Chief Nutrition, Culinary & Meal Programs Officer

Job Description

Job Description

Description:                                                                                                    

The San Antonio Food Bank is dedicated to ending hunger and strengthening communities across its 29-county service territory by providing nutritious food, expanding access to essential resources, and advancing innovative solutions that help individuals and families thrive.

Reporting to the President & CEO, the Chief Nutrition, Culinary & Meal Programs Officer serves as a member of the executive leadership team and provides strategic leadership for an integrated portfolio that brings together federally funded child nutrition programs, community meal programs, culinary operations, nutrition education, and farm and agriculture initiatives. The role aligns these functions to expand access to nutritious meals, promote healthy eating, strengthen organizational performance and financial sustainability, and maximize the Food Bank's long-term community impact.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a member of the executive leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy and collaborating with Chief Officers to align priorities, resources, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Lead an integrated portfolio that aligns agriculture, culinary operations, nutrition, and meal programs to transform food into nutritious meals, educational opportunities, and healthier communities.
• Lead and develop high-performing teams while fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Provide oversight of departmental performance, budgets, and financial sustainability, using data to drive continuous improvement and informed decision-making.
• Build strategic partnerships and represent the organization with government agencies, funders, community partners, and professional organizations to advance the Food Bank's mission and strategic priorities.

Meal Programs

• Provide executive leadership for the organization's federally funded child nutrition programs, community meal initiatives, and other nutrition-focused meal services.
• Ensure operational excellence, regulatory compliance, program quality, and financial stewardship through effective management of reimbursement-based funding, vended meal contracts, program budgets, and organizational standards.
• Strengthen and expand meal programs by increasing access, pursuing funding opportunities, optimizing operational and financial results, and adapting to evolving regulatory requirements.
• Lead meal production and nutrition services in support of the organization's emergency and disaster response efforts.

Culinary Operations

• Provide executive leadership for the organization's multi-site culinary operations, including community and production kitchens, meal production, menu governance, food quality, culinary education, and mission-aligned culinary enterprises.
• Establish and maintain standards for food safety, nutrition, consistency, operational efficiency, and customer experience.
• Advance culinary operations through innovation, continuous improvement, and collaboration to strengthen meal quality, operational excellence, financial sustainability, and mission impact.
• Partner with operations and program leadership to align meal production and distribution with organizational priorities, operational capabilities, and program needs.

Nutrition Education

• Provide executive leadership for the organization's nutrition education initiatives.
• Oversee the development and delivery of nutrition education programs, curricula, and community engagement efforts that promote healthy eating.

• Integrate nutrition education with meal programs, culinary operations, and farm initiatives to maximize community impact and healthy food choices.
• Advance nutrition education through strategic partnerships, innovation, evaluation, and continuous improvement.

Farm & Agriculture

• Provide executive leadership for farm operations and agricultural education initiatives.
• Strengthen connections between farm production, culinary operations, meal programs, and nutrition education while expanding public understanding of agriculture, nutrition, and local food production.
• Advance innovation in farm operations and food systems through emerging agricultural practices, technologies, strategic partnerships, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred in nutrition, public health, business, nonprofit management, agriculture, culinary management, public administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of eight years of progressively responsible leadership experience, with a proven record of leading complex meal programs, operations, and multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading USDA child nutrition programs at scale, including regulatory compliance, reimbursement administration, and large-scale meal production and nutrition service operations.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic leadership, translate strategic priorities into operational execution, and achieve measurable results.
• Experience overseeing complex budgets, reimbursement-based funding, government contracts, and financial performance.
• Demonstrated success leading organizational change, developing high-performing cross-functional teams, and fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Experience building strategic partnerships across nonprofit, education, government, agriculture, or community organizations.
• Ability to collaborate effectively as a member of an executive leadership team, building trusted relationships, aligning cross-functional priorities, and advancing shared organizational goals.
• Strong commitment to the mission and values of the San Antonio Food Bank.
• Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) or Registered Dietitian (RD) credential preferred.

Physical Demands

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions and responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is constantly required to sit, stand, talk, hear, reach, and utilize fine manipulation and near visual acuity. The employee is frequently required to walk, utilize gross manipulation, push, pull, stoop, and keyboard. The employee must occasionally lift, and/or move up to 50 pounds.

Work Environment

This job is performed in an indoor environment and occasionally may require attendance at outdoor events. You may be required to drive to various locations with varying conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and levels of work to be performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties.