Full Circle Food Fellow

This three-year fellowship position is funded through the Department of Environmental Quality’s Food Rescue and Composting Subaward application. The position reports to the director of sustainability and collaborates fully with University Dining & Catering, University Facilities and the Campus Kitchen food recovery program.

The Full Circle Food Fellow (FCFF) will be instrumental in building protocols, practices, and training programs and resources that support a comprehensive, holistic, system for food waste reduction at Washington and Lee.

Building on strong existing programs in waste minimization in dining operations, food recovery, and campus composting, the FCFF will collaborate with staff in each of these areas to facilitate best practices, track data, and analyze and report on results.

Washington and Lee University actively promotes a dynamic and welcoming environment that allows students and employees of multiple backgrounds and perspectives to learn, work, and thrive together. Successful candidates will contribute to that environment and exhibit potential for excellence in their areas of expertise.

Essential Functions:

• Working with both industry best practices and direct input from internal departmental experts, develop training materials and programs for various staff and student constituencies on reducing food waste, optimizing food recovery capacity, and maximizing waste diversion from landfill to compost through best practices in procurement, meal planning and preparation, event planning, meal service, and communication.

• Support development and implementation of consistent policies/practices for interdepartmental collaboration on food waste reduction efforts, including in both day-to-day operations and campus events.

• Participate in operational rotations and real-time troubleshooting to inform development of standards and policy.

• Assess and provide feedback on operations and events involving food service and disposal in support of continuous improvement.

• Aggregate and analyze data from dining, recovery, and waste programs to capture a full picture of campus food use/loss and identify opportunities for improvement accordingly.   Present findings and recommendations to key staff and the Full Circle Food Working Group.  

• Spearhead adoption and rollout of a campus Food Free Alert app.

• Coordinate the Waste Minimization Team Leader program, a staff incentive/development initiative.

• Prepare materials for quarterly grant reports to the VA DEQ.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills and ability to connect with a wide range of audiences, including both student and staff constituencies.

• Candidates should be well versed in the social and environmental impacts of food waste and informed and passionate about waste reduction and landfill diversion.

• Demonstrated ability in data collection, analysis, and reporting/visualization.

• Exceptional organization skills.   

• B.A. plus minimum one-year relevant professional experience or relevant equivalent experience.

Application Instructions:

Review of applications will begin August 14, 2026 and continue until the position is filled. Required materials include:

• Cover letter

• Resume

• Names and contact information for three professional references

Application instructions for internal and external candidates can be found at https://www.wlu.edu/employment-opportunities/jobs-at-w-l.

Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is $54,000.

Washington and Lee University also offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families. To learn more about working at W&L, benefits, and life in the Shenandoah Valley, visit jobs.wlu.edu.

Physical Requirements:

• Fingering: Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling.

• Grasping: Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.

• Repetitive motions: Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

Working Conditions: The worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Types of Work: Sedentary work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Exempt, Full Time, Benefit Eligible - Fixed Term (Fixed Term)

Washington and Lee is an Equal Opportunity Employer seeking candidates committed to high standards of scholarship, performance, professionalism, and to a welcoming campus community. Job description requirements are representative, but not all‐inclusive of the knowledge, skill, and abilities needed to successfully perform this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.