Food and Nutrition Officer – Public Health – Multiple Locations

• ​Play a part in fighting the biggest killer of Australians.
• A flexible, full-time opportunity, with a balanced focus on both outcomes and wellbeing.
• Generous salary packaging available, increasing your take-home pay.

Do you have an interest in influencing public health nutrition policy? Want to apply behaviour change theories to help more people in Australia adopt a heart-healthy eating pattern?

If so, this is the role for you!

With your experience in public health nutrition and health promotion, you will be responsible for developing evidence-based messages and behaviour change tools and resources for consumers and health professionals. You will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to persuade policymakers to invest in upstream changes.

If this high-impact work gets your heart pumping, apply today!

Responsibilities

• Support the Senior Food and Nutrition Advisors to develop a cross-organisational plan that will engage policymakers and health professionals in Heart Foundation food and nutrition evidence, position statements, recommended dietary patterns and the organisation’s equity goals.
• Utilise primary prevention principles to plan and develop evidence-based consumer health information, tools and dietary behaviour change resources that a range of health professionals (e.g. GPs, practice nurses, health promotion staff and the Primary Healthcare Workforce) can use to support people at higher risk of heart disease.
• Develop targeted key messages, conference posters, academic articles and presentations to engage health professionals.
• Develop evidence-based key messages to persuade policymakers to invest in upstream changes that will support people at higher risk of heart disease and provide research and coordination support to Heart Foundation responses to public consultations.
• Engage with internal partners and inter-sectoral stakeholders on collaborative opportunities to increase the impact of the organisation’s messaging about nutrition and physical activity to consumers and health professionals.

Let’s talk about you

To be successful in this role you will have:

Essential

• Approximately 4-5 years’ experience in the design and implementation of food and nutrition projects or programs, with a tertiary qualification in public health nutrition or a relevant nutrition subject.
• Competent in the translation of evidence and application of behaviour change strategies to design population-level health promotion interventions or projects.
• Strong written communication skills, with the ability to synthesise complex information and present it in a clear and logical way to a range of audiences.
• Proven project planning and management skills, with a focus on measurable results.
• Awareness of the diverse population in Australia and the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged populations.
• Ability to work collaboratively across functions of the organisation to deliver impactful projects and programs.

Desirable

• Experience leading health professional engagement projects or programs.
• Knowledge of issues, research and developments relating to the management and prevention of heart disease, such as heart healthy eating patterns and healthier weight strategies.
• Ability to interpret data and use key insights to continuously improve our work.

Why work with us?

Our team believe in our purpose: we make a difference every day through meaningful work. We promote active living and support our employees to have a healthy work-life balance.

• Generous salary packaging
• The ability to work from home up to 50% of your working week
• A positive and supportive culture
• Additional day of leave at Christmas
• Programs and initiatives that focus on your well-being at work.

Through the generosity of our donors the Heart Foundation advocates to improve public health and nutrition and is guided by the following Heart Foundation nutrition principles:

• Be grounded in a strong evidence base; both the contemporary evidence for dietary patterns, foods and nutrients in reducing cardiovascular risk and improving health outcomes, along with implementation evidence for effective activities which help to reduce, and not widen, inequities in nutrition-related health status for all Australians.
• Enable transparent labelling of food on packaged food products, alcoholic beverages and a nationally uniform mandatory labelling of kilojoules for foods purchased outside the home.
• Establish and implement supportive food and nutrition policies that place a strong emphasis on healthy food and drink environments outside the home, which include; reformulation, portion size and the price, promotion and marketing of unhealthy and healthy foods.
• Improve equitable and reliable access to affordable, nutritious food for those living in remote and non-remote Australia to minimise dietary related risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. 
• Ensure transparent governance, monitoring, reporting and surveillance of dietary intake and nutritional status of the Australian population, including regular National Nutrition Surveys.

Ready to apply?

To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter that addresses the essential requirements by clicking the ‘Apply Now’ button below by the closing date. Please refer to the position description available on our website for further information about the role, or contact [email protected] using the subject line: Food and Nutrition Officer – Public Health – Multiple Locations enquiry via EthicalJobs.

We can hardly wait to hear from you!

(PS: We may commence shortlisting candidates prior to the closure of this role, so please don’t delay submitting your application!)

Be yourself, express yourself

We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive work environment for all. We strive to represent the communities we serve and recognise the skills, knowledge and experience a diverse team brings to our organisation. We strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other diverse groups.

Our commitment to health & safety

We have a COVID-19 vaccination policy in place that requires all staff and volunteers to be fully vaccinated or hold a valid medical exemption. We may request vaccination or exemption evidence in the pre-employment stage.

Please note that any offer of employment will be subject to pre-employment checks which must be completed prior to commencement. This may include a national criminal history check, working with children check and other background checks relevant to the specific role.

A position description is attached.