Culinary Dietitian (Needham)

Position Summary:
The Culinary Dietitian develops, implements, and manages age- and culturally appropriate culinary medicine and medical nutrition therapy using evidence-based practice and the Nutrition Care Process. This role includes patient/family education, coordination of services in the Teaching Kitchen, staff supervision and training, and program development. The Culinary Dietitian serves as an expert resource to both internal teams and the broader community, integrating culinary nutrition research into practice and promoting innovation and excellence in care delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver evidence-based culinary medicine and medical nutrition therapy tailored to diverse patient populations.
• Educate patients, families, caretakers, clinical staff, and community members through engaging culinary demonstrations and presentations.
• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Teaching Kitchen, including training and coordination of sous chefs, guest chefs, physician partners, RDs, dietetic interns, and volunteers.
• Coordinate clinical and culinary nutrition care, ensuring strict adherence to standards of care and best practices.
• Mentor, teach, and evaluate dietetic interns/students; serve as a consultative resource across hospital departments.
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with academic institutions and external partners.
• Design systems and criteria for monitoring program quality, effectiveness, and compliance with accreditation and regulatory standards.
• Apply culinary nutrition and clinical research to improve patient care, department resources, and recipe development.
• Lead or contribute to professional education forums, departmental publications, and resource development (e.g., diet manuals, databases).
• Stay current on trends in culinary nutrition, health care, and food systems; actively participate in professional organizations and conference presentations.

Qualifications:
Education:

• Required: Bachelor's degree in Nutrition & Dietetics or a closely related field
• Preferred: Master's degree

Licensure & Certification:

• Required:
  
  • Registration by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) as a Registered Dietitian
  • Licensure by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Licensed Dietitian

Experience:

• Required: At least one year of progressive experience in culinary nutrition and/or clinical dietetics
• Preferred: Experience in teaching or educational programming