First, a note for dietitians who haven't worked in eating disorders
Most of the dietitians we hire come from hospitals, skilled nursing, clinics, or community nutrition. Very few arrive with eating disorder experience, and we stopped expecting it a while ago.
What actually predicts success here is the fundamentals: you can read a chart, you understand what the labs are telling you, and you can sit with someone through a hard conversation without rushing to fix it. The eating disorder piece we teach. That means structured onboarding, shadowing before you carry a caseload, regular supervision.
If you've been curious about this specialty but assumed you needed years in it to be considered - you don't.
What the job actually is- You'll be the dietitian for clients living on site in our residential program. We treat both adults and adolescents, and you'll have an opportunity to work with either or both.
- Residential is a different rhythm than outpatient. You're not seeing someone for fifty minutes once a week and hoping the plan holds. You're there at meals. You see what happens at the table, and you adjust in real time. That closeness is the hardest part of the job and also the reason people stay in it.
- You'll work alongside psychiatric providers, nurses, psychotherapists, and case managers - one team, one treatment plan per client, with the nutrition integrated, rather than bolted on.
Day to day- Complete nutritional assessments at admission and build an individualized plan for each client
- Design, monitor, and adjust meal plans as clients progress through the program
- Provide meal support and coaching at the table, and help clients rebuild a workable relationship with food
- Flag and help manage refeeding risk with nursing and medical staff
- Partner with kitchen and food service on menus, therapeutic diets, and accommodations
- Run nutrition groups and meet with clients individually
- Work with families - especially on the adolescent side, where parents and guardians are part of the plan
- Participate in treatment team meetings, case management, and treatment planning
- Build nutrition goals into discharge planning and step-down to PHP, IOP, or outpatient care
- Develop education materials for clients, families, and staff
- Document to CARF, payer, and program standards
- Cross-train across our other levels of care and cover when a program needs you
What we offer- Real training in a specialty that's hard to break into
- Room to move up - we promote from within
- More hours available as your availability and performance allow
- Flexible clock-in windows where the schedule permits
- A team that consults each other instead of working in parallel
Qualifications- Credentials - Registered Dietitian, or eligible for registration, through the Commission on Dietetic Registration. Where your state of practice requires licensure or certification, it must be current at hire. Degree in dietetics, food and nutrition, or a closely related field from a U.S. regionally accredited institution, with a didactic program in dietetics and an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program. Candidates establishing CDR eligibility on or after January 1, 2024 must hold a graduate degree.
- Experience - Six (6) months of dietary experience in a health care setting is prefered. Eating disorder experience is welcome but not required; we train on site. Comfortable with a schedule that varies - some shifts hold one task for hours, others turn over several times.
The pay range for this role is:
38 - 45 USD per hour (Mar Vista)
38 - 45 USD per hour (Willow Glen)
