Website Fortify Health

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 and ensuring they meet their fortification-related compliances is essential to successfully achieving Fortify Health’s important goals. The Regulatory Affairs Officer will assist in coordinating compliances and administrative deliverables between partner mills, Fortify Health and external stakeholders, during and after implementation.

Position overview

The Regulatory Affairs Officer will be based out of Pune, but will be open to traveling extensively to plant locations. They will assist the programs team in ensuring that fortification-related administrative, compliance and packaging work in partner mills is conducted efficiently. This includes working with the Operations team to prepare and update documentation, assisting mills with regulatory compliances related to fortification and coordinating the administrative aspects of a mill partnership at the ground level. It requires strength in a range of soft skills: ability to learn quickly, organisation, communication skills, strong sense of judgement, approachability, and high attention to detail. It also requires knowledge of and experience in navigating relationships in the food manufacturing sector.

The Regulatory Affairs Officer will be responsible for ensuring collaborative work takes place with our miller partners. They will be a self-starter, have excellent verbal and written communication skills and have prior experience in communicating with various types and levels of professionals in the food manufacturing sector. They will have the exciting opportunity to bring their own unique experience into this role, as they will be the first member of our new compliance team and will be an essential part of Fortify Health’s growth. They will initially report to Fortify Health’s Associate Director of Business Development.

Responsibilities and activities

Assist the Program, M&E, Operations and Business Development teams in efficient implementation by helping partner mills to complete administrative and regulatory compliance related work, especially in the initial stages of a mill partnership.
Develop strong and trusting relationships with partner mill staff, mill management and owners
Lead fortification-related regulatory compliance work within partner mills. This work includes collecting and updating documents, assisting mills with their FSSAI fortification endorsement application and approvals, liaising with local government officials and assisting partner mills with labeling modifications according to FSSAI standards
Identify, build relations with and communicate effectively with food regulators from local FDA offices as well as regional FSSAI offices for fortification related compliance work.
Work closely with the Program Officer and Junior Program Officer to ensure effective implementation of our programs within partner mills
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 regulatory consultants, packaging and labeling technologists and operations team members to develop expertise in all mill-related administrative work
Actively participate in team calls and meetings

Requirements

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders at varying levels of seniority
Excellent ability to learn, absorb and implement new information
Minimum 3-5 years of experience in administrative, regulatory compliance or packaging work within the food manufacturing sector in India
Knowledge of and prior connections within the food regulatory ecosystem (local and state FDA, FSSAI, regulatory consultants etc.)
Strong problem solving skills and ability to get things done in challenging situations
Willingness to travel around 70% of the time (this may include within base location, intra-state travel and relocation)
Bachelors or higher degree in related field
Proven ability to manage professional relationships and to work under pressure
Excellent organisational skills and ability to work effectively on multiple projects
Excellent documentation skills
High attention to detail
Strong teamwork and interpersonal skills
Willingness to relocate to and work out of Fortify Health’s Pune hub
High proficiency in MS Office and ability to learn relevant software quickly
Authorisation to work in India (Indian national, eligibility for OCI, etc.)
Fluency in Hindi
Professional fluency in English