Associate Director – Health & Wellness Programs

CIA Chef; Town of Hyde Park (NY); Remote; USD 85,000 - 98,000; Full time

Job summary

Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Center for Health & Wellness programs seeks an Associate Director to design and coordinate HKHL conferences and related health programs across CIA campuses and partner institutions. You will oversee curriculum development, satellite delivery, and online educational resources to advance health-focused culinary education.

The role requires collaboration with CIA and academic partners, leading session planning, content validation, and ensuring compliance with

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in industry fields (Public Health, Nutrition, Culinary, Hospitality Management or related).
• 5+ years of experience in nutrition/public health or related field required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Organize and lead program planning calls with CIA and partner leadership.
• Develop and update annual program schedules with sessions, content, abstracts, and presenters.
• Lead CME crediting process for CIA and partner institutions to ensure standards compliance.
• Oversee on-site execution of HKHL conference and satellite delivery locations; manage announcements, timing, and speaker introductions.

Skills

Teamwork & interpersonal skills

Communication

Presentation skills

Multitasking & prioritization

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent in Public Health, Nutrition, Culinary, Hospitality Management, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Posting Details

• Posted on October 23, 2026

Locations

Showing 1 location Hyde Park Hyde Park, NY 12538, USA

• Conference Operations
• Full-Time
• Requisition #: ASSOC005782

Description

The Job Duties of this position are able to be performed from our NY Campus, CA Campus or Remote.

The anticipated hiring range for this position is $ 85,000 - $97,500 . Hiring offers will be determined based on the final candidate’s qualifications and experience. The recruiter can share more information about what the anticipated hiring rate/salary would be based upon your specific qualifications during the selection process. The hiring range will be modified based on the location of applicants.

The CIA offers a substantial benefits package that includes medical coverage available at no cost to qualifying employees, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short and long term disability insurance, retirement savings plan with high employer contributions, a generous paid time off program, and more!

As the benefits package at the CIA results in a significant value above the base hiring rate/salary for this position, we encourage you to apply so that our recruiters can share more information with you about the benefits of working for the CIA.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Associate Director - Health and Wellness Programs works with the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and partnering academic institution leadership to manage and coordinate program development for the Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives (HKHL) conferences, as well as future health program delivery models. The Associate Director is responsible for organizing, leading, and overseeing HKHL, including satellite delivery of the conference, train the trainer curricula, and online educational resource development, in addition to select forthcoming health and wellness programs.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Organize and lead all program planning calls with the CIA & partner institution’s leadership teams.
• Develop, evolve, and update the annual program schedules with new sessions, content, abstracts, and presenters.
• Lead the Continued Medical Education (CME) crediting process for the Center for Food & Beverage Leadership on behalf of CIA and the academic partner institution to ensure program and all presenters are in compliance with the certification entity standards.
• Oversee and co-lead on-site execution of the three (3) day Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives conference and satellite delivery locations, but not limited to making announcements, managing presenter timing, introducing speakers, moderating sessions, etc.
• Lead presenter outreach and assist with invitations for the programs.
• Ensure all presenters are fully registered in the CIA’s online system and that their bios/headshots are updated on the website.
• Lead speaker and guest chef outreach to carefully develop, review, and discuss their roles in the program and the content of their sessions and presentations.
• Oversee and/or conduct nutritional analysis on new conference demonstration recipes.
• Work with chef presenters and the CIA culinary team on food & beverage (F&B) plans, demo plans, and recipes to ensure these all meet the needs of the target audience, as well as CIA-Harvard, and/or other academic institution’s recipe nutrition goals.
• Organize and lead briefing calls for all program sessions and pilot program preparation meetings.
• Develop, organize, and lead the development of HKHL program extension projects, educational programs, and digital content.
• Collect, review, organize, and edit (as needed) presenter PowerPoint slides prior to the program. Develop PowerPoint presentations as needed for conference sessions.
• Review and update toolkits and other key resources and help manage online content for course syllabus.
• Correspond, prior to the conference, with all presenters, to confirm timing, content, audio/visual (AV), etc.
• Create an internal production schedule (AV plan/outline), using CIA templates, to be used as run-of-show for stage management during the program.
• Coordinate with the operations team to plan an annual CIA-partner academic institution leadership dinner to occur during the Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives conference.
• Review course evaluation forms prior to next year’s program development and analyze and review results after the programs to suggest adjustments for consecutive programs.
• Develop copy for post-conference websites and e-blasts.
• Develop a top takeaways summary with key revisions for each year’s conference. Develop copy for post-conference reports for the President’s office.
• Review course evaluations from attendees in preparation for post-conference calls. Join post conference planning calls/debriefs at to be scheduled based on the program dates.
• Represent the CIA’s health programs at conferences, where applicable, and help promote the summits through involvement in program marketing and targeted attendee outreach.
• Lead innovative health program pilot projects, as assigned, including but not limited to the West Virginia Hospital Food pilot.
• Any and all other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in industry experience in Public Health, Nutrition, Culinary, Hospitality Management, or a related field.
• Registered Dietician (RD) credentials.

Experience:

• Minimum five (5) years of experience in nutrition, public health, or similar industry experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with recipe nutritional analysis.
• Knowledge of and considerable interest in food, sustainability, and cooking with some event coordination, restaurant or hospitality experience.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills; ability to be adaptable, dependable and handle multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently and manage complex programming and strategic project development.
• Must have a history of developing programs to support strategic vision, partnering with stakeholder groups and effective problem solving and negotiation.
• Ability to represent the CIA with numerous external stakeholders.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office software, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Excellent written, verbal communication, and presentation skills required. Must have demonstrated ability in organizational, time management, problem solving and interpersonal skills.
• Detail oriented and thorough.
• Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple competing tasks and demands.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Must be available to work nights and weekends as required due to business needs.
• Regular work requires a great deal of sitting and standing for extended periods.
• Regular work requires the use of a computer, sometimes in excess of eight (8) hours per day.
• Ability to frequently lift and carry 30 pounds.
• Must be able to travel for conferences and programs as needed.

Equal Opportunity Employer This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.