Director, Food Is Medicine

The Rockefeller Foundation provided pay range

This range is provided by The Rockefeller Foundation. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

$/yr - $/yr

The Director plays a crucial part in the Foundation’s Food is Medicine (FIM) initiative, a $100M effort to integrate healthy food and nutrition programs into healthcare to improve health outcomes, enhance nutrition security, reduce costs, and support sustainable food systems. Based in New York and reporting to the Vice President, Food, the role shapes strategy and execution for FIM, including grantmaking, partnerships, and cross‑functional collaboration.

It also drives thought leadership through convenings, research agendas, and publications that elevate science and success stories. The Director will manage a Program Associate on the FIM team, as well as occasional graduate interns and/or consultants. The Director has deep expertise in the U.S. food system, including supply chains, public‑private innovation, and the roles of public and private sectors in diet and health.

Success depends on the ability to design effective strategies, deliver on specified goals across multiple work streams, and build trust‑based partnerships across diverse stakeholders. Passion for advancing food, nutrition, and policy solutions that create lasting impact is essential.

Hiring Range: $172,051 - $193,600. This represents the present low and high ends 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 role is based in New York, NY, and required to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

• Strategically design and lead new and existing program areas within the FIM initiative, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and leveraging the FIM market to advance local, regenerative, and ‘good food’ producers.
• Forge and sustain key partnerships at both community and national levels to drive market growth and impact, including deepening the FIM team's collaborations with the private sector and leaders in the food supply chain.
• Translate complex systems‑change opportunities into actionable, multi‑year strategies and initiatives. Oversee the sourcing, structuring, and stewardship of grants, investments, and partnerships that deliver measurable impact and advance the Foundation’s mission.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, ensuring strategic coherence across the Foundation’s food, FIM, and U.S. portfolios. Champion alignment of program objectives with broader organizational goals and assets, including Communications and convenings.
• Serve as a recognized thought leader and RF representative in FIM, food supply chains, good food procurement, and food policy. Influence external discourse and policy through high‑level engagement and expertise.
• Deliver strategic communications—written and verbal—on program strategy, outcomes, and impact to diverse internal and external audiences. Represent the Foundation through published works, public speaking, media interviews, and thought leadership platforms.
• Lead high‑priority collaborations with public sector leaders (state and federal), private sector partners (investors, companies), and non‑profit organizations (researchers, advocates) to advance shared objectives and systemic change.
• Curate and mobilize a network of experts, influencers, and practitioners to inform strategy and accelerate impact, with a focus on FIM, food systems, and nutrition.
• Build and maintain trust‑based relationships, managing complex, multi‑partner initiatives and multi‑workstream efforts to achieve measurable outcomes.
• Recruit and engage additional funders to co‑invest with the Foundation, amplifying resources and accelerating progress toward shared goals.
• Oversee a robust grant portfolio, including the identification and onboarding of new grantees, the development of grant scopes, and the effective management of ongoing relationships to advance FIM strategies.
• Champion a culture of accountability and…