Part-Time (25–30 hours/week)
Remote with significant field work
Detroit/Metro Detroit
Position Summary
Make Food Not Waste is seeking a practical, relationship-oriented Program Manager to lead Plate to Planet, a new initiative helping independent restaurants across Southeast Michigan reduce food waste while improving their operations.
This is a hands-on, restaurant-facing position. The Program Manager will recruit and build relationships with restaurant owners and operators, spend time inside restaurants understanding their operations, identify opportunities to reduce waste and save money, and help restaurants put practical changes into place.
Plate to Planet is a new program, so we are looking for someone who is comfortable trying things, listens well, and can help us figure out what kinds of support restaurants actually value and will use.
This is a three-year funded program.
Position Responsibilities
Recruit and Engage Restaurants
- Build relationships with independent restaurant owners, chefs, managers, and staff
- Recruit approximately 25–40 restaurants to participate during the first year
- Conduct introductory conversations to understand operators’ priorities, challenges, and needs
- Develop participation through personal outreach, referrals, restaurant networks, and community partners
Work Directly with Restaurants
- Visit participating restaurants and learn how their operations work
- Conduct simple assessments of purchasing, inventory, storage, prep, production, portioning, surplus food, donation, and disposal practices
- Identify a small number of realistic opportunities to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and save money
Provide Practical Food Waste Support
Depending on each restaurant’s needs, assistance may include support in:
- Purchasing and inventory management
- Prep and production planning
- Portioning and knife skills
- Waste tracking and measurement
- Food donation systems
- Food scrap collection and composting
- Staff education and engagement
- Other operational changes that reduce wasted food
Build the Plate to Planet Community
- Organize quarterly gatherings where participating operators can learn from one another
- Identify restaurant leaders who can become champions for the program
- Help create a network that restaurants see as genuinely useful to their businesses
Track Results and Help Shape the Program
- Establish simple baseline information with participating restaurants
- Track changes restaurants make and results such as reduced food waste, cost savings, increased donation, or increased diversion where measurable
- Regularly ask operators what’s useful, what isn’t, and what they need
- Document success stories and lessons learned
- Work with MFNW leadership to refine Plate to Planet based on what we learn
- Participate in learning and evaluation activities associated with the funder
Who We’re Looking For
We’re especially interested in someone who understands restaurants and can build trust with busy restaurant operators. You may have worked as a restaurant general manager, chef, food service operator, restaurant consultant, hospitality professional, food distributor representative, account manager, or in another role that gave you a strong understanding of how restaurants operate.
You should be someone who:
- Is a strong communicator, both verbally and in writing
- Is knowledgeable about food waste reduction in restaurants or is willing to learn—training will be provided
- Enjoys talking with restaurant owners, chefs, managers, and staff
- Understands the realities and pressures of running a restaurant
- Can walk through an operation, ask good questions, and spot opportunities
- Is practical, resourceful, and solutions-oriented
- Builds relationships easily and follows through on commitments
- Is comfortable reaching out to people you don’t already know
- Can manage relationships with many businesses at once
- Is comfortable experimenting and changing course when something isn’t working
- Can collect and document information without making the process burdensome for restaurants
- Is motivated by helping independent restaurants succeed
Experience
Restaurant or food service experience is strongly preferred. Experience in consulting, coaching, technical assistance, account management, sales, sustainability, or small-business support would also be valuable.
Knowledge of food waste prevention, food donation, or composting is helpful but not required.
Compensation and Schedule
This is a part-time position averaging 25–30 hours per week.
The position is remote, with significant time spent visiting restaurants and meeting with partners throughout Detroit and Metro Detroit. Some evening availability may occasionally be needed for restaurant meetings or Plate to Planet gatherings.
This position does not include benefits.
What Success Looks Like
During the first year, the Program Manager will help engage approximately 25–40 independent restaurants while helping Make Food Not Waste determine which services, interventions, and engagement strategies provide the greatest value to operators.
We will consider the first year successful if participating restaurants are making practical changes, seeing measurable improvements where possible, staying engaged, and recommending Plate to Planet to other operators.
The Program Manager will play a central role in helping us understand what restaurants need, what they will actually implement, and how Plate to Planet can grow into a valuable and sustainable regional restaurant network.
About Make Food Not Waste
Make Food Not Waste is working to help Michigan cut food waste in half by 2030. We work with communities, schools, businesses, governments, and residents to prevent food waste, rescue surplus food, and keep food scraps out of landfills.
Plate to Planet builds on our previous work with restaurants and is intentionally designed to be flexible, practical, and responsive to the realities of restaurant operations.
To Apply
Email a cover letter summarizing your interest in this position and your resume to Danielle Todd at danielle@makefoodnotwaste.org.
We will be filling this position quickly and will respond to emails as they arrive.
