NUTRITION MANAGER

RESUME AND COVER LETTER REQUIRED!

ABOUT DC CENTRAL KITCHEN:

DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) is an iconic nonprofit and social enterprise that combats hunger and poverty through job training and job creation. Our approach provides hands-on culinary job training while creating living-wage jobs and bringing nutritious, dignified food where it is most needed in our city. We serve scratch-cooked farm-to-school meals in DC schools; deliver fresh, affordable produce to corner stores in neighborhoods without supermarkets; provide delicious catering; and operate cafes. Above all else, we are committed to creating a more just, equitable, and inclusive community, both outside our doors and right here on our team. We strive to offer a safe environment to learn, discover and develop individual strengths, and pursue meaningful career pathways. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we recognize and work to address the lasting effects of historic injustices and systemic racism, and we strongly encourage people of color, women, LGBTQ people, returning citizens, and people who have experienced poverty or homelessness to apply to join our team.

DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION:

The Food Access and Nutrition department is responsible for all aspects of DC Central Kitchen’s Food Access programs, services, and activities, including but not limited to menu planning, nutrition education, program implementation, budgeting, etc. This department also manages program compliance with relevant federal, state, and local policies, regulations, and procedures; facilitates effective business relationships with clients; and drives value through efficient service operations for contract meal programs including The Community Partnership (TCP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), and other programming that provides meals to the community. In addition to nutrition services, this department includes our School Foods program, which provides scratch-cooked, locally sourced nutritious meals to students at multiple schools throughout Washington, D.C., our Community Meals program, which ensures the efficient preparation and distribution of healthy meals to partner agencies (including homeless shelters, rehabilitation clinics, and after-school programs) throughout the region, and our Healthy Corners Program which brings healthful foods to small corner stores in communities with limited access to supermarkets and other robust retail food options.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Under the direction of the Associate Director of Nutrition, the Nutrition Manager will serve in a leadership role to drive menu management, nutrition education, and nutrition-informed community engagement across the organization. The Manager will be responsible for developing compliant menus that meet regulatory and contract standards for DC Central Kitchen’s Food Access programs. This role will work closely with nutrition, procurement, culinary operations, and school food operations teams to develop Chef-driven menus and recipes alignment with local-sourcing, cultural inclusivity, sustainability, and financial goals. This role will collaborate with culinary and school food operations on monitoring, evaluation, and training initiatives to drive continuous quality improvement and innovation. With support of the Associate Director, the person hired will become the subject-matter expert for technical nutrition needs across the organization, including maintaining all recipes, menus, nutrition labels, allergen data, etc. in the organization’s menu software. This role will also oversee planning, implementation, and evaluation of strategic, menu-aligned nutrition education and menu/nutrition-related community engagement across DC Central Kitchen’s Food Access programs. Strong attention to detail, ability to take initiative, excellent oral and written communication skills, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively are highly essential.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Menu Development

Develop cycle menus that meet meal pattern requirements, operational needs, and financial benchmarks for all schools and other contract meal programs, in close collaboration with culinary, school food operations, procurement, and community meals teams

Collaborate with Associate Director, procurement, school foods, community meals, cafe, catering & retail sales, Healthy Corners and production teams on new menu management processes and systems to drive continuous quality improvement, efficiency, and operational excellence.

In collaboration with the Executive Chefs, identify recipe testing needs (to include products, recipes, and packaging) in alignment with menu development schedule, establish recipe testing deadlines, engage in recipe development, product research, and taste tests, and monitor progress towards recipe testing goals to drive culturally responsive and fiscally responsible menu innovation

Maintain thorough and up to date knowledge of USDA Child Nutrition Program regulations to include, School Breakfast Program (SBP), National School Lunch program (NSLP), Seamless Summer Option (SSO), DC Healthy School Act (HSA), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Supper, NSLP Afterschool Snack, Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program (FFVP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Breakfast and Lunch.

Oversee coordination and implementation of promotional menus to support student engagements such as theme days, International Food Days, National School Lunch and Breakfast Weeks and Farm to School events

Create cycle dietary accommodations menus for common dietary restrictions, such as top-9 allergens, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan and texture modified menus

Provide on-going training and technical assistance to DCCK staff at the central kitchen and school- and community-based satellite kitchens to support execution of planned menus

Oversee planning of FFVP program, including creating monthly menus, developing and distributing required nutrition education materials, monitoring spend-down of funds, and conducting periodic informal program audits to ensure quality and compliance.

Conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation of menu performance by coordinating data collection and analysis from production records, formal observations, surveys, plate waste studies, and other metrics; to inform culturally responsive, data-driven menu development.

Nutrition Education & Community Engagement

Oversee planning, implementation, and evaluation of all nutrition education and nutrition-focused community engagements for the organization in alignment with grant and contract deliverables, including but not limited to: student surveys, theme meals, menu marketing, taste tests, extracurricular cooking classes, garden-based education, and Healthy Corners deliverables

Support Nutrition Specialist in nutrition education program development and execution as needed and maintain general working knowledge of nutrition engagement activities to ensure cohesive, consistent, mission-aligned programming.

In collaboration with Nutrition Team, create annual nutrition education and engagement plans in alignment with contract deliverables and organizational goals.

Support cross-departmental nutrition programming as needed, such as basic nutrition instruction for CJT, youth volunteer groups and other events identified by Associate Director.

In collaboration with Associate Director, create program logic model(s) for all nutrition programs with defined evaluation metrics, conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation using rigorous and validated methods as applicable, and prepare written and oral reports of program evaluation results.

Management & Administrative Duties

Mentor, coach, train, and develop team members across direct and indirect reports

Set annual performance goals for direct reports, monitor progress, and conduct mid-point and annual reviews using standardized goal-setting and performance evaluation processes.

Foster a positive and collaborative work environment that promotes professional growth and development.

Provide on-going training and technical assistance to DCCK staff at the central kitchen and school- and community-based satellite kitchens to support execution of planned menus and nutrition promotions.

Precept dietetic interns and Culinary Job Training Tracks students.

Attend internal and external team, client and community partner meetings as needed.

Receive continuing education and maintain RD credential and licensure in District of Columbia.

Perform other duties and tasks as required to maintain quality relationships with internal and external partners and to drive the vision, mission, and values of DC Central Kitchen.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor’s degree and 4 to 6 years of experience in Nutrition, Dietetics, or related field. School nutrition experience is preferred

Registered Dietitian credential required

Familiarity with all related USDA programs and regulations

Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), menu planning software (Experience with Mosaic or Gaia K12 a plus)

Demonstrated cultural competence and a commitment to the mission and values of DC Central Kitchen

Excellent oral and written communication skills and strong interpersonal skills

Ability to communicate effectively with all levels of management, front-line personnel, as well as the client

Highly organized, self-motivated, and detail-oriented with strong problem-solving and analytical skills

Comfortable working independently and collaboratively as a team

Must be able to obtain a DCPS clearance

Current ServSafe® Manager certification

Pre-employment background check and drug test are required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Must be capable of independent local travel.

Must be able to attend occasional night and weekend events.

May occasionally move Audio/Visual and other office equipment or lightweight items weighing up to 20 pounds for various meeting and event needs

May require moderate physical activity, including transporting, positioning, installing, or removing office equipment items, such as printers, computers, phones, and so on

May need to occasionally move about inside the office and commercial kitchen space to access supplies, materials, file cabinets, office machinery, etc.; constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer; constantly positions self to access and maintain computer equipment; and must be able to remain in a stationery position for at least 50% of the time.

Must be able to work in an environment where exposure to unusual elements such as extreme temperatures, fumes, dirt, smoke, loud noise, and a variety of odors is common.

BENEFITS:

Medical, vision, and dental insurance (DCCK pays 100% of employee premiums for individual coverage)

Flexible Spending Accounts

Paid Time Off (vacation, sick, and personal leave)

11 Company Paid Holidays

Bonding Leave for new parents

Commuter Benefits plan

Matching 401(k) program

Basic Life & Supplemental Life

Short-Term & Long-Term Disability

Wellness Reimbursement program

NOTE:

This document is an outline of the primary tasks assigned and may be changed at the discretion of management, formally or informally, either verbally or in writing. All team members are expected to assist DC Central Kitchen in achieving its goals even if such tasks are beyond the scope of this outline. The job description does not constitute an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.

DC Central Kitchen is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and a Strengths-based organization.