Nutrition Specialist job at United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

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Responsibilities or duties

Under the supervision of the Chief of Zonal Office and with overall technical direction and guidance of the Chief of Nutrition, the Nutrition Specialist (Response Coordination Support) will provide leadership in the day-to-day implementation of nutrition actions. They will facilitate the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, strategic, adequate, coherent, and effective nutrition emergency response by participants in the zone.

The Nutrition Specialist supports the development and preparation of the nutrition programme, with particular focus on child wasting in humanitarian settings and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting TO nutrition humanitarian situation in Karamoja and/or refugees hosting communities in Uganda.

The post holder is responsible for providing predictable, timely and strategic coordination support for the nutrition humanitarian response in Karamoja and/or refugees hosting districts to ensure a timely and effective detection, referral and treatment of children with severe wasting.

The post holder’s main tasks and responsibilities will include but not be limited to:

Coordination,

• Ensure and maintain a coordination mechanism that facilitates the effective achievement of the nutrition humanitarian response as outlined in the response plan and project document,
• Coordinate with subnational stakeholders including district local governments, ensuring alignment of work and priorities, effective communication and reporting
• Build complementarity of partner actions within the zone, pro-actively negotiating with partners to avoid and resolve duplication and gaps.

Needs assessment and analysis

• Contribute to the planning and implementation of needs assessment and analysis, including contributing to joint analysis of the response needs, in particular with WFP, UNHCR and other implementing partners.
• Analyse needs assessment data and work collaboratively with the district local governments and implementing partners to create analytical reports and other response products.

Strategic response planning

• Contribute to subnational level strategic planning, response prioritization and the development of the nutrition response plan that is aligned with national priorities, policies and plans,
• Ensure all programme delivery modalities (in-kind, cash, voucher and services) are given consideration in the strategic response planning and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,
• Provide technical support to sub-national local government and partners to ensure activities are aligned with national priorities and communities’ needs,
• Ensure that local government response planning is regularly updated according to evolving needs and that it establishes indicators by which performance of the response can be measured,

Implementation and monitoring

• Monitor, evaluate and report on the coverage, equity, quality and progress of the response against the response strategy, priorities and agreed results,
• Contribute to gap and coverage analysis to identify spatial and temporal gaps, overlaps and coverage of humanitarian response,
• Monitor the adherence to the project principles, relevant agreements, standards, initiatives and guidelines, in particular as it relates to community engagement, detection and referral of severe wasting cases for treatment.

Strengthen local capacity

• Encourage participation of local actors in activities and strategic decision-making, removing barriers to access,
• Lead timely planning of response actions, including mass screening, outreaches and emergency preparedness efforts for timely treatment of severe wasting cases among children under five years old.
• Ensure all response delivery modalities (lifesaving supplies, cash payments and/or services) are given equal consideration in the strategic response planning and establish and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,
• Provide technical support to partners to ensure activities are aligned with the response strategic priorities and communities’ needs,
• Ensure that response implementation progress is regularly updated according to evolving needs and established indicators by which performance of the response be measured are timely tracked,

Qualifications or requirements (e.g., education, skills)

Minimum requirements

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, humanitarian assistance and development or another health-related social science field.
• Skills: Nutrition Situation Analysis, Systems Based Programming, Resilience Focused Programming, Nutrition Capacity Strengthening, Nutrition Advocacy.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language
• Direct, practical experience in the design, implementation and/ or coordination of response to child wasting in humanitarian crisis, including in early detection, referral and treatment is strongly desired.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Experience needed

• Work Experience: At least 5 years of relevant work experience in one of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child nutrition care. Experience of working in nutrition humanitarian response/context is required.

• Ensure and maintain a coordination mechanism that facilitates the effective achievement of the nutrition humanitarian response as outlined in the response plan and project document,
• Coordinate with subnational stakeholders including district local governments, ensuring alignment of work and priorities, effective communication and reporting
• Build complementarity of partner actions within the zone, pro-actively negotiating with partners to avoid and resolve duplication and gaps.
• Contribute to the planning and implementation of needs assessment and analysis, including contributing to joint analysis of the response needs, in particular with WFP, UNHCR and other implementing partners.
• Analyse needs assessment data and work collaboratively with the district local governments and implementing partners to create analytical reports and other response products.
• Contribute to subnational level strategic planning, response prioritization and the development of the nutrition response plan that is aligned with national priorities, policies and plans,
• Ensure all programme delivery modalities (in-kind, cash, voucher and services) are given consideration in the strategic response planning and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,
• Provide technical support to sub-national local government and partners to ensure activities are aligned with national priorities and communities’ needs,
• Ensure that local government response planning is regularly updated according to evolving needs and that it establishes indicators by which performance of the response can be measured,
• Monitor, evaluate and report on the coverage, equity, quality and progress of the response against the response strategy, priorities and agreed results,
• Contribute to gap and coverage analysis to identify spatial and temporal gaps, overlaps and coverage of humanitarian response,
• Monitor the adherence to the project principles, relevant agreements, standards, initiatives and guidelines, in particular as it relates to community engagement, detection and referral of severe wasting cases for treatment.
• Encourage participation of local actors in activities and strategic decision-making, removing barriers to access,
• Lead timely planning of response actions, including mass screening, outreaches and emergency preparedness efforts for timely treatment of severe wasting cases among children under five years old.
• Ensure all response delivery modalities (lifesaving supplies, cash payments and/or services) are given equal consideration in the strategic response planning and establish and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,
• Provide technical support to partners to ensure activities are aligned with the response strategic priorities and communities’ needs,
• Ensure that response implementation progress is regularly updated according to evolving needs and established indicators by which performance of the response be measured are timely tracked,

• Nutrition Situation Analysis
• Systems Based Programming
• Resilience Focused Programming
• Nutrition Capacity Strengthening
• Nutrition Advocacy

• Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, humanitarian assistance and development or another health-related social science field.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language
• Direct, practical experience in the design, implementation and/ or coordination of response to child wasting in humanitarian crisis, including in early detection, referral and treatment is strongly desired.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.