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Position: Project Director – Regenerative School Meals Initiative.

Location: New York, NY, US.

Salary: $172,000 – $193,000 annually.

Position Overview

The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) is seeking a Project Director to lead operational and programmatic support for the Foundation’s Regenerative School Meals (RSM) initiative. The initiative aims to address the dual crises of child malnutrition and climate change by connecting school meal systems with regenerative agriculture—thereby delivering ecological, nutritional, and economic benefits at scale. By expanding access to regenerative school meals (RSM), we seek to create a significant impact through three core levers:

• Meals: Enhancing the delivery, quality, and regenerative sourcing of school meals, with support from the Global School Meals Impact Accelerator (SMIA) within the World Food Program.
• Markets: Driving market incentives and financing mechanisms that encourage regenerative agricultural practices, including through "lighthouse initiatives" which demonstrate the impact of linking farmers, investors, and purchasers, including government purchasers for school meal procurement.
• Mindsets: Advocating for climate-resilient, regenerative school meals as a global policy priority, ensuring support from a range of international agendas on nutrition, climate, and human capital.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Food, the Project Director will serve as a strategic integrator across the Foundation’s Food team and with external partners to ensure executional excellence and operational clarity across workstreams in East Africa, East Asia, and the US. The Project Director will also ensure collaboration and alignment with the Rockefeller Foundation Catalytic Capital’s (RFCC) initiative "Reimagining Humanitarian Nutrition Security." The successful candidate will possess a deep understanding of program management, effective stakeholder coordination, and a passion for sustainable food systems and nutrition.

Work Schedule

This role is on a hybrid schedule and requires presence in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities Strategic Alignment & Execution

• Establish cross-functional workflows and internal alignment processes across the RSM global initiative, including RFCC’s "Reimagining Humanitarian Nutrition Security."
• Design and manage execution systems such as "OneRF SWAT" meetings and track deliverables for global pilot projects.
• Collaborate with Strategy, Policy, Communications, and Resource Mobilization teams to set and monitor time-bound program goals.
• Lead development of work plans, facilitate alignment across core teams, and elevate issues that impede progress.

Operational Process Management

• Implement internal communication protocols and workflows, including RACI alignment across workstreams.
• Monitor impact metrics in collaboration with the Strategy, Learning & Impact team and lead quarterly reporting efforts.
• Oversee program budgets and manage transparent tracking of resource use and results.
• Facilitate team learning culture by designing and managing documentation, processing innovations, and shared planning tools.
• Develop and manage the team’s CRM system and serve as a point of contact for relationships.

Internal & External Partnerships

• Support Resource Mobilization efforts through management of pipeline tracking, partner cultivation outreach, and leadership reporting.
• Represent the Foundation in meetings with partners and funders, ensuring internal debriefs and coordinated follow-ups.
• Maintain and manage relationships with coalition grantees and partners, tracking evolving insights into regenerative food systems and school nutrition.
• Serve as a credible, thoughtful representative of RF’s goals and values both internally and externally.

Education, Experience, and Skills

• Generally expected to have ten years of experience leading fast-paced, strategic projects in a relevant setting, such as strategy units in companies, governments, large non-profits, project-based professional service firms, or rapid-growth start-ups.
• Experience working in strategy and management consulting, the philanthropic sector, grant-making, partnerships, or co-investments by other donors is a plus.
• Expertise in process design and management, organizational transformation, and systems management.
• Familiarity with regenerative agriculture, climate-smart food systems, or school nutrition programs is preferred.
• Skilled in project planning tools, CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce), and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to navigate complexity with diplomacy.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Balances Stakeholders: Anticipates and balances the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Data & Detail-Oriented: Approaches work with precision, using data and structure to inform execution.
• Directs Work: Provides clarity, eliminates barriers, and enables cross-functional collaboration.
• Manages Complexity: Synthesizes large volumes of information to solve problems and guide decisions.
• Strategic Learning: Learns through experimentation and actively uses feedback to inform improvements.
• Values Differences: Recognizes the value of different perspectives, commits to being self-aware and respectful, and seeks to learn from new and different voices.

Benefits

The Rockefeller Foundation offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that includes health insurance programs, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment, a generous 401K, parental leave, and various forms of paid time off, all to help our employees feel energized, cared for, and engaged.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Rockefeller Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the Foundation ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status, liability for service in the United States Armed Forces, or any other protected status.