Terms of Reference

Short – term consultancy

Title:                                 Local Food Safety Management at Collective Kitchen Specialist

Timing:                           August 2024 – March 2025, with extension possibility

Level of Effort:                Part-time, up to 24 days.

Project context

Alinea International Ltd. (Canada) provides management and technical expertise to developing and transitional country partners on projects that promote sustainable growth and meaningful opportunities for people to improve their lives. The Safe Food for Growth project (SAFEGRO) which is funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for the period from 2019 to 2024, with extension to 2026, is being supported technically by the Canadian Executing Agency (CEA), led by Alinea in partnership with the University of Guelph and other leading food safety organizations.

The SAFEGRO is designed to support the Government of Vietnam to ensure better access to safe and competitive agri-food products, with an aim to improve the well-being of female and male consumers as well as other beneficiaries (including poor farmers) in Vietnam. The project operates across the agri-food value chains by engaging and building the capacity of three main target groups: the public sector (enabling environment), the private sector (supply side), and the consumer (demand side) to achieve 3 inter-related component outcomes: 

• Intermediate Outcome (1100) – Enabling environment: "Improved performance of national and sub-national governments in food safety regulation enforcement along the value chain to meet international standards”.
• Intermediate Outcome (1200) – Supply side: "Increased competitiveness of poor farmers and other actors, particularly women, supplying safe agri-food products to domestic and international markets”.
• Intermediate Outcome (1300) – Demand side: "Increased consumer demand for safe and affordable agri-food in Vietnam".

The SAFEGRO technical team works with national and sub-national governments to enforce food safety regulations, private sector suppliers to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese food products domestically and internationally, and consumers to improve demand for safe food in Vietnam. Key partners on this project include The Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city agencies, and other Vietnamese Academic Institutes.

The government of Vietnam has committed to promote environmentally friendly, climate-smart agricultural technology and practices and gender equality by making these as cross-cutting issues in all political, economic, and cultural and social spheres. Therefore, within scope of SAFEGRO project, gender equality shall be integrated across all activities in the TORs to ensure: (i) collection of gender-disaggregated data for reporting and MEL; (ii) gender-sensitivity languages, photos, images, messages, etc.; (iii) equal participation in decision-making and benefit of women and men from activities and services; (iv) gender analysis before any intervention, decisions, or outlining plans and; (v) Gender equality mainstreaming shall be discussed at all meetings and consultations with government counterparts, regardless of the topics, technical or otherwise.

The Project mobilizes international and national consultants to provide high quality technical assistance and capacity building activities to the government agencies and chain actors including support for review and recommendations related to the food safety regulatory framework.

In response to the Government’s request for enhanced food safety measures to ensure the health and well-being of students and the public, the project aims to upgrade food safety in collective kitchens inside and food operators around schools and other locations. To implement these activities, Alinea International is seeking a short-term Local Food Safety Management at Collective Kitchen Specialist for the SAFEGRO project.

Scope of Work

The Local Food Safety Management at Collective Kitchen Specialist (LFSMCKS) will be based in Hanoi and work closely with the International Food Safety Specialist, a team of national consultants, and relevant Vietnamese stakeholders. The LFSMCKS will provide expert advice on all matters pertaining to food safety management at collective kitchens. The specialist will be supervised by the Food Safety Market Specialist, Project Director (PD), and Project Manager (PM). The position requires fieldwork for collecting information and providing consultation as inputs to the work.

Detail responsibilities/tasks, deliverable.

The LFSMCKS will perform the main tasks but not limited as bellow:

No	Deliverables	Responsibilities	LOE (days)	Deadline
I	Development of Checklists for Kitchens and Canteens inside Schools and Food Operators around Schools		4	Aug 2024
1.1	Checklist for kitchens and canteens inside schools revised	-    Revise the checklist for kitchens and canteens inside schools to comply with Vietnamese food safety legal documents.	1	Aug 24
1.2	Checklist for food operators around schools revised	-    Revise the checklist for food operators around schools to comply with Vietnamese food safety legal documents.	1	Aug 24
1.3	Training sessions on applying the two checklists for staffs in food safety authorities and school kitchens in Hanoi delivered	-    Deliver training sessions on applying the two checklists for staffs in food safety authorities and school kitchens in Hanoi	2	Sep 24
II	Development of Food Safety Practical Manual for Collective Kitchens		20	Dec 2024
2.1	Outline of the food safety practical guideline for collective kitchens finalized	-    Conduct a literature review on food safety requirements for collective kitchens. -    Conduct field visits to collective kitchens. -    Finalize the outline of the food safety practical manual for collective kitchens.	3	Sep 24
2.2	Food safety practical manual for collective kitchens drafted	-    Create the food safety practical manual for collective kitchens	14	Feb 25
2.3	Presentation and the revised manual	-    Present the food safety practical manual for collective kitchens in the consultation workshop and consolidate comments for revision.	1	Mar 25
2.4	The food safety practical manual for collective kitchens ready to be published	-    Finalize the food safety practical manual for collective kitchens	2
	TOTAL		24

Required qualification:

The Local Food Safety Management at Collective Kitchen Specialist must possess the following minimum qualifications and experience:

• University degree in a relevant discipline such as food science, food technology, food quality and safety management, agricultural production, animal or plant health science.
• Level 4 - Advanced Professional Proficiency in English (oral, reading and writing).
• 60 months of combined professional experience in:

1. Food safety management
2. Conducting training and capacity building activities
3. Conducting field assessments and audits

• Strong analytical, problem-solving skills, communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders

Preference should be given to candidates who possess knowledge of internationally recognized food safety standards and policies such as Codex, OIE, FAO, WHO, etc. and practical experiences in Vietnam.

Compensation

Alinea offers competitive salaries. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Please send your application (letter of interest and CV with details on qualifications and experiences aligned with above requirements) with at least 3 referees by email to <[email protected]>. Please include the job title in your email subject line.

Application form: Only via email                

Deadline: 17h00 on 11 August 2024

Interview announcement via email to selected candidate within 15 working days after the deadline.

We welcome all applications, regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; candidates that belong to underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. The recruitment process is based on fair standards.

Organization: SAFEGRO
Location:
Application deadline: 2024-08-11
Send application to: [email protected]