Job Opportunity for Program Officer (Milling Technologist) at Fortify Health in Nagpur, Kolkata

About Fortify Health

Fortify Health is an NGO with a team of dedicated entrepreneurs working to improve nutritional status at population scale through fortification, a recognised, effective public health intervention. We work to  tackle anaemia and birth defects by supporting fortification of wheat flour with iron, vitamin B12, and folic acid. We support millers willing to adopt fortification by making it cost-neutral to them, and we work with state governments to expand fortification in social safety net programs and on the open market. Complementing our entrepreneurial model, we provide nutrition training, career development opportunities and a wide range of resources to guide the team. 

Fortify Health’s model addresses micronutrient deficiencies through work with industry partners, NGOs and state governments. Maintaining collaborative relationships with our partner mills is essential, and ensuring smooth implementation of fortification in mills, is essential to successfully achieving Fortify Health’s important goals. The Program Officer will develop and manage a range of mill partnerships in the assigned geographies.

Position overview

The Program Officer will be based out of Nagpur or Kolkata. They will onboard new mills and support the launch and extension of fortification in mill partners in Maharashtra or West Bengal respectively. They will assist the program team in ensuring that fortification work in the partner mills is conducted as per standards set by Fortify Health. This includes leading mill partnerships end-to-end from onboarding to launch and extension to 100% of a mill’s atta production. They will collaborate with the Monitoring and Evaluation and Regulatory Affairs team at Fortify Health to ensure smooth implementation and monitoring of fortification in mill partners. 

They will also have a base of knowledge about the milling industry and milling technology, to facilitate fortification successfully in mills. They have the exciting opportunity to bring their own unique experience into this role and will be an essential part of Fortify Health’s growth. The Program Officer will report to Fortify Health’s Program Manager for their geography.

Responsibilities and activities

• Identify new mills to reach out for partnership. Lead the work in generating partnerships with mills to support them to fortify atta in their base geography
• Onboard and launch fortification in partner mills according to Fortify Health’s scale up targets for their geography
• Support generation of strong networks within the milling industry and with equipment vendors
• Support in any R&D we do with equipment vendors to improve fortification in commercial chakki mills 
• Collaborate with Monitoring and Evaluation team and the Regulatory Affairs team to ensure that their findings are used to improve operations
• Assist other members of the program team with technical milling knowledge in maintaining partnerships and rapport with partner mills
• Oversee smooth installation of fortification equipment in partner mills with guidance of the program team
• Coordinate visits to mills with Fortify Health’s technical consultants and program team
• Assist with implementation and maintenance of fortification in partner mills through regular visits
• Provide technical advice and support to miller partners on all stages of the implementation and fortification process with guidance from the program team
• Ensure work is well-documented
• Work alongside others in the organisation to ensure mill partnerships are transitioned smoothly across different team members when necessary
• Proactively learn from technical consultants to develop expertise in industrial milling 
• Actively participate in team calls and meetings

Requirements

• Minimum 3 years experience or background in the milling industry, with a good technical understanding of mill setup and machinery
• Bachelors or higher degree in related field
• Proven ability to manage professional relationships and to work under pressure
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, especially relating to partnership management of millers and vendors
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to work effectively on multiple projects
• Excellent documentation skills
• Strong creative problem-solving, teamwork and interpersonal skills
• Willingness to travel around 60% of the time (this may include within base location)
• Willingness to relocate to and work in Bhopal 
• Authorisation to work in India (Indian national, eligibility for OCI, etc.)
• Fluency in Hindi 
• Professional fluency in English
• Ability to communicate in Bengali (for Kolkata position)

Desirable attributes

• Experience working with remote team members
• Experience working independently
• Relevant experience in NGO field environment 
• Enthusiasm about our opportunity to improve people’s lives
  Fluency in Marathi

Terms of employment: Contract for one year, renewal by mutual agreement

Salary and benefits: INR 63,000 per month