Program Director (Healthcare Access

Type of Employment: Exempt, Full-Time

Location: Austin, Texas (Hybrid). This position is primarily community-based and requires frequent in-person outreach throughout Austin. The Program Director will spend a significant portion of their time visiting restaurants, bars, food trucks, and other food and beverage businesses to build relationships, recruit members, and support the Healthcare Access Program. This role offers a flexible schedule; however, evening and occasional weekend events are expected.

Good Work Austin (GWA) is the only nonprofit organization in Central Texas dedicated to better jobs and fair treatment for food & beverage workers. Our mission is to foster healthy careers in the local food and beverage industry through professional development and advocacy for more equitable practices. GWA was created by food and beverage business owners and workers who came together to reimagine what stable, dignified employment could look like in an industry long plagued by low wages and limited mobility.

Today, GWA works with some of Austin’s leading chefs and food businesses, strengthening the city’s vibrant food scene while building a more sustainable and equitable industry. Through our Culinary Workforce Training, Community Kitchen, and Healthy Workplaces programs, we create opportunities for workers to learn new skills, for small businesses to thrive, and for the community to benefit from healthier, more just workplaces.

Our organizational culture reflects the values we champion: respect for each person’s lived experience and life outside of work, and a balance of accountability and support. We live by our core values of Collaboration, Community, Integrity, Innovation, and Inclusion, working together with a spirit of creativity and care to create lasting change in Austin’s food and beverage industry.

The Program Director role leads Good Work Austin's Healthcare Access Program while driving strategic growth of the organization's membership network. This position is responsible for overseeing healthcare access services for food and beverage workers, and strengthening partnerships across the healthcare and hospitality sectors while recruiting new food and beverage businesses and workers into Good Work Austin's membership community.

The ideal candidate is a natural relationship builder who enjoys connecting with new people, isn't afraid to walk into a restaurant and start a conversation, and is energized by helping grow a mission-driven organization. We're looking for someone who thrives on building relationships, enjoys meeting new people every day, and is energized by being out in the community rather than sitting behind a desk.

Working closely with the Executive Director, the Program Director develops strategies that leverage healthcare access as an entry point for deeper engagement with Good Work Austin. By building relationships with workers, employers, and community partners, the Program Director helps expand participation across the organization's programs while advancing its mission to improve jobs and working conditions in the local food and beverage industry.

This position also oversees program evaluation, partnership management, grant reporting, and long-term strategic planning to ensure the Healthcare Access Program continues to grow as a sustainable and impactful initiative.

• Serve as the primary ambassador for Good Work Austin's Healthcare Access Program throughout Austin's food and beverage industry.
• Spend significant time in the community conducting in-person outreach to restaurants, bars, food trucks, catering companies, and other hospitality businesses.
• Meet monthly outreach and membership recruitment goals while maintaining a strong pipeline of prospective business and worker members.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with restaurant owners, operators, managers, chefs, and food and beverage workers.
• Recruit new businesses and workers into Good Work Austin's membership network through one‑on‑one outreach, presentations, networking events, and industry…