How to hire a research dietitian

How to hire a research dietitian, step by step

Here's a step-by-step research dietitian hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a research dietitian job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new research dietitian
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a research dietitian job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The research dietitian hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a research dietitian to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a research dietitian that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of research dietitians.

   Type of Research Dietitian	Description	Hourly rate
   Research Dietitian	Dietitians and nutritionists are experts in the use of food and nutrition to promote health and manage disease. They advise people on what to eat in order to lead a healthy lifestyle or achieve a specific health-related goal.	$15-47
   Nutrition Internship	Nutrition interns are individuals who are on the job training for the tasks performed by licensed nutritionists or dieticians. The interns provide a nutrition care process that includes prescription of parenteral and enteral recommendations and analysis of laboratory values... Show more	$11-25
   Nutritional Consultant	A Nutritional Consultant provides assistance regarding food service and nutritional programs. They help patients improve their health and control of disease.	$14-60

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Data Collection
   • Principal Investigators
   • Informed Consent
   • Study Protocols
   • Medical Nutrition Therapy
   • Weight Loss
   • Clinical Trials
   • IRB
   • Nutrition Assessments
   • Individual Nutrition
   • Eating Disorders
   • NIH
   • Hypertension

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage all IRB submissions, sponsor communications, participate in monitoring visits, drug reconciliation and dispensing.
   • Assist with testing and QA of new programs, workflows and software systems.
   • Provide dietary counseling to patients enroll in major pharmaceutical trials and in-house studies.
   • Provide nutrition assessment and calculate individualized nutrition prescriptions to ensure patients' nutritional needs are met.
   • Coordinate a high-risk research site for international study focuse on FDA and CE mark approval of implant insulin delivery technology.
   • Provide individualized nutrition consultations for sports nutrition, weight-loss, diabetes, hypertension and hormonal changes.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your research dietitian job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A research dietitian can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, research dietitians' average salary in alabama is 51% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level research dietitians 67% less than senior-level research dietitians.
   • Certifications. A research dietitian with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a research dietitian's salary.

   Average research dietitian salary

   $57,712yearly

   $27.75 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level research dietitian salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a research dietitian job description

   A research dietitian job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a research dietitian job description:

   Research dietitian job description example

   The mission of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (HNRCA) is to promote healthy aging through nutrition science to empower people seeking to enjoy long, active, and independent lives. HNRCA investigators conduct the world's most advanced studies on nutrition and aging. HNRCA scientists examine how nutrition and physical activity play a major role in the prevention of the major chronic degenerative conditions and diseases associated with aging.
   
   The Metabolic Research Unit (MRU) is an HNRCA scientific core that supports and facilitates the clinical aspects of data and biological sample collection from volunteer human subjects. MRU staff provide nursing, dietary, participant engagement, and study management services. The Dietary Assessment Unit (DAU) provides expertise and services in dietary data collection methods, coding, data cleaning and management, and dietary data analysis, as well as assistance in the development of dietary intervention sections of new protocols, advice on dietary data collection methodologies, production of manuals of procedures and other nutrition-related materials, and development of new methodologies to improve the collection of dietary data.
   What You'll Do
   
   The Research Dietitian will work with principal investigators to develop and implement research-driven feeding protocols, will translate those protocols into standardized operating procedures that ensure high-quality food service by the HNRCA metabolic kitchen, and will work with dietary technicians and other MRU/DAU staff on menu development and the delivery of research diets related to human nutrition studies. The Research Dietitian will also lead and/or participate in dietary screening of study participants for various research protocols; administering protocol-specific instructions/dietary guidance to active study participants; developing and implementing research diets; managing dietary data collected by MRU; training and instructing diet technicians, dietetic interns, and other dietary staff. They will also lead and/or participate in the administration and review of dietary assessment tools for multiple protocols, including food records, 24-hour recalls, and food frequency questionnaires.
   
   The Research Dietitian will also assist with data entry/coding and quality control checks of dietary data collected by the MRU/DAU. In addition, they will assist the DAU/MRU Manager in the following: DAU-related literature searches; development and validation of new dietary assessment tools as required with new protocols; and recruitment, hiring, on-boarding, and training of permanent and temporary MRU and DAU staff.
   
   What We're Looking For
   
   Basic Requirements: MS in Nutrition, Dietetics, or equivalent Registered Dietitian (RD) One to two years of experience in a research setting Microsoft Office, Medline/PubMed, familiarity with nutrition assessment databases Strong verbal communication skills; interacts well with others Ability to obtain ServSafe and Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training to work with human subjects within one month of start date Preferred Qualifications: Massachusetts License for Dietitians/Nutritionists (LDN) Experience with Nutrition Data Systems for Research (NDSR) or similar food analysis program and familiarity with U.S. food items and food patterns Two or more years of research experience An employee in this position must complete all appropriate background checks at the time of hire, promotion, or transfer.
   
   Equal Opportunity Employer - minority/females/veterans/disability/sexual orientation/gender identity.
   
   recblid awtka75mn21q2vlye1o2oqxra00hwv

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find research dietitians for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   To find research dietitian candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting research dietitians requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new research dietitian

   Once you've found the research dietitian candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new research dietitian. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a research dietitian?