Assistant Program Coordinator

Join our team!

Backpack Buddies tackles childhood hunger in BC. We are searching for a Assistant Program Coordinator to join our team and find a long-term career with us, helping to facilitate the distribution of food to kids across BC so they have the chance to grow up with enough food to eat.

Reaching 6,000 Plus Kids

1 in 5 children in BC live in poverty and the vast majority of them face food insecurity. School meal programs help but many children still may not eat at all over the weekend. This is the ‘weekend hunger gap.’ Backpack Buddies was launched in 2012 to fill that gap, filling backpacks for 20 children with meals for the weekend. A decade later, Backpack Buddies is now available in 60 BC communities, in 350 schools, and provides weekend meals for over 6,000 children every week.

Working at Backpack Buddies

Backpack Buddies is energetic and fast-paced where the staff “jump in with both feet” to get things done. As a young and rapidly growing organization, we try to be flexible and adaptable with new challenges we face. We are good at solving problems because we keep our focus on our vision of ensuring childhood food security for every vulnerable child in BC.

Backpack Buddies’ head office is in North Vancouver where both our offices and primary warehouse are located. We also have satellite sites in Nelson, Victoria, and Port Hardy. This position will work out of our Victoria warehouse with some travel to local schools for deliveries. Occasional evenings and weekends may be required.

At Backpack Buddies, we welcome everyone to be themselves. Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience helps us to learn, grow, and be the best we can at achieving our mission.

Assistant Program Coordinator

The Assistant Program Coordinator is responsible for managing the flow of food orders in and out of the warehouse. This includes inventory movement within the warehouse, checking for quality and accuracy, packing orders for shipping, staging packing stations for the weekly food packing, monitoring the daily food packing, all the while keeping the warehouse organized, clean and maintained. Individuals in this role should be extremely detail oriented as well as have adequate physical strength to successfully unload shipments and lift boxes.

As an important member of our program delivery team, responsibilities of this position include:

• Inventory Preparation – pulling inventory for the weekly delivery commitments, prepping the inventory for the weekly bag deliveries, moving inventory to the packing area, and ensuring it is continually stocked. Assists with packing the bag of food.
• Food Packing – working alongside volunteers, monitoring the daily food packing to ensure that the required number of bags are packed each day and oversees the quality control.
• Receiving Deliveries – collaborate with various parties to review expected deliveries, signing upon receipt, assisting to unload packages incoming trucks, inspecting contents for damage, verifying contents according to orders and invoices, and resolving any problems with the shipments.
• Inventory Monitoring – ongoing monitoring of inventory levels and notification of appropriate individuals when levels are low. Physical counts are performed at least quarterly.
• Warehouse Organization & Cleaning – maintaining a safe and clean work environment by keeping shelves, pallet area, workstations, food packing stations and bathrooms sanitized, neat and free of clutter and debris. This position will follow a regular cleaning schedule and is responsible for loading the recycling and garbage into the appropriate waste collection bins.
• Delivery Assistance – assisting the team with local deliveries and pickups when required.
• Safety – adherence to relevant health and safety rules and regulations.

Your Qualifications

We are looking for the right fit for our team, someone who believes passionately in our mission and is committed to the core beliefs and vision of the organization. We hope that you will grow with us as we work together to expand our program to support more children around BC. You will also have:

• 6 months experience working in a warehouse or food security environment.
• Communication skills. You will interact with many people such as suppliers, supervisors, staff, and volunteers. Your communication skills will help to keep operations running smoothly.
• Attention to detail and time management aptitude. In this fast-paced, growing organization, you will need to remain composed and focused on a variety details, complete tasks on schedule, and work under pressure.
• Problem-solving skills. You have a knack for troubleshooting and resolving issues effectively.
• Physical strength. You will regularly lift and/or move objects of 10-50lbs and occasionally lift or move objects of more than 100 lbs. The job frequently requires you to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.
• Valid Class 5 Driver’s License with acceptable driving record.
• Criminal record check as you will be working with children.
• Commitment to ensuring cultural safety within our programs, as part of a commitment to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
• Passion for working in a small organization where you see the results of your work and how it can make a big difference as we add new children to our program.

Apply
To apply for the Warehouse Associate position, email your resume or online profile to emilyanne@backpackbuddies.ca and be sure to fill us in on your experiences that would be a great fit for this position. We look forward to hearing from you!

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: $18.00-$23.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Dental care
• Extended health care
• Life insurance
• On-site parking

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Supplemental pay types:

• Overtime pay

Work Location: In person