Food Fortification Specialist

Role Overview

This senior technical role sits within the World Food Programme’s regional bureau for Eastern and Southern Africa, focusing on scaling up food fortification as a core lever for improving dietary quality across humanitarian and government-led food systems. Day to day, you will lead multi-country landscape assessments, steer the regional fortification strategy, and provide hands-on guidance to country offices on programme design, regulatory engagement, and supply chain integration. Your work directly influences how fortified staples move from policy ambition into practical, large-scale operations that reach vulnerable populations.

Key Responsibilities

• Direct and manage fortification landscape analyses across five priority countries, ensuring findings align with donor commitments and regional nutrition priorities.
• Refine existing fortification scoping tools based on lessons learned from completed analyses, working closely with the global nutrition team to adjust methodologies for Eastern and Southern Africa.
• Collect and synthesise information on national fortification policies, regulations, strategies, work plans, private-sector involvement, and key stakeholder networks in each priority country.
• Identify entry points for fortification integration across internal functions such as supply chain, procurement, partnerships, and programmes, as well as external opportunities with governments, donors, and technical agencies.
• Lead validation interviews and stakeholder workshops in country to confirm findings and build consensus around next steps.
• Drive implementation of the regional food fortification strategy, including country-level operational plans, capacity-strengthening initiatives, and progress monitoring to resolve bottlenecks.
• Offer continuous technical support to country offices on fortification programme planning, design, implementation, and monitoring, including formative studies, regulatory frameworks, and policy instruments.
• Represent WFP in regional forums, technical working groups, and advocacy platforms, while supporting resource mobilisation and reporting to sustain the fortification portfolio.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Advanced degree in food fortification, food processing, food technology, food science, nutrition, public health, or a related discipline.
• At least five years of professional experience spanning food fortification, food technology, food value addition, value chains for fortified foods, food security, project planning and management, partnership engagement, and advocacy.
• Proven track record of delivering technical support on food fortification, ideally in multi-country settings.
• Hands-on experience working with national governments, private-sector actors, and fortification stakeholder groups.
• Prior work in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, whether direct or indirect, is considered essential.
• Strong grasp of fortification strategies, country capacity-strengthening approaches, and food systems frameworks.
• Excellent writing, presentation, and stakeholder relationship skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks under pressure and deliver on time.
• Fluency in English (Level C) is required; working knowledge of French is an added advantage.