Senior Director of Clinical Nutrition Services

1.0 FTE   Full time   Day - 08 Hour   R2656037   Onsite   108340002 Clinical Nutrition Inpatient   Other   PALO ALTO, 300 Pasteur Dr, California
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Day - 08 Hour (United States of America)
Stanford Health Care (SHC) invites an accomplished executive to become the Senior Director of Clinical Nutrition Services—a high-impact leadership opportunity at one of the nation’s most respected academic health systems. SHC combines discovery with outstanding diagnosis, treatment, quality, compassion, and coordinated care, supported by 16,100+ employees and premier programs in cancer, neuroscience, orthopedics, cardiovascular surgery, and organ transplant. It hosts the region’s only Level I trauma center between San Francisco and San Jose, is a Magnet-designated organization since 2, carries Joint Commission accreditation and a Five-Star CMS rating, and has earned Vizient awards and repeated U.S. News Honor Roll recognition.

In this role, you will provide operational leadership for Clinical Nutrition Services, partnering with the VP – Patient Care Services and Business Clinical Support Services to plan, direct, and continually improve nutrition care, policies, staffing, regulatory compliance, and patient outcomes. You will build a high‑performing, evidence‑based team and foster collaboration across SHC to elevate quality and the patient experience.

The ideal candidate is an engaging, authentic, strategic thinker with exceptional critical thinking, strong negotiation skills, and a commitment to staff development, accountability, and transparent leadership. This is a significant career opportunity to influence nutrition services within a premier academic health system dedicated to discovery and exceptional patient care.
This is a Stanford Health Care job.

A Brief Overview
The Senior Director of Clinical Nutrition Services provides SHC system leadership for inpatient, outpatient, and specialty nutrition programs across multiple sites. This leader sets the strategic vision and direction for Clinical Nutrition, advances clinical excellence, innovative care models, and integrates nutrition into multidisciplinary care standards across the continuum. The Senior Director partners with other senior clinical leaders, physician leaders, population health teams, and other executives to ensure nutrition is embedded in SHCs mission for exceptional patient care, education, and research. The role oversees multi-site operations, develops systemwide clinical nutrition standards, directs large-scale initiatives, and drives measurable improvements in patient outcomes, quality, and operational performance.

Locations
Stanford Health Care

What you will do

• Develops and executes the mid-to-long term strategic plan for Clinical Nutrition across SHC multiple sites, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities in quality, safety, research, and operational excellence.
• Serves as the senior authority on clinical nutrition standards, regulatory interpretation, professional practice, and systemwide policies.
• Develop specialty nutrition programs targeting high-risk populations to reduce utilization and improve outcomes.
• Leads the expansion of inpatient, outpatient nutrition services, and virtual nutrition programs while driving innovation and new care models including digital health, population health nutrition, and specialty nutrition programs (i.e., oncology, transplant, metabolic health, and other chronic diseases).
• Ensures delivery of evidence-based, patient-centered medical nutrition therapy and standardizes clinical care pathways, documentation, and car models across all locations.
• Leads SHC system-level initiatives aimed at improving malnutrition identification and treatment, reducing complications and readmissions, improving LOS, and enhancing patient experience.
• Directs research, academic integration, and teaching initiatives in collaboration with Stanford School of Medicine and other academic partners.
• Oversees multi-site clinical operations, budgets, capital planning, staffing, and productivity frameworks.
• Focused on partnership with physicians, nursing, pharmacy, analytics, and finance to evaluate program performance, ROI, resource utilization, and opportunities for growth.
• Represents Clinical Nutrition on clinical and executive-level committees, councils, and strategic planning forums and Stanford Health Care at regional and national level.
• Serves as a strategic advisor to senior leaders on nutrition science, public health, patient outcomes, and interdisciplinary care integration.
• Builds and sustains a high-performing workforce, supporting leadership development, specialization pathways, certification achievement, and succession planning.
• Ensures regulatory readiness and compliance across inpatient, ambulatory, and community-based programs.

Education Qualifications

• Masters degree in Nutrition, Dietetics, or related field from an accredited college or university required.

Experience Qualifications

• Minimum 10 to 12 years of progressive leadership experience in clinical nutrition services within academic medical center or complex healthcare system with multi-sites or enterprise-level oversight required.
• Strong background in leading both Inpatient and Outpatient Clinical Nutrition programs required.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Deep knowledge of clinical nutrition science and its application across complex patient populations.
• Ability to lead large-scale organizational initiatives and influence change in a matrixed academic medical center.
• Demonstrated success in program development, strategic planning, and performance improvement.
• Strong executive presence, communication skills, and experience presenting to senior leadership and governing bodies.
• Advanced operational planning, financial, and business acumen.
• Knowledge of regulatory standards for nutrition services across inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Ability to support clinical research, participate in academic initiatives, and foster a culture of inquiry and evidence-based practice.
• Capabilities in workforce development, leadership coaching, talent development, and management.

Licenses and Certifications

• RDN - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist required
• Advanced Specialty Certification (e.g., CNSC, RDN-AP, CDCES, BC-ADM) preferred

These principles apply to ALL employees:

SHC Commitment to Providing an Exceptional Patient & Family Experience

Stanford Health Care sets a high standard for delivering value and an exceptional experience for our patients and families. Candidates for employment and existing employees must adopt and execute C-I-CARE standards for all of patients, families and towards each other. C-I-CARE is the foundation of Stanford’s patient-experience and represents a framework for patient-centered interactions. Simply put, we do what it takes to enable and empower patients and families to focus on health, healing and recovery.

You will do this by executing against our three experience pillars, from the patient and family’s perspective:

• Know Me: Anticipate my needs and status to deliver effective care
• Show Me the Way: Guide and prompt my actions to arrive at better outcomes and better health
• Coordinate for Me: Own the complexity of my care through coordination

Equal Opportunity Employer Stanford Health Care (SHC) strongly values diversity and is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination in all of its policies and practices, including the area of employment. Accordingly, SHC does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity and/or expression, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, veteran status, or disability, or the perception of any of the above. People of all genders, members of all racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Qualified applicants with criminal convictions will be considered after an individualized assessment of the conviction and the job requirements.

Base Pay Scale: Generally starting at $94.35 - $125.03 per hour

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training. This pay scale is not a promise of a particular wage.