Senior Director Scientific Affairs

Rosemont,Illinois,United States | In-office Tuesday through Thursday; visa sponsorship and relocation are not available for this position

People. Planet. Community.

Dairy’s journey starts on the farm, and the road we travel demonstrates our unwavering commitment to sustainable nutrition, as our farmers provide lasting and meaningful nourishment to people, the planet and our communities, both urban and rural.

We are a nonprofit organization located in the greater Chicagoland area and we're always looking for talented people to join our team who share the passion and motivation to promote the goodness of dairy.

The Dairy community’s health and sustainability commitment has a broad vision to provide consumers with the nutritious dairy products they want in a way that is economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially responsible. National Dairy Council (NDC) has a 100-year legacy in nutrition and a commitment to sustainability as an organization. NDC is modernizing its Nutrition, Regulatory, and Sustainability Affairs (NRSA) approach to engage diverse technical audiences that include nutrition scientists/academics, health professionals and authoritative health and wellness organizations in efforts to educate and amplify the science on the role of dairy foods in health, wellness, and sustainable food systems.

The Senior Director for Scientific Affairs will report to the Senior Vice President for Scientific Affairs and will help NDC amplify research about dairy’s health benefits and integrate knowledge and expertise in nutrition, product, and environmental research. The strength of dairy science within nutrition guidance is foundational to the work of the Scientific Affairs function, whose main aim is to protect and maintain dairy’s position in domestic and global food-based dietary guidelines.

The Senior Director for Scientific Affairs will have a strategic leadership role in the overall nutrition guidance strategy development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The Senior Director will provide strategic guidance to educate scientists, health professionals and the dairy community about dairy’s role in sustainable diets nationally and globally. They will foster cross-functional collaboration and integration of Scientific Affairs with Nutrition Research, Nutrition Affairs, Sustainability Affairs, and Communications teams, as well as other dairy partners and food and nutrition key opinion leaders.

In this role, the candidate will represent the dairy community for Dairy Management Inc. and National Dairy Council, as appropriate.

• Translate science and develop science-based content on dairy’s role in a healthy diet and sustainable food system
• Act as an expert scientific resource on dairy and contribute scientific expertise and leadership to NDC’s nutrition guidance strategy
• Lead in science writing of key knowledge products that amplify the latest science on the role of dairy foods in health, wellness and sustainable food systems e.g., science summaries, public comment
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Nutrition Research, Nutrition Affairs, Sustainability Affairs and Communications teams to interpret and translate science to develop educational resources, POVs and scientific symposia (e.g., ASN)
• Evaluate new relevant studies published in peer-reviewed literature; educate dairy community on implications, as needed
• Ensure research outcomes are credible, peer-reviewed, and communicated effectively to scientific and regulatory audiences
• Author papers for peer‑review journals and partner with key opinion leaders to draft and finalize consensus, perspectives and proceeding papers to amplify dairy science
• Educate key opinion leaders about science on dairy’s role in health, wellness and sustainable food systems
• Develop outreach and education programs for expert and scientific audiences on priority topics
• Create and execute scientific symposia at key scientific meetings
• Oversee development of literature reviews, meta-analyses and symposia proceedings
• Organize and implement science round tables about new and emerging areas of research on dairy foods
• Identify…