Technical Specialist - Food Safety at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

⏲ Mar 25, 2022, 9:58 AM
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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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Technical Specialist - Food Safety

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Contract Type: Permanent
Duration: Indefinite
Classification: Grade 4 – Technical Specialist
Travel required: Up to 30%

Overall purpose

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.
The Technical Specialist, Food Safety is a research-focused position that will support the implementation of multiple research, intervention implementation, and monitoring and evaluation activities within the EatSafe program.
They 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 Technical Specialist will also work closely with the country leads and other counterparts to design and implement phase II activities (intervention implementation) based on formative research results.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Research implementation, coordination and analysis:

Under the supervision of the Senior Technical Specialist and in coordination with the global EatSafe team, implement the EatSafe research and monitoring and evaluation strategy, including designing research questions and methodology, developing research plans, and interacting with partners and contractors as needed to carry out the activities.
Support 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.
Provide technical support to other programming areas as needed.
Support the implementation of high-quality, technically sound research activities in alignment with GAIN and other relevant research good practice guidelines.
Carry out literature reviews, stakeholder consultations, evidence synthesis and other desk activities from the development of the approach through conduct, report writing, and publication/dissemination.
Support 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
Support data management operations, including QA/QC and standardization.
Carry out rigorous analyses on quantitative (and to a less extent qualitative) data, as well as develop data visualizations and formatting for oral and written dissemination.
Contribute to or lead the development of project reports and other knowledge products, including research articles, briefings, presentations, and associated tables/figures.

Key Organizational Relationships:

Senior Technical Specialist, Food Safety (reporting line)
Senior Manager, Food Safety
Head, EatSafe Country Programs

Job Requirements
Education:

A PhD (or equivalent) in a domain area relevant to Food Safety or Public Health and their Human dimensions or a Master’s Degree plus substantial relevant research experience), such as Food Science/Food Technology, Food Safety, Public or Environmental Health, Economics, or other relevant fields

Competencies:
Technical competencies:

Solid technical expertise in food safety or public health and their human dimensions (or closely related domains)
Ability to design and perform statistical data analyses, including using appropriate software or coding languages (e.g., R)
Ability to integrate and interpret data from both qualitative and quantitative approaches is an asset.
Understanding of issues related to food safety and quality, and relevant broader context, in low- or middleincome countries (LMICs)
Experience with field data collection in LMICs is a strong asset
Understanding of gender dynamics in LMICs as they relate to food and health choices and practices
Ability to visualize and communicate data and research outcomes for diverse audiences
Knowledge of field research approaches that integrate multiple lines of evidence and include a range of variable types such as attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, hazard measurements, risk reduction and health outcome metrics, etc.
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.

People and project leadership skills:

Ability to take initiative, prioritize, work on multiple assignments, and work well under pressure to meet deadlines; attention to detail
Comfortable being in the field to conduct in-country work, including interacting with field study partners and visiting both urban and rural areas
Strong communication and cultural competence skills to work in multicultural, multi-lingual environments
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work alone and in a multi-cultural team setting
Ability to liaise with subcontractors to deliver high-quality results under short deadlines
Systematic thinking that demonstrates good judgment, expert problem solving, and creativity
Skilled with organization, planning, and time management

Experience:

Sound professional experience in relevant research areas
Demonstrable and relevant experience post-PhD (or equivalent) preferred
Experience working with both qualitative and quantitative data or mixed methods research would be an advantage
Experience with data analysis, visualization, and reporting
Experience working across disciplines and in coordination with multi-institution consortia preferred.
Experience in food safety research, or closely related research in food, consumer science, and public health domains
Experience implementing research activities, ideally including field data collection such as surveys

Other Requirements:

Strong communication skills (oral and written) - fluency in English required
Experience with USAID reporting is a strong asset.

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.

What Gain Offers: