Senior Food Safety Officer (Scientific Advice And Secretary of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives {JECFA} )

Organizational Setting

The Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF), in the Economic and Social Development Stream, provides strategic leadership for FAO's support to Members in the development of improved food safety and more sustainable agrifood systems.

Working in close coordination with other technical units at headquarters and the Decentralized Offices, the Division is tasked with integrating FAO's scientific and economic analyses to provide improved policy guidance and targeted investment in food safety and agrifood systems. This includes normative products, methods and tools; documentation and collective learning of systems approaches; and support for implementation at regional, national and subnational levels. Bringing together FAO's longstanding experience and capacities in strengthening systems of food safety and quality control with its technical support to Member Nations in the areas of value chain development, agroindustry and agribusiness enterprise development, urban food systems and food loss and waste, the Division integrates and extends food systems support across the Organization.

The food safety work of the Division is framed by the FAO Strategic Priorities for Food Safety within the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031. This involves providing scientific advice on food safety issues, support to programmes of capacity development and facilitation of effective communication and access to information by all Member Nations on food safety and quality issues. The food safety unit is a recognized global leader in the provision of scientific advice on food safety issues to support the establishment of international standards for the safety and quality of foods. The Joint FAO/World Health organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (JECFA) is the expert committee providing food safety scientific advice to the Codex Alimentarius Commission and to Member Nations on matters pertaining to food additives, contaminants and veterinary drugs. JECFA has a joint secretariat led by an FAO Secretary and a WHO Secretary. ESF also hosts the Secretariat of other scientific advice mechanisms, such as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) and ad-hoc expert consultations.

The position is located in the Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF), at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Reporting Lines

The Senior Food Safety Officer (Scientific Advice And JECFA Secretary) reports to the Director, ESF.

Technical Focus

Leading the provision of Scientific Advice on Food Safety and oversight on risk assessment; JECFA Secretary.

Key Results

Leadership and technical expertise for the planning, development and implementation of the divisional programmes of work, projects, products and services with regard to food safety/food controls in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Key Functions

•       Plans, manages or leads highly specialized or multidisciplinary teams; leads, coordinates, and/or participates on Organization-wide, cross-divisional committees, project teams and working groups; and/or provides technical leadership/secretariat services on technical networks and/or international technical policy and standard setting bodies.

•       Analyses global and country specific requirements and relevant technical issues to provide critical input into the FAO Strategic Framework, Programme of Work, work plans and the supporting budgets and/or resourcing strategies.

•       Implements and monitors programmes of work, involving the development of the approach, evidence-based strategies and related tools, methodologies and the supporting system/database, monitoring and reporting frameworks.

•       Conducts, designs and oversees research and analysis activities to support the development of technical standards, international instruments, innovation, technical reports, publications and/or on-going programme development as well as the provision of technical and/or policy advisory services.

•       Provides technical and policy advice to Members and technical support to Decentralized Offices in the development and implementation of their programmes.

•       Leads and/or collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development and knowledge sharing activities within Members, such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events, including preparation of related information, learning and on-line tools.

•       Represents the Organization at international meetings and conferences, identifies and implements strategic partnerships, advocates best practices and increased policy dialogue and develops and negotiates effective working relationships/consensus and agreements with international and national stakeholders.

•       Leads and/or participates in resource mobilization activities in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

Specific Functions

·       Serves as FAO Secretary of JECFA: Oversees priority setting, calls for data and experts, selection of experts, meeting preparation, technical review, publication and follow-up, in coordination with WHO. 

·      Leads a multi-disciplinary team on the provision of scientific advice on food safety:

o     Provides senior oversight of FAO food safety scientific advice, including JEMRA and ad hoc expert consultation processes, in addition to JECFA, and coordinates with the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Nutrition (JEMNU) as relevant. 

o     Develops programme priorities and results frameworks, promoting evidence on the use and contribution of FAO food safety work. 

o     Implements and monitors the programme of work on the provision of scientific advice on food safety in accordance with the processes and procedures outlined in the Framework for the provision of scientific advice and other relevant procedures necessary for safeguarding the integrity of FAO's scientific advice outputs.

o     Promotes quality, independence, transparency and timely delivery of scientific advice.

o     Maintains effective working relations with the relevant Codex committees, Members, technical partners and WHO.

o     Represents the Organization at international/inter-governmental meetings in particular the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies.

o     Leads periodic reviews of the methodologies used by the scientific advice bodies to undertake their safety/ risk assessments and oversees the update and maintenance of the relevant databases, website and rosters.

o     Coordinates and participates in Organization-wide, project teams and working groups, and provides technical leadership and secretariat services on technical scientific advisory bodies. 

o     Designs and oversees initiatives aimed at generation of data to inform the elaboration of scientific advice to support the development of international instruments.

·      Guides horizon scanning and foresight on emerging food safety issues. 

·       Oversees contributions to the capacity development activities provided by the scientific advice team, in particular the development of training materials and other technical documents related to scientific advice contributions to food safety decision-making.

·       Supports resource mobilization activities and technical development of partnerships for the programme of food safety scientific advice in accordance with the FAO Strategic Framework.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•       Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in food science, food safety chemistry, biochemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, or a subject related to food safety risk analysis of chemical compounds.

•       Ten years of relevant experience in leading programmes of provision of scientific advice and risk assessment, including of chemicals substances (food additives, veterinary drug residues, or contaminants) at national and or international level.

•       Working knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

•       Results Focus

•       Leading, Engaging and Empowering

•       Communication

•       Partnering and Advocating

•       Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

•       Strategic Thinking

Technical/Functional Skills

•       Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is essential.

•       Extent and relevance of experience in leading teams, including working across organizational units and maintaining effective relations with external partners.

•       Extent and relevance of international experience in food safety risk analysis, in particular with chemical compounds, and provision of scientific advice.

•       Extent and relevance of experience in engaging with Codex Alimentarius processes and of the relationship between scientific advice, international standards and national implementation.

•       Extent and relevance of experience in joint or inter-agency scientific processes, including work with WHO.

•       Demonstrated results-based management capabilities to manage programmes, budgets and human resources efficiently under shifting priorities.

•       Ability to explain complex scientific and policy issues clearly to technical and senior management audiences.

•       Extent and relevance of experience in relation to capacity development programmes to strengthen scientific advice contributions to food safety decision making at international, regional and national level, especially in the context of low- and middle-income countries.