Community Food Project Manager

Hailsham Trust; Tudhoe; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 33,000; Part time

Job summary

A community-focused organization is seeking a Community Food Project Manager for a part-time role in Newhaven. The position involves managing volunteers, organizing fundraising events, and ensuring project targets are met. Candidates should have experience in community food projects and excellent fundraising skills. The role offers a supportive environment with benefits including flexible working, annual leave, and a birthday day off.

Benefits

Annual leave of 23 days pro rata

Sick pay increasing with service

Flexible, hybrid work approach

Birthday day off

Qualifications

• Experience managing large teams of volunteers.
• Understanding of social inclusion and community projects.
• Full clean driver's license.

Responsibilities

• Recruit and develop volunteers for the project.
• Line manage the Project Coordinator and Logistics Coordinator.
• Organize fundraising and donation events to meet targets.

Skills

Excellent fundraising skills

Management and communication skills

Organised

Empathy

Understanding

Job description

Sussex Community Development Association (SCDA) has been making a difference in our community for over 25 years. We run a range of projects & services aimed at improving economic stability and opportunity, health and wellbeing, and addressing loneliness, social isolation and social cohesion. Come and join our flexible, inclusive and friendly organisation and work in a role which gives you great job satisfaction with a fabulous team, and start being a part of making that difference!

Community Food Project Manager
Part Time, 28 hours per week, (work pattern must include Monday/Wednesday/Thursday)
Fixed term for 12 months, in the first instance
Salary range £30,131 – £32,615 pa pro rata (upper levels awarded for previous experience)
Based in Newhaven with travel to outreach and delivery/donation locations in the local area.

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager with a passion for helping people living in food insecurity to access food and support in a dignified way. The ideal candidate will be used to managing large teams of volunteers and have excellent fundraising skills, with the ability to organise and run a variety of events.

Seahaven Community Food runs two Community Supermarkets which offer emergency and affordable food to local people that for many different reasons, are struggling. Our Community Supermarkets offer wraparound care to help people coming to us in crisis to access support and advice. We also run a volunteer-led Community Kitchen that uses surplus ingredients to cook nutritious meals for those accessing the Community Supermarkets.

In this role you will be mainly responsible for:

• Recruiting and developing volunteers, including inductions, training and supervising the team
• Line managing a Project Coordinator and Logistics Coordinator to ensure projects are fully resourced each week and run on time and to budget
• Organising and coordinating fundraising and donation events, such as supermarket food drives, seasonal and social events, helping us to hit our fundraising target for the year

Ideally, you will have worked or volunteered in a community food or similar project and come with an understanding and ability to work with people from marginalised or socially excluded backgrounds. Organised and with good management and communication skills, you will be able to lead a team with confidence and adaptability.

A full clean driver’s license and confidence in safely lifting and handling crates of donated food and other items is an essential aspect of this role.

We are looking for people to join our team who have the qualities and skills we feel would most benefit our service users; professionalism, empathy, kindness and understanding. In return, we recognise people want to work in a supportive environment with friendly colleagues. We offer a flexible, hybrid approach to delivery wherever possible, annual leave of 23 days per year pro rata plus bank holidays and sick pay from the start (increasing with service), additional sick pay for necessary operations and recovery, a pension scheme, bereavement leave, and managers who are available to you… plus a day off for your birthday!

The vacancy closes at 5pm on Sunday 11th January 2026, with interviews conducted on Wednesday 21st January 2026 in Newhaven.

You may think that you’re not a 100% match to what we’re looking for, but we recognise that some skills and experience may be transferable rather than an exact match. If you’re unsure about whether to apply, please do contact the HR team on [e-mail] and we would be happy to arrange an informal discussion with the recruiting manager.