Senior Research Scientist

Hours per week 37 Project Title Senior Resarch Scientist - Food data and tools in nutrition research Months Duration 18 Interview Date 20 Oct 2026

We are looking for a Senior Research Scientist to lead research activities around food composition data in nutrition, and coordinate analysis capabilities in dietary assessment research relevant for QIB and the wider research community. The post holder will be responsible for activities including: (1) working with the FN-NBRI team and external stakeholders on new food composition data acquisition and reporting, ensuring the highest quality is maintained, (2) developing data analysis capabilities from dietary assessment tool outputs for the wider research community, (3) leading and supporting on FN-NBRI research grant proposals, (4) coordinating food data standardisation activities, and (5) developing training activities related to FN-NBRI core resources and capabilities.

Within QIB, the post holder will work closely with the Head of the Food and Nutrition National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (FN-NBRI), the rest of the FN-NBRI team, QIB group leaders in Food, Microbes and Health ISP, Communications and Business Office and QIB Extra. Externally, the post holder will work with various external collaborators including the OHID team at DHSC, external nutritionists and consultants, Eurofins, industry and industry bodies, other food compilers from Europe and beyond, and a wide range of users from academia, industry and NGOs across the food and nutrition field.

Percentage Undertaking and overseeing new food composition data acquisition and curation, including sampling design studies, collating and evaluating data, and preparing data (individual foods and recipes) for publication. 40 Supporting internal (QIB) and external scientists in using dietary assessment tools available both within FN-NBRI and wider (e.g. digital tools, online FFQs, 24h recalls), developing data analysis capabilities from dietary assessment tool outputs (e.g. generating diet quality scores, food groupings, etc), and making these available to the wider community.

20 Leading on nutrition data research activities for grant submission either by supporting grants or leading grants in FN-NBRI areas (e.g. around nutritional quality of plant-based diets, diet and sustainability etc), utilising FN-NBRI data resources. 10 Active dissemination and stakeholder activities related to food composition data, nutrition and health via social media, talks, scientific publications and popular articles. 5 Contributing towards Nutritional Information Solutions, including calculating and checking nutritional labels for SMEs.

5 Overseeing CoFID data prompt updates within the food composition database manager (FoodCASE) and ensuring they aremade available to the wider research community through FN-NBRI tools (e.g. the FN-NBRI searchable tool). 5 Training others on eg new plant bioactives data acquisition and input into the eBASIS database. 5 Contributing to discussions of food data standardisation and FoodCASE with other European data compilers through EuroFIR working groups and lead on topics of FN-NBRI interest (e.g. industry data acquisition, protein, etc).

5 As agreed with the line manager, any other duties commensurate to the post. 5

Requirement Importance A BSc degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science or related discipline Essential A PhD degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science or related discipline Essential

Requirement Importance Knowledge of handling food composition data and recipe calculation procedures Essential Working knowledge of data analysis using R or Python Essential Knowledge and experience of using different dietary assessment tools (FFQs, Dietary logs, 24h recalls) Essential Knowledge of nutrition and health, in particular nutrients and their contribution to healthy diets Essential Knowledge of dietary quality scores and generating them Desirable Knowledge of food composition data management tools Desirable

Requirement Importance Experience of generating and/or using food composition data (e.g. nutrient intake assessments, nutrition surveys, research studies) Essential Experience in contributing to applications and securing grant funding Essential Research experience and track record of scientific publications related to nutrition and dietetics Essential…