As Syria navigates a new chapter marked by historic opportunities and enduring challenges, the scale of humanitarian needs remains overwhelming. Today, more than 70 percent of Syria’s population continues to depend on some form of humanitarian assistance. Over half of the population is grappling with food insecurity, with nearly 3 million people facing severe food insecurity.  Around 7 million people remain displaced internally, while more than 4 million are refugees in neighboring countries. Since December 2024, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced Syrians have begun returning to their areas of origin. Many more plan to return and will require vital support as they reintegrate.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian agency operating in Syria since 1964 and is uniquely positioned to support Syrian communities in their recovery through its expansive reach and scale. WFP’s interventions prioritize emergency relief and resilience-building efforts focused on the most severely food insecure populations. Additionally, WFP is a key actor in the country’s social protection sector also plays a vital role in strengthening Syria’s social safety-net systems.

Operating under its 2022-2026 Interim Country Strategic Plan (ICSP), WFP addresses the growing food and nutrition needs livelihood, resilience and early recovery, and reviving food systems, in close collaboration with the Syrian government, humanitarian and development stakeholders.

JOB PURPOSE:

Based in the Syria Country Office within the Supply Chain unit, under the direct supervision of the Supply Chain Officer and overall supervision of the Head of Supply Chain, this role centrally manages food safety and quality (FSQ) matters for all WFP offices in Syria, supervising the FSQ team in-country and field-office focal points. It contributes to WFP’s FSQ agenda by delivering evidence-based recommendations to reduce losses and safety issues, enabling rapid-response tools and investigations to capture lessons learned, and ensuring compliance across FSQ activities. The role also develops and aligns FSQ protocols with procurement/supply chain strategy, builds capacity through training, and fosters cross-functional collaboration, with potential supervision of junior staff.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all inclusive):

• Prepare accurate and timely reports that inform food risk assessment and management, and contribute to a WFP wide view of food technology activities, enabling informed decision making and consistency of information presented to stakeholders.
• Provide expert advice for WFP staff, partners and governments, supporting country operations to build the capacity of the local food and food control systems. This may include the capacity of food production, laboratory testing, inspection and setting national standards.
• Work with suppliers to verify that food supplier agreements are carried out with proper quality management systems through tools like traceability, appropriate sampling and required documentation are maintained. Contribute to the supplier management assessment through analysis of their performance in terms of delivering quality that meets WFP specifications
• Prepare evidenced based recommendations for senior staff on control measures to combat and reduce food commodity losses and food quality and safety issues.
• Prepare evidenced based recommendations for senior staff on tools to enable rapid response to situations with food safety concerns.
• In the event of food safety incidents, lead investigation exercises to enable lessons learned to be documented and shared, to reduce re-occurrence of the incident.
• Lead project teams on the food safety and quality aspects of food assistance programs, ensuring compliance with WFP food and safety regulations.
• Work with inspection companies to employ appropriate scopes of work and ensure efficient implementation of quality control processes for timely delivery of goods for local and cross border operations.
• Contribute towards the development and/or implementation of protocols and tools relating to food safety and quality issues, ensuring alignment with WFP procurement and supply chain strategy, policies and plans.
• Lead the capacity building of WFP staff and partners for efficient and effective delivery of food assistance to beneficiaries (e.g. through the design and review of training materials).
• Identify and build productive relationships with supply chain and programme colleagues and staff within the area of assignment to support an integrated approach to food assistance.
• Guide, coach, and supervise staff within specialized sub-team; serve as a referral point and support them with complex analyses and queries. Drive capacity-building initiatives to enhance development, high-performing and engaged team. Reinforce team cohesion and nurture harmonious and respectful workplace within sub-team and overall unit and office.
• Other as required.

Skills

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education:

Advanced university degree in Food Technology, Health Sciences, Food Control, Nutrition or other related field, or First University degree with additional years of related work experience and/or training/courses.

Experience:

With a master’s degree: At least one (1) years of professional experience, or a bachelor’s degree with at least three (3) years of experience in operational food safety and quality management in factory settings or large supply chain operations. Excluding laboratory experience. 

Knowledge & Skills:

Having knowledge and skills in food safety and quality management systems, quality assurance. Preference in having experience in supply chain operations, wheat flour and oil processing, canned food processing.

Languages:

Fluency in both oral and written communication in Arabic and English.

لتقديم الان