Nutritionist

The Nutritionist will lead efforts to improve the nutritional value and diversity of meals provided by Food for Education. This role includes coordinating menu planning, nutrient enrichment, and nutrition surveys to ensure meals meet the dietary needs of school-aged children. The Nutritionist will also oversee the coordination of nutritional testing, ensure evidence-based, cost-effective improvements to the menu, and support long-term nutritional planning and reporting.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
  
• Minimum 4 years’ experience in nutrition programming, preferably in school feeding, community nutrition, or institutional meal planning.
  
• Experience in cost-effective meal planning, food analysis, and recipe development for large-scale feeding.
  
• Familiarity with fortification, local food systems, and behavior change communication.
  

Menu Development & Nutritional Enhancement

• Design and periodically review menus to ensure they are balanced, diverse, and aligned with national and international nutrition guidelines for school-aged children.
  
• Develop recipes incorporating affordable, locally available ingredients.
  
• Introduce innovative meal components (e.g., fortified foods, pre-cooking preparation of plant-based proteins) to improve nutrient content, micronutrient absorption, and meal appeal.
  
• Collaborate with kitchen and procurement teams to align menu plans with preparation feasibility and ingredient availability.
  

Nutrition Analysis & Monitoring

• Conduct nutritional profiling of meals, including macronutrient and micronutrient content per serving, utilizing laboratory services and NutriSurvey data
  
• Track and evaluate the nutritional adequacy of meals over time using standard tools.
  
• Lead efforts to fortify meals with key nutrients (e.g., iron, vitamin A, zinc) in collaboration with suppliers and fortification partners.
  

Research, Pilot Testing & Menu Diversification

• Together with the Operations team, lead trials and pilot tests of new meal components or ingredients before program-wide adoption.
  
• Research best practices and innovations in school feeding nutrition (e.g., biofortification, food-to-food fortification, dietary diversification).
  
• Build a database of alternative protein sources and nutrient-rich local foods suitable for school meals.
  

Nutrition Education & Behaviour Change

• Develop child-friendly nutrition education materials and activities to accompany the school meals program.
  
• Lead pilots on the implementation of nutrition education, working closely with the Impact and Operations team to assess pilot effectiveness and develop reports to inform roll-out.
  
• Train kitchen staff, teachers, and school health committees on basic nutrition.
  
• Support community engagement efforts to encourage healthy eating at home.
  

Policy, Compliance & Reporting

• Ensure nutritional standards comply with national school feeding policies and food-based dietary guidelines.
  
• Participate in policy reviews, donor reporting, and documentation of nutrition outcomes.
  
• Generate periodic reports on menu performance, nutrient intake gaps, and improvement recommendations.