Senior Community and Events Specialist

Catalyze connections to strengthen the alternative protein industry

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world’s climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.

How You Will Make a Difference 

In this role, you will drive the expansion of the alternative protein industry through leading virtual and in-person community building opportunities on behalf of the Corporate Engagement (CE) team. Convening alternative protein industry stakeholders is a key strategy to ensure opportunities for networking and the timely dissemination of resources. The Corporate Engagement Senior Community and Events Specialist will be responsible for:

• Organizing and executing community-building efforts to increase engagement with target CE audiences.
• Driving the expansion and maintenance of the Alternative Protein Forum (formerly GFIdeas), LINC (Learn, Inspire, Network, Collaborate) community, founders roundtables, Business of Alt Protein series, and other CE-led community initiatives, including planning and hosting seminar series and developing engagement channels and activities (e.g., Slack, discussion groups, content channels, virtual events, in-person events).
• Aligning and optimizing themes and initiatives across engagement forums to deliver on organizational priorities.
• Incorporating key engagement and research initiatives into community events and audience-specific content dissemination plans.
• Developing and implementing the Corporate Engagement-owned events strategy.
• Planning and coordinating webinars, in-person events and meetups, and topical summits for CE-owned events, in conjunction with the CE team, especially in collaboration with the Corporate Engagement Content Specialist and Corporate Engagement Coordinator. This includes managing all logistics, promotional plans, and communication with invitees.
• Planning panels, recruiting and onboarding speakers, external communications with panelists, and reporting and analytics.
• Working with the Communications team and external partners to plan, promote, and partner on cross-functional events.
• Leveraging event content to support CE audience engagement.
• Developing and implementing the Corporate Engagement external events strategy to raise the profile and impact of department thought leaders and resources.
• Planning and coordinating external event attendance, including maintaining an annual speaking strategy for each CE audience zone and thought leader.
• Identifying potential events and developing proposals for CE SMEs to participate in external events.
• Developing tools for team members to generate the most impact out of attending and speaking at events, such as events guides, session outlines, pitch library, speaker bios.
• Organizing and coordinating all Corporate Engagement-owned components of marquee GFI events led by the Communications team.
• Planning panels, recruiting and onboarding speakers, external communications with panelists, and reporting and analytics.
• Supporting additional community and events-focused needs.
• Serving as CE events liaison to the Communications team.
• Securing CE-focused media partnerships with external partners.
• Updating internal and external events calendars.
• Maintaining analytics and reporting tools.
• Producing engaging materials to support event attendance including trade show guides, blog posts, promotional emails, and event summaries. 
• Performing other duties as assigned. 

Who We’re Looking For 

An ideal candidate for the Corporate Engagement Senior Community and Events Specialist position will have experience that reflects the following:

• At least four years of experience in event planning, marketing, or corporate affairs. 
• A collaborative and team-oriented approach to event planning that prioritizes meeting deadlines and executing comprehensive project plans. 
• Persuasive and engaging interpersonal skills that enable you to coordinate with many individuals at once while remaining focused on project goals.
• Proven project management experience across multiple types of events and related projects. 
• Ability to write clear emails, project plans, outreach materials, and related communications resources that keep the team on track, highlight the essentials of each event, and clearly outline project needs.
• Familiarity with Salesforce, Pardot, Asana, Zoom for webinars, and Google Suite.
• A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong.
• Comfort working remotely and in a rapidly growing and evolving organization.
• Strong support for GFI’s philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in plant based & other alt proteins, public health, environmentalism, climate change, animal protection, or hunger relief.
• A commitment to GFI’s values: believe change is possible, do the most good we can, share knowledge freely, act on evidence, and invite everyone to the table.

We want the best people and we don’t want biases holding us back. We use a third-party anonymizing tool to redact personal information from submitted applications — including name, location, contact details, and several other factors — to reduce bias and increase fairness in our process. We strongly encourage people of every race, color, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability to apply. Since we value a diverse workplace, we prioritize an inclusive climate absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team. 

Research indicates that men tend to apply for jobs when they meet just 60% of the criteria, while women and people from other marginalized groups only apply if they are a 100% match. If you are passionate about GFI’s mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role even if you don’t check all the boxes, please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application. 

The Fine Print

• Terms of employment: Full-time, exempt
• Reports to: Tessa Hale, Director of Corporate Engagement
• Location: Remote; United States 
• Travel: Up to two weeks per year for organization retreats (reasonable accommodations for and exemptions from organization retreats considered on a case-by-case basis); also, three to four short trips per year (2-3 days) for in-person events.
• Benefits: Working from home, full medical coverage, optional dental and vision packages, a 401(k) plan with employer match, flexible holiday and vacation plans, lifestyle spending account, opportunity for advancement, respectful managers, and supportive colleagues. More information here: https://tinyurl.com/GFIBenefits. 
• This is a U.S.-based position: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. 
• COVID vaccination policy: GFI requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Proof of vaccination will be requested before the start of employment. GFI will consider requests for accommodations or exemptions from this policy on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable laws. More information here: https://tinyurl.com/GFICovidPolicy. 
• Salary: $80,013.96 - $84,014.66 (depending on experience and qualifications)

Important Dates

Application deadline: August 7, 2024

Anticipated start date: September 23, 2024