Terms of Reference- Regulatory Expert

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Nigeria

About Sight and Life Foundation

Sight and Life is a charitable foundation established in Switzerland. With 74% of its staff living and working in LMICs across Africa and Asia, it currently has active projects in 13 LMICs with the aim to fill the nutrition gap for vulnerable populations. Sight and Life’s strategy is to translate evidence-backed nutrition innovations into social business models, empowering local communities to provide local solutions for local problems. Successful pilots are taken to scale with the help of partners for better and more lasting impact. For more information, please visit https://sightandlife.org

About the project

Sight and Life is looking for a regulatory expert for its Fermentation project in Nigeria. The broad objective is to create a roadmap for scaling fermented foods in Nigeria. Fermentation is a widely used, low-cost food processing method rooted in local dietary practices across many LMICs. In countries such as Nigeria, fermented foods are a staple part of diets, with around 80% or more of people regularly consuming fermented foods.

 

The roadmap for scaling up requires a thorough regulatory assessment to ensure the strategies are aligned with Nigerian food regulatory authority’s requirements. The regulatory expert will review and conduct a comprehensive analysis of current food policies and guidelines and systematically evaluate impact of fermentation in selected foods. It will include a review of existing regulations and interview of key stakeholders/informants.

Deliverables
  • Identification of necessary regulatory approvals, potential barriers to entry, and steps for market entry
    • Identify relevant government bodies, ministries, and regulatory authorities.
    • Review relevant food policies, legislations, standards, guidelines, regulatory requirements, and approval processes.
    • Review international standards (CODEX, WHO, FAO, etc.) on fermented foods.
    • Verify and review compliances followed in fermented foods.
  • Evaluation of potential cost, benefit, and impact of fermentation
    • List the recurring costs of testing, containment engineering, validation, and filings required by safety or food authorities.
    • Review compliance with biological safety standards, containment protocols, and effluent discharge limits to prevent environmental or health hazards.
    • Compare current compliances of selected companies against regional regulatory standards to analyze gaps.
    • List the required compliance protocols and regulatory documents.
  • Work closely with Sight and Life team to build out the insights.
  • Submit reports, checklist, and other relevant documents.
Skills and qualifications
  • At least a master’s degree in food science, food safety and quality or related fields
  • Extensive expertise, knowledge and experience in the field of food regulations
  • Have established a track record of similar work, preferably training food regulatory personnel
  • Excellent analytical, report writing skills and presentation skills in English
Duration

From October 2026 – August 2027; Candidate can work remotely from anywhere in Nigeria and must be willing to travel.

Submit your resume to: priyanka.kumari@sightandlife.org before 15th September 2026.