Overview
Provides strategic leadership and expert oversight for WFP’s global Food Safety and Quality systems, ensuring the highest standards of safety, quality, and compliance across all operations.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the global development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Food Safety and Quality (FSQ) role and systems.
- Lead the setting and regular update of FSQ policies, standards, FSQ Manual and procedures.
- Oversee the integration of FSQ systems into all operations.
- Lead digital innovation, including FSQ-related IT solutions implementation.
- Manage partnerships with public partners and technical partners from the private sector.
- Lead operational FSQ support and guidance to the field.
- Lead the oversight and governance role for FSQ implementation in WFP.
- Lead the food incident management program for WFP.
- Produce lessons learned reports and implementation strategy.
- Prepare and deliver FSQ reports, updates and indicators.
- Act as the key FSQ subject matter expert in WFP.
- Lead workstreams related to food fraud prevention.
- Lead FSQ supplier management program.
- Serve as the FSQ lead focal point for Procurement, Insurance and Legal.
- Lead product traceability related improvements.
- Lead IT implementation for FSQ.
- Supervise FSQ staff in Global HQ.
- Lead and oversee all financial management activities within the FSQ unit.
- Lead all FSQ knowledge management activities for WFP globally.
Required Experience
- minimum of 11 years of progressively responsible experience in the development, implementation, and management of corporate food safety and quality systems and policies.
- significant experience implementing FSQ, Regulatory Affairs and Food/Packaging R&D systems in to humanitarian operations.
- Training on internationally recognized FSQ auditing schemes (GFSI).
- IT savviness for FSQ systems implementation.
- Technical knowledge in food science, contaminants, statistics, microbilogy and toxicology.
- Demonstrated expertise in risk management, incident management, and the application of international food safety standards.
- Hands-on experience with food safety audits, regulatory affairs, and food and packaging research and development.
- Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams.
- Ability to analyse complex food-related incidents and defects and create hypothesis on issue root causes based on food science knowledge.
- Proven track record building technical partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders.
- Strong analytical, communication, negotiation, and leadership skills.
- Experience with digital transformation of FSQ systems, advanced data analytics, and capacity building is highly desirable.
- willingness to travel extensively and respond rapidly to operational needs.
- Private sector food manufacturing operations experience is an asset.
- Experience managing complex projects in emergency and non-emergency contexts is an asset.
Qualifications
- Advanced University degree in a food or science-related areas, such as Food Science, Engineering, Microbiology, or Food Technology.
- A PhD degree in a relevant discipline is considered an asset.
