Senior Program Officer, Food & Nutrition Policy & DRIs

National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; United States; Hybrid; USD 105,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

The National Academies in Washington, DC seeks a Senior Program Officer for the Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture program to oversee a 50‑month study updating the Macronutrient Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). You will guide the study committee, coordinate staff, and manage scientific, technical, operational, and financial aspects to deliver a rigorous consensus report.

Responsibilities include consensus leadership from planning through publication, committee recruitment, meetings, information

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of human nutrition and related scientific, technical, or policy issues, including familiarity with Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), systematic reviews and meta‑analyses, and dietary intervention trials.
• Strong program and project leadership skills, including the ability to independently manage complex, multidisciplinary projects involving scientific experts, sponsors, staff, budgets, schedules, and multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to evaluate, synthesize, and communicate complex scientific and technical information clearly and accurately to scientific, policy, professional, and public audiences.
• Strong facilitation and consensus‑building skills, including the ability to support productive deliberation among experts with differing perspectives while maintaining the independence and integrity of the National Academies’ consensus process.
• Ability to analyze complex scientific, programmatic, and operational issues, exercise sound independent judgment, and develop practical solutions within institutional policies and project requirements.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple responsibilities, anticipate project risks, and adapt plans as circumstances change while maintaining attention to quality, deadlines, and resource constraints.
• Ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with committee members, sponsors, colleagues, external constituents, and staff across organizational boundaries.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach, and develop staff and to foster an effective, collaborative team environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including demonstrated proficiency in communicating scientific, technical, and policy information.

Responsibilities

• Directs the consensus study process from committee formation through report completion and dissemination, ensuring the project fulfills its statement of task, schedule, budget, and institutional requirements.
• Guides the committee through planning, information gathering, deliberation, consensus building, report development, external review, revision, and final publication while maintaining close coordination with the committee chair, members, and staff team.
• Oversees identification and recruitment of potential committee or panel members and preparation of appointment materials in accordance with institutional policies and procedures.
• Leads the planning and execution of committee meetings, information‑gathering sessions, workshops, and related convening activities.
• Provides scientific and technical leadership for research and analytical activities supporting the study.
• Supports the committee throughout development of the consensus report, including drafting sections based on committee direction and reviewing and editing content for clarity, consistency, accuracy, and adherence to institutional requirements.
• Leads communications activities associated with assigned projects to ensure timely and accurate information is available to relevant audiences.
• Develops and manages strategies to disseminate reports and other project products to relevant scientific, policy, professional, and public audiences.
• Supervises and develops assigned project staff with minimal oversight, establishing priorities and expectations, assigning work, providing guidance and feedback, supporting professional development, and participating in performance management.

Skills

Nutrition science

Project leadership

Policy communication

Stakeholder collaboration

Synthesis and analysis

Education

Master’s degree in nutrition or related field

Ph.D. in related field preferred

Job description

The National Academies in Washington, DC seeks a Senior Program Officer for the Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture program to oversee a 50‑month study updating the Macronutrient Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). You will guide the study committee, coordinate staff, and manage scientific, technical, operational, and financial aspects to deliver a rigorous consensus report.

Responsibilities include consensus leadership from planning through publication, committee recruitment, meetings, information