Manager, Nutrition and Climate

Position Overview

In November 2021 the Board approved a $105 million Food Initiative 3-year strategy that aimed to transform food systems to protect and improve health, sustain, and regenerate the environment, and build a more equitable future. The 10-year guiding star was: 500 million underserved people have improved dietary patterns through an equitable and regenerative food system. Today that guiding star is coupled with a guiding star aimed at converting 50% of agriculture to regenerative by 2040, if not earlier.

The intersection of nutrition and climate is central to the food team's current strategy. A bundle of grants aimed at advancing the measurement and consensus on the importance of Diet Quality necessitates a manager and advocate on the global stage. Additionally, during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), The Rockefeller Foundation announced more than $11 million in a first bundle of grants to ten organizations scaling Indigenous and regenerative agriculture practices around the world. The evidence makes clear the central role food systems can play in mitigating climate change. The funding will help scale the development, data analysis, financing, and empowerment of landscape stewards practicing regenerative agriculture to enable simultaneous gains to carbon sequestration, soil health, biodiversity, water quality, farmer profitability, yield, and cultural/spiritual cohesion.

The Rockefeller Foundation is hiring a Manager, Nutrition and Climate to advance this work. The Manager, reporting to the Global Vice President, Food Initiative, is responsible for shaping and managing a portfolio of existing and forthcoming grants, supporting, and developing external partnerships, and conducting targeted analysis on key topics to inform strategy and support the work of our partners.

Pay Range: $136,083 - $178,299. This represents the present low and high end of the Foundation's pay range for this position. Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

Work Schedule: This is a 2-year fixed-term contract on a hybrid work schedule, and required to be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Grant Management

• Manages a portfolio of grants within Nutrition, Diet Quality, and Regenerative Agriculture with support and direction from the Vice President; including understanding and building the capacity and success of potential grantees, designing and writing grant memos and other key documents, and managing grantee relationships.
• Helps the Regenerative Agriculture team (which consists of others on the food team with grants at the food and climate interface) assess incoming project opportunities, which includes shaping criteria to inform decision-making based on learning to date and evaluating the incoming pipeline of individual ideas, grant proposals and opportunities
• Serves as the Food Team's point person on Diet Quality, playing a key role in connecting metric developers and efforts at harmonizing measurement, such as via the "Bellagio Consensus on Diet Quality" (an effort to articulate a shared vision across UN agencies and metrics developers informed during a December 2022 Bellagio convening on the topic of harmonizing monitoring data for healthy diets)
• Analyzes key metrics and outcomes for initiative programs, advances a structured approach for measuring progress, understands and plans for risks
• Supports the Vice President and other team members in internal processes such as budget management, business plan and Board reporting, and communications as neede

Strategy

• Contribute to the development and implementation of the global food team's overall strategy and activities within the context of the Foundation's existing food strategy and emerging climate strategy
• Supports the Vice President and team in advancing internal integration and alignment with other relevant areas of work and supports coordination with key internal stakeholders
• Surfaces new developments, innovations, and trends in nutrition, the food-climate nexus, and Regenerative Agriculture by reading key reports, regularly engaging, and attending key conferences and events, and searching/scanning for innovation opportunities across the food + nutrition + climate nexus

Partnerships

• Develops ambitious investment and partnership opportunities in key areas, including sustainable consumption, healthy diets, regenerative agriculture, sustainable farming, Indigenous foodways, soil management & improvement, data sharing and interoperability, and more
• Facilitates design and delivery of impact-driven partnerships, specifically about key climate and nutrition goals and commitments elevated for COP28, COP29, etc.

Education, Experience, and Skills

• 7-10 years of relevant experience in nutrition, the food + climate interface, regenerative agriculture, food systems, or food policy. Practical field experience preferred.
• Master's required (or international equivalent) related to Agriculture, Nutrition, Soil Science, Agroecology, Agronomy, Environmental Engineering, Food Policy, or related discipline
• Demonstrated project management experience including experience developing and facilitating collaborative agenda-setting across organizations, co-design processes, and consensus building
• Possesses insight into the processes, partnerships, and work we are advancing
• Prior experience operating in a funding agency or philanthropy preferred
• Strong written and verbal communication skills imperative, including effective public speaking and the ability to communicate complex issues both verbally and in written form
• Experience developing, leading, and implementing a portfolio of projects with defined objectives, deliverables, monitoring and evaluation of results
• Experience navigating global food systems institutions and stakeholders, including building partnerships with senior leaders

Qualifications and Competencies

• Data Oriented: Consistently achieves results, by approaching work informed by data.
• Directs Work: Provides direction, delegates, and removes obstacles to get work done.
• Manages Complexity: Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Strategic Learning: Actively learns through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.
• Values Differences: Recognizes the value of different perspectives and commits to inclusion, equity, and diversity in every aspect of work.

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We work to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal and sustainable. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility, and ensuring equitable access to health care and nutritious food.

The Rockefeller Foundation offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that includes health insurance programs, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment, a generous 401K, parental leave, and various forms of paid time off, all to help our employees feel energized, cared for, and engaged.

As an organization, we focus on six values to advance our culture and continue our success. We are dedicated to being Transparent, Optimistic, Accountable, Collaborative, Trusted, and Equitable. We operate from a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything that we do. It is not only the right thing to do - we could not make an impact without our team members' diverse perspectives and experiences. We expect all employees at the Foundation to contribute by developing their unique perspectives and talent, challenging conventional wisdom through evidence and reason, and amplifying marginalized voices.

The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the Foundation ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status, or liability for service in the United States Armed Forces.

The Rockefeller Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.