Food Safety Officer , African Union - InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources

The African Union, established as a unique Pan African continental body, is charged with spearheading Africa’s rapid integration and sustainable development by promoting unity, solidarity, cohesion and cooperation among the peoples of Africa and African States as well as developing a new partnership worldwide. Its Headquarters is located in Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia.

In seeking to achieve this objective, the African Union intends to strengthen its capacity to deliver through, among others, the implementation of a new organizational structure and the filling of the vacant project position of Food Safety Officer in the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in Nairobi, Kenya. The Inter-African Bureau for Animal Health Resources (AU-IBAR) is a specialized technical office of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the African Union Commission (AUC). AU-IBAR’s mandate is to support and coordinate the utilization of livestock, fisheries and wildlife as resources for both human wellbeing and economic development in the Member States of the African Union (AU).

The Commission of the African Union invites citizens of Member States to apply for the below specified position at the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources in Nairobi, Kenya.

Post

Job Title: Food Safety Officer
Grade: P2, Step 5
Operational Supervisor: Head of Trade and Marketing Unit, AU-IBAR
Functional Supervisor: Coordinator, Secretariat for Standards and Trade
Duty Station: AU-IBAR: Nairobi, Kenya
Department: Rural Economy and Agriculture

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Coordinator of the Secretariat, the incumbent will provide general assistance in the implementation of all activities assigned to the Secretariat and in particular on food safety activities.

The duties and responsibilities of the incumbent shall include the following:

1. Planning, development, and coordination of the approved activities related to food safety, including the organization of expert meetings, seminars and workshops and the supervision of training courses
2. Collate, compile, publish and circulate food safety related information relevant for standard setting process and produce technical papers on sanitary and phytosanitary standards as well as relevant research results and scientific information
3. Establish a database of food safety experts to be proposed for representation of Africa in committees and ad-hoc groups, and institutions to be considered as centres of excellence
4. Select priority topics of common interest for the Continent in the food safety (FS) area
5. Analyze information, with help of experts when necessary, and suggest African positions/comments/additional work
6. Propose common positions for validation by National Codex contact points, Codex committees and Codex Alimentarius Commission
7. Provide technical guidance for preparation of attendance of African MS and RECs in meetings of Codex committees and Codex Alimentarius Commission
8. Organize and participate in the training of focal points and experts
9. Circulate relevant technical information to National Codex contact points
10. Assist the coordinator in
    • Preparing workplan and budgets
    • Drafting quarterly and annual progress reports
    • Identifying needs and ToRs for specific short term expertise for studies, technical training, assistance, and following-up the provision of services
    • Coordinating activities implemented by RECs
11. Liaise with the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and CCAfrica coordinator to foster collaboration
12. assist RECs in :
    • Identifying training needs and organizing regional training sessions for experts
    • Organizing regional consultation meetings to harmonize positions and contributions of member states in Codex committees and Codex Alimentarius Commission meetings
    • Drafting actions plans and budgets at regional level
13. Assist with the development and implementation of a monitoring and evaluation system that allows assessing the progress made by member countries in terms of participation in Codex Alimentarius standard setting activities
14. Perform any other duties as requested by the supervisors

Educational Qualification Required

A Master of Science (Msc) Degree in animal health, food science, biochemistry, microbiology, or food technology is required. A first level university degree with a demonstrated solid experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience Required

• Seven years proven working experience in the food safety sector; proven experience in food safety position in an international organization is an advantage.
• Experience in dealing with senior government, regional and international organizations’ officials
• Experience in dealing with Codex Alimentarius Commission and the Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAfrica) is an advantage

Other Relevant Skills

• Professionalism: Be conversant with international standard setting organizations’ (Codex Alimentarius in particular) procedures and cycles. High standards of personal integrity and professional work skills
• Good judgment and decision-making skills
• Planning and organizing: Ability to plan and organize work within a project and ability to make timely decisions.
• Communication: Effective written, oral and presentation skills, particularly the ability to present information in a concise yet accurate manner; ability to develop consensus among people with varying points of view; and ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries.
• Teamwork: Good networker with the ability to maintain a positive and fruitful dialogue and relationship with the main institutions operating on the continent.

Language Requirement

Proficiency in one of the African Union working languages is a must. Knowledge of one or several other working languages is an added advantage.

Tenure of Appointment

The appointment will be made on a short term contract for a period of eleven (11) months, of which the first three months will be considered as a probationary period. Thereafter, the contract will be renewed subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funds.

Gender Mainstreaming

The AU- IBAR is an equal opportunity employer and qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Remuneration

The salary attached to the position is an annual lump-sum of US$73,743.75 inclusive of all allowances for internationally recruited staff, and US$59,879.72 inclusive of all allowances for locally recruited staff.

Directorate of Administration and Human Resource Management
African Union Commission
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications must be made through the AUC E-recruitment Website http://www.aucareers.org not later than 01 April 2016.