FDA’s new Human Foods Program is recruiting its start-up talent to help Jim Jones

What needs to be done before the Human Foods Program (HFP) comes to life, which is now targeted for October 1this year? Well, for sure, there’s some recruiting to do because Jim Jones, who joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2023 as the agency’s first Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, cannot do this alone.  

Jones is responsible for birthing a unified Human Foods Program (HFP), and needs to assemble the new HFP team.

The FDA is focused on transforming the agency to be more efficient, nimble, and ready for the future with the ever-changing and complex industries it regulates, including the emergence of new food technologies, the impacts of globalization, climate change, and other factors that require the FDA to quickly adapt to an evolving world. 

In January 2023, the FDA announced it would develop a reorganization proposal to create a unified Human Foods Program and restructure its field operations (Office of Regulatory Affairs) after carefully reviewing the findings and recommendations of an outside evaluation by the Reagan-Udall Foundation. 

The FDA completed its proposed reorganization package in December 2023. After undergoing a formal external review process required for all federal reorganizations, the FDA received approval of the reorganization package in May 2024. The reorganization is now considered final, and the FDA plans to implement the reorganization on October 1, 2024. 

During August, FDA is recruiting for some of those top Human Foods Program jobs. Among those are a “Super Office Director” for HFP’s Office of Food Chemical Safety and Dietary Supplements and Innovation. A “Super Office Director” is also being recruited for HFP’s Office of Microbiological Food Safety. Other “Super Office Directors” are needed to fill the Office of Laboratory Operations and Applied Science, the Office of Compliance and Enforcement, the Office of Policy and International Engagement, and the Nutrition Center of Excellence.

These recruits will transform the now-approved reorganization from a paper exercise to a reality. Creating a unified Human Foods Program (HFP), adopting a new model for its field operations, and other significant modernization efforts are among the most significant changes at the FDA that will occur in several decades.

With the reorganization implementation only a few weeks away, it will notably enhance the FDA’s ability to oversee and protect the human food supply and other products it regulates. 

The new HFP reports an “ongoing need for qualified individuals with backgrounds in biology, microbiology, chemistry, toxicology, and other health-related sciences, data science, food safety, nutrition, health policy, health communications, and regulatory counsel as well as other professional and administrative fields.”   

The reorganization establishes the HFP by realigning the functions of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), the Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR), as well as key functions from the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) under one program.

In addition to the HFP listings,  opportunities will be listed for CFSAN until October 1, 2024. 

Under the  21st Century Cures Act enacted on Dec. 13, 2016, and Section 3072 of the Act, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs has the authority to appoint and set the annual rate of pay for outstanding and qualified candidates to scientific, technical, or professional positions that support the development, review, and regulation of medical products. 

The FY23 Food and Drug Omnibus Reform Act expanded this authority, further amending Title 21 to include cross-cutting operational positions and individuals who support the development, review, and regulation of food, cosmetics, and medical products (codified into Title 21 of the United States Code (21 US Code 379d-3a).

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