Food is Medicine Program Manager

University of Wisconsin Madison•Madison, WI

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Family Medicine & Community Health is recruiting for a Food is Medicine Program Manager to provide strategic operational leadership for a transformative, university-wide initiative supported by the Kern Family Foundation. The Food is Medicine Initiative brings together the School of Medicine & Public Health, College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, School of Human Ecology, UW Health, UW Extension, community organizations, agricultural partners, and health systems to advance research, education, clinical implementation, and community partnerships that improve health through food. The Food is Medicine Program Manager serves as the strategic operations and implementation partner to Departmental Principal Investigators/Co-Investigators, translating institutional vision into coordinated execution across multiple schools, disciplines, and external partners. This position provides integrated leadership for project planning, operational coordination, stakeholder engagement, communications, governance support, and implementation of complex, cross-functional initiatives while helping establish sustainable infrastructure for long-term institutional growth. In addition to leading day-to-day program operations, the Food is Medicine Program Manager will participate in executive-level strategic planning with university leadership, contribute to the leadership of the UW–Madison Food is Medicine Working Group, and support organizational development associated with a future campus-wide Food is Medicine Center. This position is well suited for a collaborative, strategic leader with demonstrated success managing complex initiatives, building partnerships across diverse organizations, and translating vision into measurable impact. This is a unique opportunity to help shape one of the nation's leading university-based Food is Medicine initiatives and contribute to building an enduring institutional model that advances health, strengthens communities, and supports sustainable food systems throughout Wisconsin. This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location. This position has been identified as a position of trust with access to vulnerable populations. The selected candidate will be required to pass an initial caregiver check to be eligible for employment under the Wisconsin Caregiver Law and every four years.

Requirements

Five years of progressively responsible experience leading complex programs, strategic initiatives, or cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders.
Bachelor's degree in public health, healthcare administration, health sciences, nutrition, business administration, organizational leadership, education, implementation science, or a related field required.
Cover letter required
Resume required
Continuous eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

Nice To Haves

Seven or more years of progressively responsible leadership experience in an academic medical center, healthcare system, university, public health organization, or comparable complex organization.
Experience supporting executive leadership, strategic planning, organizational development, and multidisciplinary initiatives.
Experience working across healthcare, nutrition, food systems, agriculture, public health, education, or community partnerships.
Experience helping build, launch, or scale a new program, center, institute, or strategic initiative within an academic, healthcare, nonprofit, or governmental organization.
Experience using data, metrics, and evaluation methods to measure performance and inform strategic decisions.
Master's degree in public health (MPH), healthcare administration (MHA), business administration (MBA), nutrition (MS/RDN), organizational leadership, education, implementation science, or another related discipline preferred.

Responsibilities

May exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
Creates a program plan and structure, monitors progress and performance against the program plan, and identifies, resolves, or escalates program risks and issues
Represents and advances Food is Medicine initiatives through stakeholder engagement, collaboration, impact evaluation, dissemination, and scaling of evidence-based practices that improve health outcomes, healthcare delivery, food systems, and community well-being.
Facilitates the estimation of program costs, resources, and time required to complete the overall program, monitors activities and budgets, directs and leads component project manager activities for consistency and alignment, and works with program leadership to ensure these targets are met.
Follows established change control processes if targets can no longer be met
Leads and manages efforts to determine and coordinate the sharing of resources among component projects to the overall benefit of the program
Prepares regular reports to communicate the status of the program within and beyond the program team, communicates program goals, risks, and status with program executive level, program sponsors, and stakeholders, and develops and uses appropriate dashboards, measures, and reporting tools
Manages the activities of outside contractors and vendors to ensure they are integrated into the program and that the organization receives satisfactory standards of service
Sets priorities, allocates tasks, and collaborates with project staff to meet program targets and milestones.
Manages the change control process and acts as the mid-level decision making authority
Provides strategic leadership and serves as the operational integrator for the Food is Medicine Initiative, guiding its evolution into a sustainable UW–Madison center through long-range planning, governance development, operational infrastructure, funding diversification, partnership cultivation, and stakeholder alignment.
Cultivates partnerships across academic, healthcare, public health, agricultural, philanthropic, policy, and community sectors to advance innovation, expand impact, and position Wisconsin as a national leader in Food is Medicine implementation.