Policy and Programs Director, Global Food Institute

• Educating the next generation through the lens of food;
• Becoming a hub of cross-disciplinary research, translation and innovation; and
• Convening leading experts in local, state, federal, and global food policy.

• Develop and advance a programmatic and policy agenda in collaboration with team members and other policy experts that promotes equity and justice, addresses historic and systemic inequities, and advances the GFI's mission to ensure a food system that supports everyone - especially people with low incomes and historically marginalized groups.
• Plan, develop and implement, in partnership with the GFI team, a national and local strategy and initiatives and build the operational infrastructure to support such activities, including hiring staff.
• Lead project management and operations of the GFI programs team and projects, including the prioritization and assignment of internal projects. Manage them from end to end, ensuring that projects remain on schedule and lead successful outcomes. Ensure that grant deliverables are met.
• Play an integral role in GFI's leadership team, helping to set the strategic vision and values for the organization as well as promoting a culture and environment that reflects those values.
• Coordinate across disciplines and departments at the University to advance and leverage research, teaching, convening, and the University's mission to address the most complex food related problems.
• Lead the development of our learning and knowledge into opinions, organizational positions and best practices which can be used to create policies that drive the food system forward in the optimal direction.
• Design and execute GFI events, such as conferences, convenings, webinars designed to engage and inform the GW, stakeholder, policy maker and media communities.
• Develop strong relationships with funding entities that support or are interested in GFI's work and collaborate with GW's Department of Development and Alumni Relations team to ensure continued financial support for this work from philanthropy, government, and individual donors.
• Develop and foster strategic relationships, including recruiting public and private sector partners from diverse communities as well as supporting shared research efforts.
• Support the GW student community, including by providing support to the Food Leadership Minor, working on shared programming with GW Departments and Schools and other student engagement activities.
• Serve as a spokesperson for GFI issues for the media, at conferences, with funders and other stakeholders, and other speaking engagements.

• You have a deep commitment to GW's values, honesty, with the highest ethical standards.
• You have a naturally collaborative mindset that readily engages with others, encourages others to share the spotlight, and celebrates and supports the success of colleagues and partners.
• You have an entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit; enthusiastic about building and launching a new enterprise.
• You move fluidly from strategy to execution. You appreciate the big picture and feel inspired to set a bold vision, but you know it's all in the details. You manage projects fluidly, fiercely prioritize, and track timelines, data and information all in an organized and systematic fashion. You don't drop balls, miss deadlines or forget to respond to someone's inquiry - and you are not afraid to roll up your sleeves and do the work.
• You inspire and motivate others to action. You build relationships quickly and deftly, and people trust you. You leverage your storytelling skills to elevate the impact of our work in a way that inspires others to action.
• You're a driver of results. You've demonstrated the ability to drive results in the pursuit of ambitious goals, and you combine your exceptional strategic, analytical and creative thinking skills with your penchant for using data to drive decision making to achieve impressive outcomes.
• You're a systems thinker and creator. You're unfazed by ambiguity and thrive in situations where you get to build something out of nothing or create order out of chaos. You want to do work that's never been done before, better than anyone's ever done it. You build systems that last beyond your tenure in prior roles you've held, but you believe nimble systems are preferred to bureaucracy. You build trust and leverage meaningful relationships to get things done. A relationship builder at heart, the people you work with trust you to leverage relationships to get things done in a mutually beneficial, non-transactional way.
• You are an excellent and fluid communicator. People go to you to help them convey complex ideas in a compelling manner and in the right format. You're able to leverage strong written and verbal communication skills across your responsibilities - funding proposals, communicating complex information to stakeholders, you understand that clarity, timing, sequence and format of communications is a key driver of our ability to succeed.
• You are high impact, low-ego and kind to yourself and others.
• Prior experience directing projects and programs from strategy setting to delivery and design.
• Deep experience, ideally 10 years or more, in one or more aspects of the food and nutrition arena, including food security, nutrition security, federal food programs, sustainable agriculture, food processing, and/or food is medicine with a record or publications and presentations in the applicant's field of expertise.
• A multi-disciplinary mindset and the willingness to get up to speed quickly on a wide range of technical topics.
• Strong managerial and strategic skills with demonstrated ability to lead effectively in and across teams; successfully manages projects and budgets.
• A portfolio of contacts relevant to the work of GFI.
• Demonstrated research, writing and analytical skills with a particular love of and skill in writing.
• Experience securing and providing appropriate stewardship of philanthropic gifts and research or project grants from foundations and the government.
• Willingness to travel for meetings and engagement with key partners.
• Excellent understanding of local, state and federal legislative and executive process, including budget and appropriations processes; proficient understanding of all timelines and procedural rules related to legislative and rule-making process.
• A strong determination to work on building a more just and fair food system for all.

How is pay for new employees determined at GW?

The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.