Director, Feeding Change

MILKEN INSTITUTE•Washington, DC

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Feeding Change plays a senior leadership role supporting the execution, coordination, and growth of Feeding Change’s food systems work. Reporting to the Senior Director, this position is responsible for overseeing food systems programming across Milken Institute Signature Events, advancing sustainable and resilient food systems initiatives, and shaping food policy outputs. The Director focuses on engagement and partnership primarily with private-sector leaders across the food, agriculture, and health ecosystems, as well as internal collaboration across the Milken Institute. The Director works closely with the Senior Director to translate strategic priorities into high-impact programs, funded initiatives, and public-facing deliverables. The position combines content expertise, project leadership, external engagement, and cross-team coordination, while supervising one Senior Associate responsible for day-to-day execution and collaborating closely with the broader Feeding Change team.

Requirements

Minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in food systems–related fields, including food policy, nutrition, agriculture, sustainability, or food security.
Master’s degree in food systems, public health, nutrition, agriculture, sustainability, planning, or a related field.
Exceptional writing and critical thinking skills, with demonstrated experience producing high-quality, public-facing content for diverse audiences, including reports, briefs, and other published materials.
Experienced in leading qualitative and quantitative research, guiding analytical work and synthesizing evidence to inform strategic decision-making.
Strong public speaking and external engagement skills, with experience representing organizations through panels, convenings, media interactions, or other public forums.
Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with excellent judgment, prioritization, attention to detail, and follow-through.
Demonstrated success engaging and aligning diverse stakeholders, including private sector partners, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and bipartisan policymakers.
Adaptive, solutions-oriented leader who excels in dynamic environments and works effectively amid ambiguity and change with demonstrated ability to build and execute new initiatives, respond to emerging challenges, and deliver high-quality work under pressure
Demonstrated operational and project leadership experience, with a strong ability to manage complex initiatives, oversee workflows, and drive projects from concept through delivery in fast-paced, evolving environments.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience in food systems transformation, including policy, market-based, and cross-sector approaches to advancing sustainable and resilient food systems.
Experience advancing global and/or national food security initiatives through collaboration with multinational or large-scale food and agriculture companies or consumer packaged goods businesses
Working knowledge of customer relationship management, project management, and qualitative analysis tools, including platforms such as Salesforce, Airtable, Trello, and Atlas.ti.

Responsibilities

Leading content strategy and stakeholder engagement for signature events: Oversee a suite of global food systems–focused panels and convenings across Milken Institute Signature Events (e.g., Global Conference, Future of Health Summit, Middle East and Africa Summit, Asia Summit, and others), including identifying and engaging key leaders, framing content, and supervising teams responsible for logistics and execution.
Growing the research portfolio: Lead the expansion of Feeding Change’s sustainable and resilient food systems work by supporting the development of externally supported projects and partnerships, and by managing initiatives from concept development and proposal development through publication and dissemination, including stakeholder engagement.
Building the global food security leadership collective: Support the development and coordination of this collective focused on tensions and opportunities between food security and resilience, including relationship-building with global food and agricultural companies and other key stakeholders.
Advancing the food policy agenda: Develop and shape food policy written materials, including policy briefs, comment letters, and other short-form policy materials, contributing expertise to Feeding Change’s broader food policy engagement.
Providing organizational leadership: Synthesize content across Feeding Change initiatives to identify opportunities for alignment, coordination, and operational efficiencies. Serve as an external leader for Feeding Change’s food systems work through written communications, speaking roles, and participation in public and private events. Provide high-level input and oversight over the development and implementation of project management plans to ensure timely, high-quality execution. Identify trends and emerging areas across food systems, food policy, agriculture, nutrition, and food security landscapes, and recommend topics for integration into content development and programming. Track and assess the external environment to identify short- and long-term programmatic opportunities and support the development of a strong, relevant stakeholder network.
Other duties as assigned.