Manager, Client & Nutrition Care Services

Ceres Community Project•Santa Rosa, CA

About The Position

The Manager, Client and Nutrition Services leads the success of Ceres’ Client and Nutrition Care services, currently in Marin, Sonoma, Solano, and Napa Counties. This role oversees the day-to-day operations of these areas, including oversight of Ceres’ eligibility, intake, enrollment, nutrition care engagement, and service delivery. This role balances high-quality, client-centered care with a practical understanding of enrollment targets, service capacity, and billing imperatives. Importantly, s/he/they builds strong healthcare partnerships, strengthens and manages referral pathways, and ensures internal workflows support excellent client experience, quality, and are aligned with revenue generation targets and budget-bottom-line goals. As a manager, this role is responsible for modeling Ceres’ culture and for supporting the well-being, development and retention of the staff members that report to them. This includes meeting regularly with staff to understand their successes and challenges, helping them grow and develop as team members, providing consistent feedback, and ensuring that they stay engaged in and informed about the overall work of Ceres. A total of 6 staff report up to this role, including the Client Care Program Manager, Nutrition Care Program Manager/RDN, 3 Client Care Coordinators, and 1 RDN.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
5–7 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare, public health, Food Is Medicine, or community-based service programs.
Demonstrated experience building and maintaining referral partnerships or healthcare relationships that support service growth.
Highly developed communication skills, including the ability to represent Ceres to external audiences.
Advanced critical thinking and data analysis skills.
Demonstrated experience using program performance data to adjust workflows and improve operational and service outcomes.
Adept at managing people, timelines and plans; strong ability to organize, plan, track and report.
Ability to effectively manage multiple, high-stakes projects and to adapt to rapidly changing priorities.
Possesses an upbeat, positive attitude, brings an empowering team spirit, a high degree of self-motivation and initiative, and demonstrates integrity in the role.
Self-aware with an ability to self-assess.
Advanced technology skills including database configuration (Salesforce preferred), MS Office Suite (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint), and Survey Monkey.
Understanding of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion principles and desire to implement them at
A strong passion for Ceres Community Project’s mission.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with managed care plans, Medi-Cal, or Community Supports programs a plus; knowledge of revenue cycle front desk workflows highly desirable.

Responsibilities

Ensures programs consistently meet annual goals, performance and service standards, and quality benchmarks.
Maintains a full Client Program, balancing the prioritization of revenue targets with client need.
Ensures that client and nutrition care services align with Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) standards and internal quality expectations; maintains related SOP’s and training plans; ensures staff are well-versed in role-based accreditation requirements.
Works closely with the Chief Program Officer and Contracting staff to refine intake, prioritization, and nutrition care workflows to maximize billable revenue.
Oversees the development and implementation of efficient, client-centered workflows for eligibility, intake, enrollment, prioritization and engagement in nutrition care; trains staff and reinforces standards to maintain quality, compliance, and operational consistency.
Maintains strong coordination between Client and Nutrition Care teams to support seamless client experience and warm handoffs into nutrition care services.
Ensures client and nutrition prioritization frameworks balance client health needs with available capacity.
Works collaboratively between Client, Culinary, and Delivery teams to ensure efficient internal operations, balance cross-departmental needs, and manage organizational change.
Ensures staff capture complete, accurate, and timely medical information, and that missing or incomplete medical referrals are proactively followed up.
Ensures client confidentiality and that data is protected per HIPAA standards, including client written rights policies.
Maintains data integrity and standards; regularly audits records and fields for data consistency and missing information.
Manages effective hiring, onboarding, staff development and retention efforts in consultation with the Chief Program Officer and Director of Administration.
Ensures staff are in right relationship to their roles and are both accountable and supported.
Provides leadership, thought partnership, and guidance to staff to resolve complex and/or cross-departmental problems.
Presents and reports regularly to internal audiences on program progress, challenges, and impact.
Provides training in Ceres best practice approaches as part of an annual Affiliate training program.
Leads healthcare outreach efforts to ensure steady and appropriate referral pipeline so that Client Program is full and we are meeting revenue targets.
Builds partnerships and fosters opportunities for collaboration; leads and oversees efforts to pilot with healthcare entities, including partnerships to expand service areas and geographic reach.
Cultivates and maintains relationships with healthcare providers, clinics, care coordinators, and community-based referral partners; communicates eligibility requirements, nutrition care services (including MNT), and referral expectations clearly to partners.
Proactively monitors referral sources and engages key partners to maintain consistent enrollment levels and improve referral completeness.
Engages partners in support of program growth and impact; represents Ceres in the community, including on the Hearts of Sonoma County, FIMC, and CalFIMC committees, as well as other community and healthcare-facing settings.
Actively monitors and manages key indicators across satisfaction, process, performance, and compliance.
Ensures timely administration of pre, post, and annual client surveys; monitors completion and response rates; and holds staff accountable for achieving established return rates.
Ensures regular collection and review of program metrics and satisfaction data; implements feedback loops.
Uses performance data to identify operational gaps, reduce errors and grievances, improve service timelines, and strengthen overall program effectiveness.
Consistently models Ceres’ Culture as specified in the Culture statement, Operating Principles and Operating Agreements.
Conducts weekly one-on-one check-ins with direct reports to provide ongoing support of employees’ well-being and professional development, to keep projects and goals on track, and to troubleshoot problems.
Ensures responsive communication (responds to emails and requests in a timely manner), communicates clear priorities and deadlines, and provides context when making requests (the why’s); models this communication in own work, models and reinforces this communication style for team members.
Completes thoughtful and timely annual reviews, as well as 30-, 60-, 90-day reviews for new staff or staff in new roles; keeps agreed-upon goals surfaced and front and center in weekly check-ins and feedback conversations.
Ensures job descriptions are accurate and complete; develops and maintains detailed onboarding and training plans for new staff or staff promoted into new roles.
Understands, monitors and enforces mandated break requirements and time off policies; carefully reviews timesheets and expense reports for accuracy and compliance; ensures credit card receipts are submitted on time; provides approvals in a timely manner.
Addresses performance issues and any conflicts among staff promptly, equitably and effectively; documents all performance conversations and escalates when appropriate to a direct supervisor and/or HR.
Oversees timely completion of required training throughout the year.