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Overview

The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, established in 1981, is among the world's leading graduate and professional schools of nutrition. Its mission is to improve the nutritional well-being of people worldwide through the creation of new knowledge, its application and dissemination, and the education and training of future leaders in the field. Faculty, students and staff at the school include physicians and other health practitioners, biomedical and clinical scientists, nutritionists and epidemiologists, agricultural and environmental scientists, economists, psychologists and others whose work on food and nutrition contributes to the sustainable, equitable development of human societies.

What You'll Do

The part-time Project Coordinator position offers an exciting and challenging opportunity to help improve food, nutrition, and agriculture policy and programming by coordinating the day-to-day operations of two related multiyear projects: the Innovative Methods and Metrics for Agriculture and Nutrition (IMMANA) Fellowships program (Phase II) and the Food Prices for Nutrition project.  

The IMMANA Fellowships, jointly funded by UKAid and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, offers one-year fellowships for emerging leaders researching agriculture, nutrition, and health linkages in Africa and Asia.  Food Prices for Nutrition is a related project jointly funded by UKAid and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for research on the cost of nutritious diets. Food Prices for Nutrition works to equip governments and civil society with accurate, updated metrics to monitor the cost and affordability of healthy diets, for use in guiding agriculture and food system change.

The Project Coordinator will work under the supervision of the Project Administrator, collaborating with others to carry out administrative and financial, planning, and support tasks for all three projects. Duties will include, but are not limited to: processing financial transactions, tracking project spending, preparing consultant and subcontract agreements in accordance with Tufts policy and procedures; assisting with planning events and meetings, liaising with external partners and collaborators, supporting development of study protocols, literature reviews, field research and dissemination, and assuring compliance with applicable policies and regulations.  The allocation of effort for this position is expected to be 40% for IMMANA Fellowships, and 10% for Food Prices for Nutrition. A successful Project Coordinator may be able to shift into a full-time role or work on new projects as previous projects end.

Financial management:

• Process transactions and ensure payments are made in a timely manner and accounted for in compliance with university policies, sponsor rules and government regulations
• Prepare consulting and subcontract agreements, in accordance with Tufts policy and procedures, and monitor staff levels of effort and payroll expenditures
• Compile and analyze data on project expenditures and activities, draft text and submit quarterly, annual and other reports in anticipation of reporting deadlines, plan for future expenditure and activity with budgets in appropriate formats, re-budget to account for changes in project circumstances such as updated international exchange rates
• Collaborate with the central offices at Tufts, such as the Office of Research Administration, Office of Sponsored Accounting, Global Operations, and officials at the Friedman School for administrative processes related to the grant and to promote the grant activities
• Assist with identifying additional funding opportunities and preparing grant applications

Operations:

• Plan and track timelines and action items for project activities, events, conferences, and meetings
• Maintain communication with meeting participants and ensure responsiveness
• Procure project materials and supplies and manage inventory
• Coordinate travel for research staff and partners
• Develop meeting agendas and take and clean meeting minutes

Research support

• Conduct literature reviews as needed and maintain database of documents
• Manage project software and online applications, such as Microsoft Office Suite, Skype, Asana, Endnote, Box, WebEx, and Zoom
• Liaise with counterpart staff at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, to coordinate joint reporting vis-à-vis the project’s funder, UKAid, its supervisory Steering Committee (SC), and International Panel of Experts (IPE)
• Outreach to IMMANA Fellows, Mentors and other grantees to facilitate their pursuit of project goals, compliance with applicable regulations, and dissemination of research results.

Dissemination of results

• Contribute to content for reports, project summaries, project websites, and social media
• Assist with planning and implementation of research dissemination activities at conferences, workshops, and events

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements:

• The following required knowledge and skills as typically acquired by completing a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition science, development economics, policy, public health and/or another related field related to Friedman’s mission.
• 1-3 years of professional experience in project coordination or research administration;
• Clear and precise written and verbal communication skills in email, documents and website materials;
• Attention to detail and computational skill with spreadsheets for managing expenditure and financial reporting;
• Self-motivation to achieve the highest levels of professional excellence and ethical conduct;
• Collaborative orientation with high levels of organizational and time management skills; ability to work quickly and independently in response to changing circumstances.

Preferred Qualifications:

In addition to basic requirements, desirable qualifications are: familiarity with international nutrition, food, and agriculture policy issues, familiarity with sustainability diets, food prices, modeling, experience with sponsored program administration policies and procedures at Tufts or similar universities, familiarity with reporting requirements for private and foreign funding sources, and experience living and working in low-income countries.