Head of Food Systems - Remote

Head of Food Systems - Remote

Mary's Meals International (MMI) is delighted to be recruiting for an inspirational and impactful leader to be Head of Food Systems at Mary’s Meals International. Working as a key member of the Programme Development and Operations Leadership Team, you will have the opportunity to lead the development of the Mary’s Meals food systems strategy and policies, driving innovation in this space to support the ongoing development of our global school feeding programmes.

You will thrive in a collaborative environment and will work in close collaboration across the Mary’s Meals global family. You will be positive and innovative, with extensive experience of working with food systems in an international development or other context.

You will have responsibility for developing robust, cost-effective and locally contextualised food systems, enabling us to keep our promise to each child we serve and to reach the next child waiting for Mary’s Meals.

Key responsibilities include:

• Identify and scope innovative opportunities at various scales (from community-level to programme-level), and lead in the implementation of food systems innovations.
• Monitor and evaluate food system innovations, including testing feasibility and assessing for the potential to scale and learn for cross-application in other programmes.
• Monitor the current food systems environment, identifying risks and opportunities associated with the global food system as they apply regionally and within each programme.
• Work collaboratively with our procurement function to ensure procurement processes align with the needs of the food system strategy and troubleshoot our food supply chain issues, ensuring we keep our daily promise to each child.
• Build capacity within MMI and our programme countries in the food systems space.
• Act as subject matter expert in food systems, manage self-development and stay abreast of innovations.
• Work with the Programme Development team on reporting for grants.
• Develop clear annual work plans and budgets and monitor them regularly.
• Oversee the delivery, monitoring and reporting of progress made against team and departmental strategies and plans.

You will bring a collaborative, values-led approach, focussed on driving positive innovation and capacity building. Delivering complex global projects involving many global stakeholders, bringing others with you, and inspiring those you work with, will be key to success. 

The ideal candidate will have exceptional communication skills and will be confident in developing strong working relationships and communicating strategy and learnings in a culturally sensitive manner, across a wide geographic area. 

Experience working in an NGO or within international development would be great but not essential to succeed in this role.

This is a global role, and we are happy for you to work remotely. As part of your role, there will be a requirement for travel to countries where Mary’s Meals programmes operate, potentially up to 10 weeks per year.

We believe in the innate goodness of people, respect the dignity of every human being and family life and believe in good stewardship of the resources entrusted to us. This role undertakes regulated work with children, and you will be required to register with the Protected Vulnerable Group Scheme or local equivalent before undertaking your role.

This is an amazing role within our Programmes team, where your daily work has a real impact. If you are looking for more from your role, then we would love to hear from you. Please click Apply and tell us why you are a good fit for Mary's Meals and this role.