Food Sourcing and Gleaning Officer

Job Description: Food Sourcing and Gleaning Officer

Reporting to: Head of Food and Logistics

Department: Operations

Salary: £25,000-£27,000 per annum

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (8.30am – 5pm)

Working Pattern: Monday to Friday, 08:30-17:00

Contract: Fixed Term until 31st March 2026

Benefits: 32 Days annual leave inclusive of bank holidays per annum. 5% employer pension contribution. There will be a requirement to work some bank holidays.

Location: Bristol or Plymouth, with requirement to travel across the region

About FareShare South West

FareShare South West joins the dots between food waste and hunger, empowering communities to turn an environmental problem into lasting social good. We rescue tonnes of quality surplus food from the industry and share it with charities and schools to bring health, dignity, and routes out of poverty for people across the south west. Our supportive volunteering and employability programmes offer local people the opportunity to thrive.

By joining us, you’ll be part of an inclusive, friendly team in a small but fast-growing charity that helps fight the injustice of who gets to afford a healthy diet. FareShare South West is an independent local charity, working in partnership with FareShare UK. By being part of the national FareShare network, we can help rescue more food. By being small and independent, we can remain close to our local partners and people and continuously adapt to meet the needs of local communities. The member charities we share food with transform lives, using food to connect people with other support and routes out of poverty, including children and families, people on low incomes, homeless people, refugees, domestic abuse survivors, people in recovery, older people, and many others.

Purpose of the Role

The Food Sourcing and Gleaning Officer plays a key role in FareShare South West’s mission to reduce food waste and fight hunger across the South West. You will be responsible for developing FareShare South West’s network of local suppliers, increasing the number of donations of good to eat surplus food to the organisation. The role also includes a focus on gleaning, this is the mobilisation of volunteers to pick surplus farm crops to be sent out to our network of charities. This forms part of a gleaning pilot project that is happening in 2025-26.

As an ambassador for FareShare South West, you will provide excellent customer service to food suppliers and work closely with our operations and logistics team to ensure food is transported safely, efficiently, and with care.

Key Responsibilities

Local Food Sourcing

• Support delivery of the Local Food Sourcing Strategy to build a sustainable and expanding supply of local food. Complementing national food partners and matching this with the needs of a diverse Community Food Member base. Delivering a consistent supply of food throughout the year whilst adapting to seasonal fluctuations, and specific projects.

• Research potential food sources by geography, type, and sector (retail, wholesale, producer, grower).

• Conduct outreach to establish and broker supplier relationships, including on-site visits and securing food supplies in line with growth plans.

• Participate in working groups with other FareShare regional centres to share local food sourcing opportunities and share best practice on gleaning projects.

• Implement a gleaning project involving volunteers to harvest surplus produce from farms across the South West. Working closely with the corporate volunteer coordinator to organise and support gleaning activities.

• Track and report the success of these gleaning activities in line with the projects KPIs.

• Expand the network of surplus food suppliers in the South West, with emphasis on Cornish companies.

• Work with the Communications team to develop supplier engagement content such as impact stories, case studies, and visual materials. Also support the planning and execution of an event to engage more food suppliers.

Logistics

• Coordinate logistics to cost-effectively receive surplus food. Supporting the Head of Food and Logistics in managing dedicated vehicles for food collection and liaising with warehouse staff to optimize use of the van fleet for additional collections.

• Oversee safe and compliant movement of stock across sites to maintain adequate inventory levels for order fulfilment.

• Serve as a point of contact with FareShare UK and other regional centres on food sourcing and logistics matters.

Food Management

• Managing ad-hoc food offers from FareShare UK, balancing operational and storage capacity across sites.

• Collaborate with warehouses and membership teams to understand member needs and allocate unusual food and non-food offers efficiently.

• Act as liaison between operations teams and external suppliers, providing feedback and escalating issues as needed.

General

• Represent FSSW in local partnerships and collaborations focused on reducing food waste and surplus.

• Maintain accurate and accessible records of food sourcing activities and provide timely performance updates to Head of Food and Logistics for monthly Food & Logistics reporting.

• Contribute to annual budgets and strategic planning as required.

• Ensure compliance with FareShare national policies, procedures, and relevant legal frameworks.

• Undertake other administrative duties as necessary.

• Support the food team function in the absence of the Head of Food and Logistics.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, able to build and maintain trusted relationships and foster collaboration.

• Experience managing diverse stakeholder relationships, preferably in the food or operations industry.

• Experience in supply chain, or logistics coordination, ideally in the charity or food sector. Showing a high level of attention to detail.

• Understanding of food safety, health and safety, and compliance related to food handling and transport.