"Essential Needs Specialist"

Essential Needs Specialist

Unit: Full-Time MCCC Professional Staff, Grade 04, Special Programs Coordinator

Department: Student Affairs - Student Support Services

Reports To: Assistant Dean of Student Support Services

Date: February 10, 2026

General Summary: The Essential Needs Specialist plays a key role in student well-being and academic success by supporting comprehensive essential needs services. The Specialist oversees all food resource operations, including two food pantries, multiple Grab n' Go stations, and community-sourced food partnerships, and ensures consistent access to healthy, fresh, and culturally relevant food. The role provides direct case management and non-academic support for students experiencing food or other essential needs difficulties, connecting them with on- and off-campus resources.
The Specialist leads outreach and education efforts to destigmatize essential needs challenges, promotes healthy eating, and collaborates with faculty, staff, and community partners to expand support services. The position manages logistics, procurement, food safety practices, data systems, and donation activities. Through continuous assessment, reporting, and program evaluation, the Specialist strengthens resource effectiveness and informs program improvements.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Student Support, Case Management, & Advocacy

• Build strong, supportive relationships with at-risk students and provide resources, referrals, and connections to internal and external support services.
• Provide comprehensive case management for students facing essential needs challenges, with a primary emphasis on food and housing insecurity.
• Offer non-academic support, including skill development, guidance, and advocacy, to promote academic success, personal well-being, and healthy behaviors.
• Communicate with students to gather feedback about essential needs services and their impact on wellness, sense of belonging, and academic performance.

Program Development, Education, & Outreach

• Plan, implement, and assess comprehensive campus-wide programs supporting under-resourced students and advancing equity and social mobility.
• Develop and implement educational initiatives and outreach efforts for students, faculty, staff, and community partners.
• Facilitate formal and informal events to raise awareness about food and housing insecurity and to destigmatize conversations about basic needs. Engagement formats include classroom visits, workshops, presentations, and tabling events.
• Promote the College's food resources and essential needs services through communication campaigns, social media, outreach events, classroom engagement, and wellness-focused activities.
• Facilitate programs and activities that promote healthy eating and nutrition education.
• Provide annual summaries highlighting program outcomes, impact, challenges, and recommendations for improvement.

Community Partnerships & Resource Navigation

• Attend community events, fundraisers, workshops, community meetings, summits, forums, etc. This may include instances outside of normal working hours.
• Develop and grow on-campus and community partnerships that expand essential supports for MCC students. Coordinate new and ongoing initiatives, including personal product collections, clothing drives, and resource-focused events.
• Oversee the Pop-up Professional Clothing drive
• Assist with SNAP outreach and education, manage awareness campaigns, and help connect students to SNAP benefits and related supports.
• Maintain and share an updated online and printed directory of food, housing, and related essential needs resources.
• Build partnerships with local farms and gardens to increase access to fresh and culturally relevant foods.

Food Resource Management

• Develop, maintain, and evaluate free food resources on both campuses, including two food pantries, daily Healthy Food Grab n' Go stations, and multiple satellite Grab n' Go locations throughout the College.
• Manage logistics of free food resources, including promotion/awareness, schedules, maintenance, safety/compliance, stocking and inventory, budget management, intake forms, and assessment.
• Ensure food resource operations to ensure consistent access for students, including:
• Weekly ordering, pickup, delivery, and stocking of food from the Merrimack Valley Food Bank (MVFB); submit required monthly MVFB reports.
• Weekly delivery and distribution of frozen meals from Open Table.
• Other food resource supports as available.
• Serve as primary contact for Merrimack Valley Food Bank partnership.
• Determine and implement best practices for food safety to minimize risk of food-borne illness. This includes providing clear instructions about the cleanliness of donated food, as well as how to clean food before consuming. Also, make sure stations are kept clean, organized, and aesthetically appealing, including prompt removal of expired/overripe produce.
• Manage the food pantry software (PantrySoft), including reporting and data collection.
• Oversee grocery store gift card programs, including purchasing, promotion, distribution, tracking, and reporting.
• Integrate access to fresh and culturally relevant food options across all food programs.
• Assist with oversight of donation opportunities, including ongoing food and personal care drives, Amazon Wishlists, and community giving initiatives.
• Assist with oversight of new food-focused initiatives such as World Food Movement, spice drives, etc.

Collaboration & Institutional Support

• Collaborate with internal departments including the Wellness Resource Center, Academic Advising, Financial Aid, and other student support services to deliver integrated support to students.

Funding, Grants & Institutional Engagement

• Research external funding opportunities to support essential-needs programs and emergency assistance.
• Collaborate with the MCC Grants Team to identify, secure, and manage grants related to food and essential needs resources.
• Participate in college-wide and community committees to support institutional initiatives related to student basic needs.

Assessment, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Conduct regular assessments of student needs and program effectiveness using surveys, data collection, intake/outtake forms, and qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Prepare end-of-year summaries and presentations highlighting outcomes, impact, challenges, and recommendations for improvement.
• Manage data and reporting for food resources and essential-needs programming.
• Maintain collaborative communication with the Coordinator of Essential Needs to align goals, priorities, timelines, and program strategies.

Staffing & Training

• Recruit, hire, train, and oversee student employees, interns, volunteers, and work study staff.
• Provide ongoing coaching, training, and support to ensure effective service delivery.

General and Administrative Functions

• Perform administrative tasks associated with departmental activities.
• Develop assessment strategies to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of services.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree with at least three years of related experience
• Transportation to/from work and to/from stores for purchasing groceries
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds
• Availability for evening and weekend hours, as needed
• Ability to work well and interact effectively and plan programs with diverse populations, including traditional and non-traditional students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to make group presentations.
• Demonstrated knowledge and ability in the use of computer-based technologies, including the ability to manage budgets and spreadsheets

Preferred Qualifications:

• A Master's degree or completion of a specialized certification program requiring coursework of one year or more beyond an undergraduate degree.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in a student affairs/student services environment. Experience includes internships and graduate assistantships. Community college experience preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding and commitment to the value of student engagement and the impact of essential needs in the lives of students as part of a comprehensive community college.
• Personal/professional interest in nutrition, healthy foods, and equity/access
• Experience in marketing using social media.
• Project management skills and familiarity with program evaluation and assessment.
• Bilingual skills a plus

Additional Information:

Salary Range: $65,370 is the base salary; actual salary commensurate with academic background and experience. Employees of Middlesex Community College are considered employees of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and receive benefits, which include: [list of benefits]

Location: Lowell campus with occasional travel to Bedford as needed

Hours: 37.5 per week, schedule to be determined upon hire.

Expected Start Date: April 2026

Application Deadline: March 3, 2026