Registered Dietitian - Clinical Research (Part-Time)
Listed compensation
$30-$34/hr
The week · per this posting · Monday – Friday
Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, nights and shift pattern and time off.
Job Description
About Us
Each of CenExel’s research sites specialize in Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials. Our Centers of Excellence comprise some of the most well respected and long-standing research facilities in the country.
Specialty areas of research across our sites include Psychiatry, Acute Post Op Pain, Asian Bridging, Dermatology, GI, and Neurology. Each of our Centers of Excellence has tremendous experience and expertise in complex early phase trials, and all our sites have in-patient capability.
We focus on quality people, teamwork, and highly experienced clinical research managers with a history of success.
Hourly Range: $30.00/hr - $34.00/hr (depending on education, experience, and skillset)
Schedule: Monday - Friday (20 - 25) hours a week - 08:00 am -12:00 pm
Job Summary
The Registered Dietitian (RD) supports the multi-site clinical research network by providing expert nutrition oversight for research protocols involving dietary interventions, metabolic assessments, or nutrition-related endpoints. The RD collaborates with investigators, coordinators, and operational teams to ensure nutritional components of studies are implemented accurately, consistently, and in compliance with protocol requirements, regulatory standards, and ethical guidelines.
Essential Responsibilities and Duties
- Reviews research protocols to identify and interpret all nutrition-related requirements, including dietary interventions, nutritional assessments, biospecimen collection related to nutrition, and meal-controlled feeding.
- Develops standardized nutrition procedures, documentation, and tools to ensure consistency across network sites.
- Supports feasibility assessments by evaluating site capabilities for nutrition-related activities (e. g., metabolic kitchen, specialized diets, equipment).
- Conducts nutrition screening, assessments, and counseling for study participants per protocol guidelines.
- Develops individualized or protocol-specific meal plans (including controlled diets, macronutrient-specific diets, allergen-controlled diets, and metabolic feeding regimens).
- Monitors participant adherence to dietary protocols and document deviations according to Good Clinical Practice (GCP).
- Oversees accurate and consistent collection of nutrition-related data such as dietary intake records, anthropometrics, body composition metrics, and metabolic measurements.
- Ensures all diet-related procedures comply with IRB, FDA, and study sponsor requirements.
- Maintains high-quality documentation and audit-ready records across all network sites.
- Partners with principal investigators, study coordinators, nurses, and other clinical staff to implement protocol-specific nutrition workflows.
- Trains site personnel on nutrition procedures, dietary recording methods, and use of nutrition assessment tools.
- Serves as the nutrition subject matter expert for multi-site conference calls, site initiation visits, and monitoring visits.
- Collaborates with central research administration to develop standardized operating procedures (SOPs) for nutrition and metabolic unit operations.
- Works with purchasing and vendor management teams to ensure standardized food products and supplements across all network sites, when applicable.
- Participates in quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving nutritional protocol adherence and study participant experience.
- Ensures compliance with local, state, and federal regulations governing nutrition practice in research.
- Maintains current knowledge of emerging nutrition science relevant to active or upcoming studies.
- Adheres to ethical research practices, GCP, and confidentiality requirements.
- Supports and ensures strictest adherence to best practices, FDA Code of Federal Regulations, ICH (International Conference on Harmonization), GCP (Good Clinical Practices), CenExel standard operating procedures, site working Practices, protocol, and company guidelines and policies.
- Assumes other duties and responsibilities as assigned. The above responsibilities are a general description of the level and nature of the work assigned to this classification and are not to be considered as all inclusive.
Education/Experience/Skills
- Must be able to effectively communicate verbally and in writing.
- Current Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) credential.
- 1–3 years of clinical nutrition experience preferred.
- Experience in clinical research, academic medical centers, or metabolic studies strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with GCP, IRB processes, and protocol-driven research highly desirable.
- Strong knowledge of clinical nutrition, dietary assessment methods, and therapeutic diets.
- Expertise in interpreting research protocols and applying nutrition science in controlled research settings.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work collaboratively across investigators, clinicians, and operations teams.
- Strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.
- Proficiency with nutrition software, EMRs, dietary analysis tools, and research documentation platforms.
- Ability to work independently across multiple sites and manage competing priorities.
Working Conditions
1. Indoor, Clinic environment.
2. Essential physical requirements include sitting, typing, standing, and walking.
3. Lightly active position, occasional lifting of up to 20 pounds.
4. Reporting to work, as scheduled, is essential.
5. May involve on-site, hybrid, or remote responsibilities depending on study needs.
6. Travel to network sites for training, monitoring, and study support may be required.
CenExel Clinical Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or status.
Key Responsibilities
The Registered Dietitian provides expert nutrition oversight for clinical research protocols, including dietary interventions and metabolic assessments. They collaborate with research teams to ensure protocol compliance, develop standardized nutrition procedures, and monitor participant adherence to dietary requirements.
Requirements
Candidates must hold a current Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) credential and possess strong knowledge of clinical nutrition and dietary assessment methods. Experience in clinical research, academic medical centers, or metabolic studies is strongly preferred.
Qualifications
- Experience
- 2+ years of experience
Key Skills
Dietitian Career Context
Of the 50 active Clinical Nutrition listings this role was benchmarked against, 38% are remote, 30% have no call, 52% require no weekends.
In California, the Clinical Nutrition weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$96k (210 salary observations; 583 listings), vs ~$78k nationally (1,542 salary observations; 7,569 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2026-01-01 through 2026-10-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.
The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$67k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $60k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
Work-Life Balance Analysis
WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Registered Dietitian - Clinical Research (Part-Time) at Cen Exel a 6.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the top 35% of all Clinical Nutrition dietitian listings evaluated on our platform. Contributing factors include no weekend requirements.
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