TITLE: Chief Nutrition Officer (CNO)

DEPARTMENT: Nutrition Services/Kitchen

REPORTS TO: Chief Executive Officer

SALARY RANGE: $155K - $180K

BENEFITS: Yes

STATUS: Full-Time, Exempt

CLASSIFICATION: Professionals

LOCATION: 730 Polk Street, San Francisco

Project Open Hand (POH) was established in October 1985 and incorporated in November 1986 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Since its beginning providing meals to those impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, POH now provides various nutrition interventions to people in San Francisco, Alameda County, Contra Costa County and some parts of Sacramento.

POH’s services include congregate meals for older adults and adults with disabilities and medically supportive nutrition interventions for people that have chronic health conditions. Our medically tailored nutrition services are accessed through our grocery centers in San Francisco and Oakland, satellite grocery center locations in San Francisco, and weekly home delivery of meals and groceries. As part of our nutrition interventions, clients have access to not only our meals and groceries, but educational services offered through our Nutrition Services team. This includes individual counseling sessions with our Registered Dietitians, cooking demonstrations, food demonstrations and various other classes and resources. Our Client Services team is also available to provide some added support to clients needing assistance with other beneficial resources.

Meals are medically tailored to address the needs of older adults, people living with chronic disease and people experiencing food and nutrition insecurity. Our medically tailored meal intervention includes meals that are catered to address specific dietary needs paired with education provided one on one or in a classroom setting by registered dietitians.

POH is a member of and the fiscal sponsor of the CA Food is Medicine Coalition (CalFIMC). CalFIMC has supported coalition members in advancing and updating the value propositions for nutrition services with public and private health plans, increasing the number of provider agreements with Medicaid managed care plans in CA. The Coalition also provides recommendations to CA Department of Health Care Services to improve quality, access, operations, and oversight of medically supportive food and nutrition services in CalAIM Community Supports.

POH’s current annual budget is $17 million.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Chief Nutrition Officer (CNO) reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer, Paul Hepfer https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-hepfer/) and serves as a key member of the Executive Management Team. The CNO will build on a culture established 40 years ago that emphasizes the critical role nutrition plays when recovering from a health issue or self-managing a chronic health condition. Our founder, Ruth Brinker ( https://youtu.be/m1nDkEk_gs0?si=uTIpgmXEDrj8ppIW}, stated about the HIV/AIDS

outbreak in San Francisco during the mid-1980s, that “these people were not dying of AIDS, they were dying of malnutrition”. Since that time, Project Open Hand has been a National leader in the Food is Medicine movement and our commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area Community has not waivered.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

The CNO will oversee the development and enhancement of menus based on National Standards. The CNO will also develop and adapt procurement standards to reflect the best science available, which includes a preference for plant-based meals and groceries with a commitment to lowering the organization's carbon footprint. The CNO will provide leadership, supervision, oversight, and management of a diverse team of approximately 25 indirect reports and approximately 4 direct reports. This team includes a senior director of kitchen operations, an Executive Chef, a manager of nutrition innovation and quality, a senior manager of nutrition services and8 registered dieticians.

The successful candidate will be passionate about food and nutrition and will be the organization's greatest champion in all things food related. To provide the highest level of dignity for the people we serve requires innovative high-quality meals and groceries, with a focus on continual quality improvement. The CNO will play a vital role in enhancing community partnerships with culinary programs, Colleges and Universities, and other key nutrition related partners. The CNO will play an active role in developing grant proposals, fundraising, business planning and growth, and ensuring financial viability; particularly related to food and nutrition service innovation and quality. The CNO will enthusiastically support the vision of the CEO and represent the CEO as needed in local and National forums.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

This position and organization will be an excellent match for someone who has over ten years of senior leadership in the food and nutrition space and is committed to advancing Project Open Hands Food is Medicine initiative. A proven leader in change management in regards to systems and efficiencies, this CNO will appreciate the rich history of Project Hand and will enter the position with humility and respect for the organization’s legacy and enthusiasm and optimism for the future.

• Registered Dietitian (Preferred)

• Masters’ Degree in public health, nutrition or dietetics, education or equivalent experience

• 7 years of experience in non-profit or healthcare management, health & social services management or equivalent field

• Experience working as a member of a senior team to support overall organizational and performance and change management

• Previous experience working with of older adults and people with multiple chronic health conditions and exceptional knowledge of nutrition needs of these individuals.

• Proficient in nutrition software programs

• Knowledge and understanding of medically tailored meal and grocery nutrition interventions and policy related to scaling and adoption by payers.

• Knowledge and understanding of the role of managed care health plans related CALAIM Community Supports and Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT)

• Knowledge and understanding of trauma informed nutrition services models

• Knowledge and understanding of food operations in a commercial or healthcare setting and applicable codes and standards.

• Experience and knowledge of health care payments (both fee for service & value-based) and associated operational and compliance requirements and excellent knowledge of budget development and business planning.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Ensure all POH food and nutrition services meet local, state and federal regulations.

2. Lead the development, review and approval of internal nutrition guidelines based on agency strategic goals and program contract specifications.

4. Provide ongoing review of research, evaluation and development of interventions to meet agency and research partners’ goals and objectives for improved health outcomes for populations served with a focus on culturally appropriateness and equity lens.

5. Manage Nutrition Services department and food related guidelines to ensure all program and grant obligations are met.

6. Develop and revise as needed a plan to ensure the long-term needs of the kitchen are met. This includes facility and personnel.

7. Approve all menus developed by Nutrition Services and Food Operations teams.

8. Development and assessment of quality assurance systems to evaluate food and nutrition programs and direct services to clients such as counseling, food demonstrations and nutrition education classes.

9. Provide/approve agency nutrition communications and produce external articles and white papers.

10. Provide nutrition expertise for agency strategic priorities including but not limited to sustainability, Client Centered Nutrition home model, quality improvement, and development of new diets and component-based meals.

11. Provide key performance indicator reports to senior leadership, board of directors and agency partners.

12. Participate in statewide and national chapters of the Food Is Medicine Coalition (FIMC) and support implementation and compliance to accreditation standards as it relates to nutrition services and food quality.

13. Participate as preceptor for dietetic interns

14. Design and implement nutrition programs and services including but not limited to medical nutrition therapy, diabetes self-management and education, and other nutrition programs and services as eligible for payment from the health care system, as applicable.

JOB COMPETENCIES:

• Team player: Demonstrates cooperative spirit, respects professional boundaries and is successful at sharing responsibilities with others

• Self-led: Knows and completes responsibilities in assigned timelines, asks for clarifications when needed

• Sensitive to the circumstances and needs of the critically ill and seniors, as well as people with mental health and substance abuse issues

• Customer oriented: Works well with all customers (internal staff and external contacts), promotes a positive image of the agency and works diligently to resolve customer issues

• Poised: able to maintain a calm, positive and constructive attitude during interactions with diverse populations, sometimes in challenging situations

• Ethical: Honest, accountable, maintains confidentiality

• Knowledgeable: Understands facets of job, keeps job knowledge current

• Well organized: Information organized and accessible, maintains efficient workspace, manages time well

• Takes Initiative: Takes action, seeks new opportunities, strives to see projects to completion

• Technical savvy: Skilled with computers, proficient with function appropriate technology, learns quickly, uses technology to enhance job performance with the interest and ability to learn new technology

• Creative: Ability to conceptualize fresh, compelling ideas for the department and agency

• Decisive: Thoughtful when considering options, seeks input from others, makes difficult decisions when necessary

• Leadership I: Completes all assigned tasks in a timely manner and is able to identify projects or work needed for future completion. Anticipates needs before they are assigned. Recognizes themselves as a departmental or function representative

• Professional Communicator: Excellent public speaking, written and verbal communication skills

• Problem solver: Strong analytical skills and able to creatively address and solve problems

• Innovative: Creative, offers new ideas, risk taker, amenable to change

• Budget Conscious: Ability to quantify cost and savings potential in relation to projects as well as develop and maintain a realistic departmental budget

• Project manager: monitors status of projects, understands project details, holds project owners accountable, delivers clear and accurate feedback

• Open-minded collaborator: understands that worthy goals are achieved through patience and perseverance— focusing on the vision rather than the challenges along the way

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands: While performing duties of job, incumbent is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit for long period of times; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds unassisted. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus

Work environment: The noise level in the work environment varies from quiet to loud. The temperature in the work environment will range from cold to warm

Approval/revision date: 03/28/2024

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