Technical Specialist – Food Safety

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Technical Specialist, Food Safety to support the implementation of multiple research projects, intervention implementation, and monitoring and evaluation activities within the EatSafe program. This position will be based in Washington DC, USA or Nigeria. Applicants will ideally be available to start by end of May / early June.

About GAIN

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition.

Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people. In particular, we aim to make healthier food choices more desirable, more available, and more affordable. GAIN’s mission is to advance nutrition outcomes by improving consumption of nutritious and safe food for all people, especially the most vulnerable to malnutrition.

About the Role

The EatSafe (Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food) program at GAIN leads a consortium to generate evidence on the potential for increased consumer demand for safe food to substantially improve the safety of nutritious foods in informal market settings in low- and middle-income countries. The program is currently active in Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Reporting to the Senior Technical Specialist, Food Safety, you will work closely with the Senior Technical Specialist, the GAIN EatSafe team, and program consortium members to lead and support the implementation and quality assurance of research activities and build the food safety portfolio within the program and GAIN.

The postholder will also work closely with the country leads and other counterparts to design and implement activities (intervention implementation) based on formative research results.

Key Responsibilities include;

• Supporting the implementation of high-quality, technically sound research activities in alignment with GAIN and other relevant research good practice guidelines
• Carrying out literature reviews, stakeholder consultations, evidence synthesis and other desk activities from development of the approach through conduct, report writing, and publication/dissemination
• Supporting in-country field implementation of research and monitoring and evaluation activities, including visiting study sites and interacting with project partners (e.g. implementing partners, consultants, contractors) to ensure timely and quality progress
• Carrying out rigorous analyses on quantitative data, as well as develop data visualizations and formatting for oral and written dissemination
• Leading the development of project reports and other knowledge products, including research articles, briefings, presentations, and associated tables/figures.
• Supporting the Senior Technical Specialist and the broader team to liaise with consortium members on research and other project activities to ensure a smooth and appropriate collaboration

About You

The ideal candidate should have solid technical expertise in food safety or public health and their human dimensions (or closely related domains). You should have ability to understand and work with quantitative data, primarily from structured surveys and direct behavioral observations, and design appropriate survey questions and other data collection tools using best practices in behavioral and survey science.

The postholder should have strong communication and cultural competence skills to work in multicultural, multi-lingual environments. You should also have the ability to visualize and communicate data and research outcomes for diverse audiences. PhD or equivalent in a domain area relevant to food safety or public health and their human dimensions, such as Food Science/Food Technology, Food Safety, Public or Environmental Health, Economics, or other relevant field is an advantage.

About our Offer

The starting salary on offer for this role is from USD 72,400 – USD 77,585 per annum, depending on experience. In Nigeria the salary on offer is 7,892, 205 NGN – 9,005,994 NGN.

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance.

We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

This advert closes on 15th April 2022. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right to close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

Applicants must have the existing right to live and work in the United States or Nigeria. Please note that GAIN is currently unable to sponsor working visas.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued. We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.