- Manage the ongoing Easterseals partnership and use it as the benchmark for new site development
- Build the replication playbook so this model can scale within Cincinnati and eventually inform LMFR's national DaaS offering
Data Intelligence & Organizational Capability
- Partner with LMFR's Director of Systems Architecture to build and use the data infrastructure that supports distribution decision-making
- Develop internal data competency for the distribution function — pulling your own analysis, building models, and making the case for resource allocation based on evidence
- Translate data into decisions and community action — not reports that sit on a shelf
- Contribute to LMFR's Dispatch-as-a-Service (DaaS) offering by helping establish the demand intelligence framework that makes our model replicable nationally
Who You Are
You are analytically sharp and community-rooted. You can read a map of food insecurity data in the morning and spend the afternoon in a church basement talking with community leaders about standing up a pantry. Both of those things feel natural to you.
- You think in networks and systems — not just individual relationships or single programs
- You are comfortable with data: pulling it, analyzing it, mapping it, and using it to make decisions — without needing a data team to do it for you
- You have experience building community relationships in underserved neighborhoods — and you understand that trust is built over time, not announced
- You can hold a strategic horizon (what should our network look like in three years?) while staying grounded in the operational reality of today
- You are a self-starter who can create structure where none exists — the distribution strategy is yours to build, not inherit
- You communicate clearly across audiences: from community members to board members, from dispatch staff to potential funders
Background We Are Looking For
There is no single background that defines this role. We are open to candidates from logistics and supply chain, public health, community development, urban planning, fundraising/development or social services — provided they bring the full combination of analytical and relational skills this work requires.
- Experience designing or managing distribution networks, community access programs, or agency partnership portfolios
- Demonstrated comfort with geographic and demographic data analysis — GIS mapping, census data, program metrics
- Track record of building relationships and programs in food-insecure or underserved communities
- Ability to translate data and strategy into community-facing programs that work on the ground
- Experience in nonprofit, public sector, or mission-driven organizations preferred; logistics or supply chain background a meaningful plus
What We Offer
- Competitive salary commensurate with experience
- A mission that is measurable: every pound rescued, every meal delivered, every new access point opened is tracked
- A leadership team that thinks strategically and moves quickly
- The opportunity to build something that doesn't exist yet — a demand-driven distribution strategy and a scaling repack program that could become a model for food rescue organizations nationally
- A collaborative, values-driven culture where your work is visible and your contributions matter
Send resume to Donna Thompson (donna@lastmilefood.org)
