Term of Reference for Consultant- Food and Nutrition
Position Name: Consultant – Food and Nutrition
Reporting Line: Sr. Program Manager – THR
Tenure: September 2026 – May 2027
Positions: 1
Location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
About PCI India: -
PCI India, a registered Indian society, has been working in India for the past 26 years. We drive interventions to transform the lives of communities at scale by solving complex development problems. In the past year, PCI India reached more than 1.5 crore, i.e. 15 million people in1649 Blocks of 163 Districts in 14 States.
About the Project: -
PCI India is supporting strengthening of Take Home Ration (THR) Programme across Uttar Pradesh with focus on improving production systems, quality assurance mechanisms, food safety compliance, hygiene standards, and strengthening operational systems across all THR production units.
The consultant shall support quality monitoring, food safety systems, audit readiness, regulatory compliance, and continuous quality improvement across THR production units.
Key Roles & Responsibilities: -
1. NFSA 2023-Complied THR Recipe
- Provide technical facilitation and expert inputs for development, refinement and standardization of the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe.
- Support technical consultations, formulation trials, validation and documentation related to the recipe.
- Support standardization of the agreed recipe for implementation across THR units.
2. Market-Viable Recipe Formulation and Product Development
- Support end-to-end formulation and refinement of market-viable THR recipes/products.
- Support ingredient selection, formulation trials, technical optimization and product feasibility.
- Design/facilitate consumer testing and use findings to improve formulation and product acceptability.
- Support pricing/costing analysis and development of an appropriate market strategy.
- Document formulation, testing and market-development learning.
3. SOP Development and Standardization
- Prepare SOPs for the NFSA 2023-complied THR recipe and the market-viable recipe/product.
- Develop practical guidance covering recipe standardization, preparation/process requirements, quality checks, documentation and relevant food-safety practices.
- Support orientation and adoption of SOPs by THR units and relevant functionaries.
- Review and update SOPs based on implementation learning and technical findings.
4. High-Risk Audit Support and Compliance
- Provide technical support for implementation and follow-up of high-risk audit requirements across THR units.
- Coordinate with relevant teams and functionaries across the 204 THR units on audit preparedness and compliance.
- Review food-safety, quality, hygiene and process gaps and support corrective actions.
- Track and support closure of audit observations through regular technical follow-up.
- Strengthen checklists, guidance notes and technical tools required for audit readiness.
5. Nutrition and Food Safety
- Provide technical guidance on nutrition and food-safety aspects of THR production and handling.
- Support review of nutritional quality and consistency of THR products against agreed requirements.
- Provide inputs on hygiene, food handling, storage, processing and quality practices.
- Support identification and mitigation of nutrition and food-safety risks at THR units.
- Provide technical inputs for training and capacity building on nutrition and food safety.
6. Technical Capacity Building
- Assess technical capacity gaps among THR functionaries and relevant teams.
- Facilitate training, orientation and practical demonstrations on recipe standardization, nutrition, food safety, SOP implementation and audit preparedness.
- Provide technical mentoring and troubleshooting support to THR units.
- Develop simple technical guidance and knowledge materials as required.
7. Technical Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement
- Coordinate with UPSRLM, THR units, SHGs, PCI State Team, technical partners and relevant government stakeholders.
- Facilitate technical consultations and follow-up on recipe, nutrition, food-safety and audit-related issues.
- Provide technical inputs for programme review meetings, presentations and reports.
- Undertake field visits as required to provide technical support and validate implementation.
8. Documentation, Learning and Continuous Improvement
- Document formulation trials, consumer testing findings, technical decisions, implementation learning and good practices.
- Identify opportunities to improve product quality, nutritional value, acceptability, food safety and operational feasibility.
- Capture lessons and recommendations for scale-up and replication across THR units.
- Undertake other food, nutrition, food-safety or product-development responsibilities assigned by the Reporting Manager and aligned with the consultancy.
Application closure date: - 07th October 2026
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the advert attached below