Nutrition Specialist

Nutrition Specialist (Community Nutrition Systems Strengthening) P-3, ROSA, Kathmandu, Nepal, (Temporary Appointment- 11.5 months) #00128505

Job no: 571929
Position type: Temporary Appointment
Location: Nepal
Division/Equivalent: Kathmandu(ROSA)
School/Unit: Regional Services Div (SAR), Kathmandu
Department/Office: Reg Serv – Prog Section, Kathmandu
Categories: Nutrition

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, nutrition

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, nutrition, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The evolving face of maternal and child malnutrition in South Asia region demands a multifaceted response that supports nutritious, safe, affordable diets, nutrition services and positive nutrition practices across the lifecycle. At the same time, the climate crisis is slowing, and at times reverting, regional progress on ending child malnutrition in the region. The UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020–2030 calls for UNICEF programmes to strengthen the capacity and accountability of five key systems – food, health, water and sanitation, education, and social protection – to deliver nutritious diets, essential nutrition services and positive nutrition practices for children, adolescents, and women. The health system is a key delivery platform for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition, providing multiple contact opportunities with children, adolescents, and women. However, all too often, health systems do not effectively integrate nutrition services. Cocoverage of health and nutrition interventions is far from optimal and disproportionately affects poor households in South Asia. Therefore, policy and programming efforts should pay attention to closing coverage, equity, and opportunity gaps, and improving nutrition service delivery through health system and other delivery platforms. Accelerating health and nutrition outcomes for vulnerable women and children through multi-sectoral community action and support to the Community Health Delivery Partnership (CHDP) agenda is an organisational priority for UNICEF across all levels of the organization.

How can you make a difference?

• The Nutrition Specialist (Community Nutrition Systems Strengthening) supports the Regional Nutrition Advisor in strengthening cross sectoral technical collaboration and coordination to enhance synergies to address maternal and child malnutrition effectively and sustainably.
• S/he provides technical support for regional efforts to engage strategically with health systems to close coverage, equity and opportunity gaps in nutrition service delivery and improving nutrition practices through acceleration of community health and nutrition as key pillar of primary health care/ achieving universal health coverage in the region. The Nutrition Specialist contributes to an office wide multi-sectoral community action agenda and supports the operationalization of the Community Health Delivery Partnership (CHDP) in South Asia.
• S/he will provide technical support to UNICEF Country Offices (COs) to optimize the growing momentum on community health and nutrition to enhance geographical convergence and concurrent delivery of essential actions for the early prevention of child wasting through primary health care and community-based delivery platforms. This includes support for scaling-up programmatic innovations to simplify the early detection and treatment of child wasting, increase the coverage of treatment services through community-based workers.
• The Nutrition Specialist will provide technical support to UNICEF Country Offices (COs) on accelerating actions that will contribute to preventing child malnutrition in populations affected by the climate crisis, mitigate impacts of climate change on nutrition and building nutrition climate

Key function, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to programme development and planning
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Support to programme development and planning

• Contribute to and support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the nutrition sector(s) to ensure comprehensive and current data on maternal and child nutrition is available to guide policy development, and the design and management of community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection programmes/projects.
• Keep abreast of development trends to enhance nutrition cross sectoral programme management, efficiency, and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of cross sectoral community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection programmes/projects.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans for the nutrition cross – sectoral programmes based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable cross sectoral results related to community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence, and harmonization of nutrition programmes with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, and UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for cross sectoral programmes related to community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with regional development partners, national government, and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action and interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor cross sectoral nutrition programmes and projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress. Identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative, and other assets) towards cross sectoral nutrition results confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors, and partners to keep them informed of programme progress

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to regional development partners, UN system partners, country office partners/donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, best practices, and approaches on nutrition and related issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation, and delivery of results.
• Participate in discussions with regional partners, clients, and stakeholders to promote cross sectoral nutrition and development issues especially in the areas of community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives for programme development, contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies

4. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with cross sectoral nutrition stakeholders including the Community Health Delivery Partnership (CHDP) through active sharing of information and knowledge on nutrition.
• Facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve programme goals on community nutrition, climate action nutrition resilience, child wasting, nutrition and social protection.
• Prepare communication and information materials for programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for cross sectoral nutrition programmes.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests, and priorities are fully considered and integrated in regional planning and agenda setting.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
• Support programme learning and implementation research agenda for closing coverage, equity, and opportunity gaps, and improving nutrition service delivery through health system and other delivery platforms; building nutrition climate resilience amongst the poorest and most marginalized communities; and reducing food and nutrition vulnerabilities through enhanced synergies between child nutrition and social protection.
• Facilitate scaling-up programmatic innovations to simplify the early detection and treatment of child wasting, increase the coverage of treatment services through community-based workers.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best and cutting-edge practices in nutrition management and information systems. Assess, institutionalize, and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on nutrition related programmes and projects

Impact of Results

• The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Nutrition Specialist (Community Nutrition Systems Strengthening) to the preparation, planning and implementation of cross sectoral nutrition programmes/projects contributes to and accelerates the UNICEF multi-sectoral community action agenda and supports the operationalization of the Community Health Delivery Partnership (CHDP) in South Asia. This contributes to closing coverage, equity, and opportunity gaps in nutrition service delivery, improving nutrition practices, and mitigating impacts of climate change and poverty on nutrition especially amongst the most vulnerable population groups. This in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to continue to provide programme services to mothers and children that promotes greater social equity in South Asia region.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

The following minimum requirements:

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, nutritional epidemiology, or another health-related science field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in a developing country in one or more of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child health/nutrition care, nutrition policy and implementation research. Specific expertise in multi-sectoral nutrition systems strengthening and developing nutrition programmatic synergies with health and social protection systems.
• Proven professional experience in community nutrition systems strengthening and integration/scaling up programmatic innovations to reduce coverage, equity and opportunity gaps in nutrition service delivery including early detection and treatment of child wasting and strengthening nutrition resilience of vulnerable populations is an asset.
• Research, data analytics and knowledge management (qualitative and quantitative research methods) and publication experience for a range of audiences (technical, academic, research and nontechnical). Experience in leading nutrition/public health systems strengthening implementation research is an asset.
• Experience in health/nutrition programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

The following desirables:

• Developing country work experience in emergency nutrition preparedness and response as well as nutrition climate change mitigation and adaptation.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

1. Builds and maintains partnerships
2. Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
3. Drive to achieve results for impact
4. Innovates and embraces change
5. Manages ambiguity and complexity
6. Thinks and acts strategically
7. Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes[KR5] , and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required[LK6] to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Application close: May 27 2024 Nepal Standard Time