Company description

The Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy, Teachers College Columbia University (Tisch Food Center), cultivates research about connections between a just, sustainable food system and healthy eating and translates it into recommendations and resources for educators, policy makers, and community advocates. The Center focuses on schools as critical levers for learning and social change.

Job description

The Tisch Food Center is hiring a Policy Analyst to work on two complementary nutrition education policy studies. These studies will shed light on the landscape of publicly funded nutrition education in New York State and New York City. The final result will be reports informing policy makers, advocates, funders, and other stakeholders about the state of nutrition education in New York State and City governments. Under the direction of the Assistant Executive Director, the Policy Analyst will work closely with Center leadership and the project team to collect and analyze data and make recommendations. Research will encompass nutrition education directed to a wide variety of audiences and settings. This is a one-year grant funded position.

Specific duties include but are not limited to:

• Working with the policy team to research and analyze local and state policies related to nutrition education, including legislative requirements or frameworks, rules adopted by government agencies/departments, and the programs, processes, and systems in use by state/local agencies/departments to implement those policies.
• Conducting research through a variety of approaches including, but not limited to, review of statutes and adopted rules; review of budgets and appropriations; review of external literature and research; review of demographic data; and key informant interviews with local and state leaders and stakeholders.
• Identifying contacts in states including leaders at local and state agencies, elected or appointed officials, and leaders of nutrition education organizations
• Data entry, cleaning, and analysis
• Drafting and presenting key internal communications on your research and analysis for the policy team, TFC’s leadership team and other internal stakeholders.
• Synthesizing research and drafting reports, briefs, and other documents on how state and local leaders leverage policy to deliver nutrition education.
• Planning for and preparing materials for events including conferences, roundtable discussions and symposiums.
• Attending meetings; supporting related projects with the TFC Policy team as needed.

Qualifications
Required

• Experience and knowledge of the political process and its interface with nutrition policy
• Strong research and analysis skills, as well as the ability to analyze qualitative and some quantitative data and synthesize technical information for broader audiences.
• Engagement with and awareness of nutrition policy trends and issues.
• Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to distill, prepare, and communicate complex information for a variety of audiences across various platforms (publications, presentations, web-based media)
• The ability to work independently and manage multiple responsibilities simultaneously
• The ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment
• The ability to critically assess challenges and identify effective solutions
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively with researchers, public officials, and with a range of stakeholders and across organizations
• The ability to engage in multiple complex research projects simultaneously
• A high level of self-motivation, self-direction and intellectual curiosity.
• Microsoft Office proficiency, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint
• An exceptional commitment to accuracy and attention to detail
• Passionate about supporting connections between a just, sustainable food system and healthy eating, particularly in schools
• Some travel within the city and state required. Car not required.

Desired

• Experience with local, state, and/or federal policy within a government agency, legislature, or policy research organization
• Experience with institutional review boards

Experience & Education

• BA/BS or Masters degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Public Administration, Public Policy, Food Studies or related field (Masters degree or higher is strongly preferred)
• Relevant work experience: Bachelor’s plus 3 years, or Master’s plus 1 year (can have been gained during course of academic study)

To apply visit the Teachers College HR portal: https://careers.tc.columbia.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1461013092534

Applications are due by Friday May 6, 2016.

Compensation

this position is: salaried

Application instructions

Deadline

May 06, 2016