Real Food Challenge

Applications close July 5th. Position begins first week of August.

Organization Overview

Real Food Challenge (RFC) harnesses the power of youth and universities to create an equitable and sustainable food system. After winning dozens of campaigns nationally over the last decade that have resulted in $80 million committed to our definition of Real Food we have proven that student organizing can drive substantial change in the food chain across the country.

Our Real Food Calculator is a Google Sheets-based, data analysis tool developed by RFC to assess institutional food purchasing against our Real Food Standards. Originally designed as a student-led accountability tool to measure campus progress toward values-based procurement goals, it has grown into a widely used platform that tracks institutions’ Real Food spend, identifying opportunities for improvement and aligning purchasing practices with sustainability, equity and transparency goals. Learn more about the Real Food Calculator HERE .

Position Overview & Responsibilities

The Calculator Specialist will both manage full implementation of the Calculator at select campuses (~100 hours labor per Calculator) as well as support campus groups in implementing their own Calculators at other locations (~30 hours labor per Calculator).

The Calculator process has four distinct phases:

Scoping: mapping the landscape of actors and decision-makers at a given campus, understanding what data needs to be procured and who can provide it, establishing an overall timeline for the project

Onboarding & training: ensuring everyone who will be involved in the Calculator process is equipped with the information they need

Calculating: receiving and cleaning data, researching products to see if they meet our criteria, data entry and validation

Presentation: translating calculator output into visual and narrative forms for popular consumption and use by the rest of the RFC team

The Calculator Specialist will:

Support campuses running Real Food Calculator assessments, including training, cleaning data and data validation

Run the Real Food Calculator on select campuses, as determined by the Procurement Director

Document progress and takeaways for all Calculator assessments

Collaborate with Procurement Director to refine Calculator functionality

Qualifications Core Qualifications

Strong familiarity with Google Sheets and Google Apps Script

Experience providing technical assistance to others

Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize tasks, and problem-solve in a remote environment

Familiarity with food systems, food justice, or values-based procurement, with an understanding of how institutional supply chains operate

Preferred Experience & Skills

Experience with the Real Food Calculator

Experience working within regional food supply chains or institutional procurement contexts

Experience supporting or building data tools, dashboards, or user-facing systems (e.g., spreadsheets, web-based tools)

Alignment with Real Food Challenge’s values, including food sovereignty, racial justice, and transforming inequitable food systems

Terms

This is a remote position and can be based anywhere in the United States of America. Current staff are based in California, New York, Virginia and somewhere in between.

This is a contract position paid at $28 per hour for up to 20 hours per week. It is a fixed‑term, 10 month contract with the possibility of extension pending review.