The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title:   Senior Project Officer – Post Harvest and Food Safety  

Organisation: Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Area Manager

About US:

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-profit organization whose commitment is to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas set out by the Bishops of the United States. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

About VINES Project:

The Vines Project, implemented by CRS Uganda, is a five-year, $13 million Food for Progress project that will make Uganda the world’s next leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. Vines will leverage the expertise of CRS and its partners to enhance the production of safe, pure vanilla and develop sustainable market links with US vanilla companies, directly transforming the lives of 16,200 farmers, 836 supply chain actors and create 15,820 new jobs to reach 32,856 vanilla stakeholders. The Vines strategy reflects best practices in sustainable development and will leave Uganda with a robust vanilla farming community resilient to the boom/bust nature of the market and a cadre of private sector agricultural extensionists to support more sophisticated production, processing, and marketing needs.

Job Summary:   As the Senior Project Officer – Post Harvest and Food Safety you will take active part in ensuring that the project’s efforts at understanding, improving, and ensuring consistency of postharvest quality of vanilla by minimizing premature harvest and improving processors’ buying and processing methods are achieved. You will establish procedures to ensure that the testing and quality systems of Uganda vanilla comply with international food safety standards. You will also participate in the program’s efforts to establish digital traceability systems and oversee the design and delivery of training on all aspects of quality and food safety. In consultation with your immediate Supervisor, you will support processors to implement recommendations to improve food safety, product quality, handling and storage, inventory, curing management, packaging, compliance with FSMS/HAACP, warehouse organization, vanilla certifications and traceability.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Under the guidance of the PM-PH/FS, ensure that program activities that facilitate a more rigorous food safety systems, improved packing, and post-harvest methods for Ugandan vanilla, ensuring efficient and effective project implementation including the timely completion of high-quality work plans, accurate reports, and other mandated deliverables are achieved.
• Work with the PM-PH/FS and M&E Team in preparing project work-plans with clear objectives and achievable benchmarks, reflecting strategic long-term and short-term priorities.
• Collaborate with capacity strengthening staff to develop capacity building training to support partners in the areas of vanilla processing, food safety and traceability.
• Ensure adequate linkages to local public and private sectors stakeholders.
• Provide technical input to program activities related to vanilla processing, quality and food safety, and traceability systems.
• Assist growers, traders, and processors to adopt new technologies and techniques to enhance vanilla quality.
• Strengthen the linkages among actors in the vanilla value chain and foster cooperation on production and processing of premium vanilla.
• Identify and mitigate program risks.
• Ensure the quality and appropriateness of activities to achieve the target indicators in a cost-effective, timely, and sustainable manner.
• Perform any other duties as assigned by your supervisor.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field including food science / food safety / quality and technology, agriculture, Agribusiness, and/or food logistics.
• At least five years of demonstrated experience in quality control or food safety, preferably with private sector companies or US Government or other similar development projects focused on agribusiness and trade.
• A minimum of 2 years working with smallholder farmers, farmer groups and/or processors, preferably in the vanilla sector.
• Proficient in project management, creating action plans, timelines and working with third parties to ensure actions are completed.
• Working knowledge on implementing quality standards with experience in HACCP management, preferably with a background in the creation of HACCP programs, FSMS, GMPs, GHPs.
• Practical experience in developing risk assessments, evaluating risks, prioritizing risks and offering solutions to reduce risk.
• Some knowledge / experience of auditing against a standard, preferably FDA, FSMS, GFSI standards.
• Capability of running trials of processing techniques, testing and presenting conclusions to all groups within the supply chain, recommending next steps and decision making from results.
• Demonstrated ability to work and coordinate effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders, including national and local government, community-based organizations, and local private sector.
• Experience engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership strategy a plus.
• Experience in training various levels of supply chain personnel from farmers to collectors, operators to processors.
• Able to work under pressure, meeting deadlines and objectives, with shifting priorities.
• Independent, proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented.
• Proficient in Microsoft office with strong knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to learn and utilize new technology or applications quickly and be able to train others on system. Familiarity with digital supply chain management systems preferred.
• Required Languages – English, total fluency with strong written capacity.

Agency-Wide Competencies (for all CRS staff)

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

How to Apply:

All candidates who wish to apply should follow these instructions exactly otherwise your application will NOT be considered:

• Email a cover letter and CV only to ug_recruitment@crs.org by October 27, 2023, at 5:00pm.
• Large files and/or scans of documents will lead to rejection of your application, in the subject line of the email, copy, paste – SENIORPROJECTOFFICERPOSTHARVESTANDFOODSAFETY only
• All applications that do not contain this exact subject line will be rejected and not read.

NB: Only selected candidates that meet the requirements will be notified. EOE/M/F/D/V

Deadline: 20^th December 2023

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