Food Safety and Nutrition Specialist

Organizational Context

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports sustainable agrifood systems to improve nutrition, the environment, and livelihoods, ensuring no one is left behind. The FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific Islands (SAP), established in Samoa in 1996, coordinates FAO's work across 14 Pacific Island countries. SAP focuses on food security, nutrition, agriculture, and rural development, developing and implementing relevant programmes and projects, and maintaining relations with regional institutions.

Job Purpose

This role aims to strengthen food safety systems, food control frameworks, surveillance mechanisms, and emergency preparedness in Pacific Island countries by adopting a One Health approach. The specialist will provide crucial support for sub-regional and national food system assessments, conduct capacity-building initiatives, offer technical advisory services, and contribute to the development of effective food safety and nutrition programmes. The objective is to enhance the resilience and sustainability of food systems across the Pacific region, ensuring safer food for all.

Responsibilities

Assess and strengthen sub-regional and national food control systems, surveillance, and regulatory frameworks, preparing technical reports. Deliver training, capacity-building workshops, and study tours, while providing guidance for laboratory strengthening. Support the establishment of food safety coordination mechanisms and develop emergency response plans. Provide technical guidance on emergency preparedness, risk classification, and One Health initiatives. Assist in developing and reviewing food safety legislation, standards, and guidelines aligned with international best practices. Facilitate multi-sectoral coordination among relevant authorities to enhance food safety governance. Support hazard identification, risk assessment, and communication for food safety hazards across value chains. Provide technical support for foodborne disease surveillance, data collection, analysis, and reporting systems. Contribute to developing tools for inspection, audit, and compliance monitoring for food businesses and facilities. Prepare technical briefs and policy recommendations for national and subregional food safety strategies. Manage project activities, including planning, procurement, and monitoring, ensuring timely delivery of outputs and effective stakeholder engagement.

Work Experience

A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in food safety, nutrition, food systems, food science, or public health is required. Experience in the Asian and Pacific context is advantageous.

Skills

Proficiency in results focus, teamwork, and communication. Ability to build effective relationships and share knowledge continuously. Demonstrated efficiency, competence, integrity, and strong negotiating skills, tact, and diplomacy. Capacity to work with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural project partners at regional and international levels. Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, with experience liaising between diverse project stakeholders. Demonstrated effective writing and critical analysis skills. Familiarity with the Asian and Pacific context and established relationships with relevant institutions are highly desirable.

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