Ascension is seeking a highly qualified Nutrition and Recovery Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support the transformation of the Commander, Navy Installations Command Morale, Welfare, and Recreation fitness program into an integrated Human Performance Optimization model.

The Nutrition and Recovery SME will provide specialized expertise in performance nutrition, fueling, hydration, sleep, recovery, wellness integration, and evidence-based behavior-change practices. The position will help establish an interdisciplinary model that supports Sailor health, resilience, operational performance, and mission readiness.

The ideal candidate understands that nutrition and recovery are operational performance capabilities—not stand-alone wellness activities. This individual must be able to translate scientific research and professional standards into practical programs, educational materials, operating procedures, and recommendations appropriate for a geographically dispersed Navy population.

This position is well suited for an experienced registered dietitian, performance nutrition specialist, sports dietitian, or human-performance professional who can collaborate with strength and conditioning, cognitive performance, resilience, training, technology, and program-management personnel.

2. Position Summary

The Nutrition and Recovery SME will support the design and implementation of an evidence-based nutrition, fueling, sleep, and recovery component within the Navy’s emerging HPO framework. The individual will advise the HPO Lead and interdisciplinary team on strategies that improve physical readiness, cognitive effectiveness, resilience, recovery, and sustainable performance.

The SME will evaluate existing practices, identify capability gaps, and recommend scalable nutrition and recovery services for individual, group, and command-level delivery. Recommendations must be practical within Navy operational environments and adaptable across installations, populations, schedules, and resource levels.

The position will also help identify appropriate screening tools, education methods, outcome measures, digital resources, and referral protocols. The SME must balance evidence-based practice, operational feasibility, privacy, accessibility, and the professional boundaries separating general performance education from individualized medical nutrition therapy.

The successful candidate will be analytical, organized, collaborative, and comfortable working in an evolving environment with limited direction. The candidate must anticipate program risks, develop actionable solutions, manage competing priorities, and communicate complex scientific information in language that leaders, fitness professionals, and Sailors can readily apply.

3. Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The Nutrition and Recovery SME will:

• Assess existing Navy fitness, wellness, nutrition, fueling, sleep, and recovery practices to identify gaps, risks, duplication, and opportunities for integration.
• Advise the HPO Lead on evidence-based performance nutrition, hydration, recovery, sleep, fatigue-management, and wellness strategies.
• Develop recommendations for integrating nutrition and recovery services into the broader HPO model.
• Design scalable nutrition and recovery programming for individual sessions, group education, command-level engagement, and virtual delivery.
• Translate current research and professional standards into practical guidance, decision aids, educational materials, and operating procedures.
• Recommend fueling and hydration strategies that account for training demands, operational schedules, environmental conditions, and individual performance goals.
• Establish recovery protocols addressing sleep, fatigue, hydration, post-exercise fueling, workload management, and readiness.
• Differentiate general performance-nutrition education from medical nutrition therapy and define appropriate referral pathways for clinical concerns.
• Collaborate with strength and conditioning, cognitive performance, resilience, medical, training, data, and technology specialists to create an integrated HPO model.
• Support the development or revision of standard operating procedures, program standards, role definitions, training requirements, and quality-control measures.
• Evaluate commercially available tools, digital applications, virtual platforms, and emerging technologies that may support nutrition education, recovery monitoring, and individualized performance guidance.
• Identify appropriate screening instruments, assessments, surveys, and performance indicators while protecting sensitive health and personal information.
• Define measurable nutrition and recovery outcomes and recommend methods for collecting, analyzing, and reporting program data.
• Review program content for scientific validity, operational relevance, consistency, accessibility, and alignment with accepted professional standards.
• Deliver briefings, workshops, consultations, and technical recommendations to Navy stakeholders, fitness personnel, program leaders, and interdisciplinary team members.
• Coach or train Navy fitness personnel on the appropriate delivery of approved nutrition, fueling, sleep, and recovery education.
• Document findings, assumptions, risks, decisions, recommendations, and lessons learned during the proof-of-concept effort.
• Contribute to pilot evaluation and continuous-improvement activities supporting broader HPO implementation across Navy installations.

4. Anticipated Tools and Processes

The successful candidate should be able to use or help establish:

• Evidence-review and professional research processes.
• Nutrition education and meal-planning resources.
• Sleep, recovery, hydration, and wellness screening tools.
• Training-load and perceived-recovery measures.
• Surveys, interviews, focus groups, and stakeholder workshops.
• Learning-management systems and virtual education platforms.
• Microsoft 365 applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.
• Data dashboards or visualization tools used to monitor participation and outcomes.
• Standard operating procedures, decision trees, referral protocols, and quality-control checklists.
• Privacy-conscious processes for collecting, storing, analyzing, and reporting participant information.

The role is not expected to diagnose medical conditions or independently provide clinical treatment unless those activities are specifically authorized and performed within the individual’s professional credentials and scope of practice.