Director for the Center for Innovative Practices in WIC

National WIC Association (DC, Maryland, Virginia area (within 2 hours of the NWA office) )

An overarching goal of NWA is to increase equitable access to WIC services to positively influence short- and long-term health outcomes for women and families across the country. NWA understands the relationship between the strength of the WIC workforce, WIC services, research and evaluation, smart policy solutions, and equitable health outcomes.

There is momentum for driving equitable access to WIC services by both modernizing WIC clinic practices and centering WIC services around a health equity framework. The pace at which WIC providers were tasked with modernizing clinic practices because of COVID-19 and the need for remote service delivery, presented opportunities and challenges for WIC agencies nationally. As a community, WIC continues to learn about practices, activities, and policies that can support enhanced WIC program delivery.

As a result of this momentum and renewed focus on enhanced WIC program delivery, NWA is establishing the Center for Innovative Practices in WIC (CIP-WIC). CIP-WIC will make it easier for NWA members to access resources, technical assistance, and expertise from within the WIC community and NWA staff, to support the adoption of promising practices that increase equitable access to quality WIC services.

The Center will provide technical assistance and expertise to NWA members and WIC stakeholders, elevate promising practices from the field and encourage more explicit communities of practice.

In addition, the staff within the center will act as internal consultants to other teams within NWA. They will provide expertise on WIC nutrition and breastfeeding services; WIC research, innovation, and data; and, equity, diversity, and inclusion. This will help ensure that core NWA services can leverage in-house expertise to inform advocacy, member services, conferences and events, and strategic communications.

Position

NWA is looking for a full time Director for the Center for Innovative Practices in WIC.  The successful candidate will be an experienced manager who can lead a highly talented team and develop the Center for Innovative Practices in WIC. They will possess a clear understanding of the WIC program and be able to demonstrate knowledge of recent developments in WIC innovation.

In collaboration with NWA leadership, the Director, Center for Innovative Practices in WIC, will oversee the work of the Center, help establish this group as the premier source of information on innovative practices in WIC, manage the staff within the team, and oversee their portfolios. Specifically, the position will:

• Inform strategic development to support the CIP-WIC.
• In collaboration with the NWA Leadership Team and CIP-WIC staff, drive development and lead implementation of the annual work plan for the Center.
• Supervise staff within CIP-WIC. This includes mentoring staff, managing workload and capacity.
• Triage issues/topics to explore through grant funded work, and collaborate with NWA development leads to develop concept notes and funding proposals.
• Project manage to ensure grant funded projects within the Center are on track and meet deliverables.
• Manage requests from internal NWA teams for expertise on innovative practices in WIC.
• Develop processes for responding to the needs of NWA member requests for resources and technical assistance.
• Represent NWA to WIC stakeholders on issues specific to innovation.
• Develop strategies for monitoring and engaging with opportunities associated with the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the available USDA funding, and other policy developments to support outreach, innovation, and program modernization efforts in WIC.
• Collaborates with NWA Communications Director to ensure innovative practices in WIC are lifted up in strategic social media plans.
• Collaborates with the NWA Communications Team to plan strategic curated content collections for the WIC Hub.
• Develops and manages the annual budget for the CIP-WIC.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 8-10 years of experience working in WIC, maternal and child health, nutrition or food policy, health equity, food justice, or a related field.
• Demonstrated understanding of WIC and developments in innovative practices that have occurred in recent years.
• Master’s degree required.
• Demonstrated experience as a manager, managing multiple projects and talented teams simultaneously.
• Excellent organization, management, interpersonal, and written/verbal communication skills.
• Experience developing and managing departmental budgets.
• High energy, maturity, and leadership with the ability to position discussions at both the strategic and tactical levels.
• Experience motivating and leading a team.
• Sincere commitment to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, including staff, board members, volunteers, donors, program participants, and other supporters.
• Commitment to the mission and vision of NWA.
• Strong commitment to integrating equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging into strategy,management style, and the overall work of NWA.

Salary Range

•  $105,000 - $120,000

NWA provides competitive benefits, including hybrid work, tuition reimbursement program, ongoing professional development opportunities in addition to generous health care plans, paid time off, a company-matched retirement program and more.

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and two writing samples to jobs@nwica.org.  No phone solicitation accepted.

More Information: https://www.nwica.org/nwa-job-postings