Pantry Coordinator - Multilingual

Job Title: Pantry Coordinator - Multilingual

Classification: Regular, part-time

Salary: $36/hour

Reports To: Assistant Director

Application Deadline: February 22, 2026, for priority consideration, open until filled

The mission of University District Food Bank (UDFB) is to support people experiencing food insecurity in Northeast Seattle by providing high quality, culturally familiar food and connecting them with vital resources..

• Our grocery store-style free pantry in the University District enables customers to shop for the foods they want in a comfortable and dignified setting.
• Satellite pantries at Magnuson Park and North Seattle College help us connect with communities that may have difficulty reaching our primary pantry.
• Home delivery ensures that families who are homebound are still connected to the healthy food they need.
• The Rooftop Roots Garden grows delicious and nutritious fresh produce that we can offer directly to pantry customers.
• Apple-a-Day Café serves free tasty, healthy hot meals to our neighbors, including vegan, gluten-free, and other options for those with dietary restrictions.
• Collaborations with nearby public schools help ensure that kids have abundant meals and snacks to support them over the weekend when school meals are not an option.
• Our Community Connector team empowers customers by giving direct services such as a mail program, forming relationships with providers, and offering mentoring and support.

In all this work, UDFB serves a diverse community of people with various cultural backgrounds, lived experiences, and spoken languages. We recognize that doing this work well requires a deep organizational commitment to anti-racism and to ending the marginalization of anyone in our community. One crucial part of that is a commitment to building a staff team which welcomes and mirrors the rich diversity of those we serve.

Position Summary

The Pantry Coordinator – Multilingual works alongside the other Front of House staff to ensure smooth day-to-day operations and to maintain a safe and welcoming pantry space for our customers and volunteers. This Multilingual position’s responsibility is to support our customers that primarily speak a language other than English with the goal of providing a dignified shopping experience and increasing access to our services. While the Pantry Coordinator – Multilingual position primarily provides direct customer service in our University District pantry location, their role connects them to and occasionally requires them to support the warehouse as well as our other programs. The Pantry Coordinator team also actively shapes how UDFB runs by championing quarterly projects to improve operations, engaging in weekly staff meetings and bimonthly trainings on topics such as accessibility, equity, and de-escalation, and working directly with leadership to set new policies and goals. We are seeking a candidate who can bring their personal and professional experiences to our organization’s mission to serve our diverse community with respect and dignity.

Responsibilities and Work Tasks

To be successful in this role, an individual will be able to perform the following duties to a reasonable level:

Customer Service

• Ensure a meaningful, respectful, and dignified experience for customers by supporting customers with various needs and cooperating with the Community Connector team to stay informed about local programs and services
• De-escalate conflicts and ensure a safe environment for the community
• Serve as a point of contact for customers that speak a language other than English to provide direct assistance, emotional support, information about services, and a way to voice feedback while shopping at the pantry

Volunteer Management

• Train, supervise, and support volunteers in sorting inventory, stocking the pantry, customer intake, greeting and line management, bagging groceries, and opening and closing procedures
• Engage in conscious conversations regarding Food Bank DEI commitments and values with volunteers and donors

Warehouse Management Support

• Safely handle and move food using warehouse equipment (pallet jacks, carts, hand trucks) and promote safe food handling procedures

Staff Collaboration

• Collaborate with colleagues to maintain operations and address any needs in the pantry
• Attend and actively participate in weekly operations meetings
• Dedicate approximately 15% of your time to engaging in projects and initiatives that align with your interests and support the improvement of our core mission (This flexibility aims to make your work more fulfilling and rewarding while contributing to the advancement of our organization's goals.)

We recognize that the skills and qualifications for this role can come from a variety of experiences, including lived experiences such as a customer of food pantries, a community care provider, an interpreter for family navigating social services, etc. If you are passionate about food justice and believe you would be successful in the role, please apply even if you do not meet every qualification. Community members who are people of color, multi-cultural,

customers at pantries are highly encouraged to apply.

Skills and Qualifications

The following skills and qualifications are necessary for this position:

• Multilingual (candidates who speak English plus Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish will be prioritized)
• Commitment to practicing anti-racist and culturally competent behaviors and willingness to support an anti-racist culture
• Commitment to actively creating a safe, non-judgmental, and person-first environment for customers who may have experienced trauma
• Experience supporting people of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, abilities, and ages
• Ability to regularly lift and carry up to 50 pounds; ability to bend, reach, and move around multiple rooms of the food bank; comfort working in a warehouse-type space; ability to load/unload a delivery van
• Current food handler’s permit or ability to attain one within ten days of hire (at food bank expense)

The following skills and qualifications are desired for this position and will make a candidate more successful in the role of Pantry Coordinator:

• Minimum of 1-2 years working in customer service, human services, food service, café, or grocery store settings
• Experience or training in conflict de-escalation
• Experience training, guiding and managing large teams of volunteers
• Experience applying Trauma-Informed Care principles in a work environment,

particularly within the context of social services, food distribution, or related fields

• Experience with a food justice or equivalent social service organization

Salary and Benefits

This part-time position pays $36 per hour to start. The expected work schedule is 25-30 hours per week including some Saturday shifts (morning to early afternoon). Benefits include paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, medical, dental, and vision benefits, and an employer contributed retirement plan.

How to Apply

To apply for this job, please provide us with your current resume and a short statement (about one or two paragraphs is perfect) describing your interest in this work. In addition to your professional and academic background, we encourage you to discuss any personal experiences that you feel are relevant to this work. Email these materials to apply@udistrictfoodbank.org with Pantry Coordinator – Multilingual in the subject line. We will confirm receipt of your materials within 48 hours. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted further. For priority consideration, our initial application deadline is end of day February 22, 2026. The position will remain open until filled.

Equal Opportunity Employment

University District Food Bank is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to an environment that fosters and embraces equity. We want to develop and sustain a staff that reflects the diversity in our community. We encourage people of color, people with diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions and identities, people with disabilities, current customers, and people with lived experience to apply for this position. We encourage people with all educational backgrounds to apply. We support fair chance hiring and commit to evaluating candidates regardless of a prior criminal conviction.

Link to position description (PDF)

https://www.udistrictfoodbank.org/wp-content/uploads/Multilingual-Pantry-Coordinator.pdf

Benefits include paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, medical, dental, and vision benefits, and an employer contributed retirement plan.

English plus at least a second language proficiency (speaking, reading, writing) required. Preference for Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish as the second language.