Nutrition Manager at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Nutrition Manager, P-4

Job Number: 501895
Location: Maiduguri Borno
Location: Nigeria
Work Type : Fixed Term Staff

Purpose of the Position

• The Nutrition Manager reports to the Chief of Field Office for guidance and general supervision and to Chief Nutrition, Abuja for additional progarmme and technical guidance.
• The post is based in Maiduguri. Borno Field Office (FO). The FO covers Borno and Yobe states. Both states are seriously affected by the humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram. UNICEF has been implementing an emergency nutrition response in the 2 states which is being further accelerated to deal with the high prevalence of severe acute child malnutrition.
• The Manager supports the Chief in managing the Borno FO Nutrition Team, contributing to knowledge management/innovation and developing/preparing nutrition programs/projects.
• The Nutrition Manager is expected to provide programmatic, technical leadership and strategic direction to the development and implementation of an accelerated nutrition emergency response.
• The Manager provides authoritative technical and strategic guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results in maternal, infant and child nutrition programs/projects according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework also in view of the Core Commitments for Children and UNICEF cluster Lead role in Emergency.

Summary of Key Functions/Accountabilities within a Largely Nutrition Emergency Response
Management and/or advisory support to the Chief:

• Provide advice to the Chief in establishing the annual work plan including developing strategies and determining priorities/targets and performance measurements.
• Coordinate work progress monitoring and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards and report to Chief critical issues for timely action.
• Provide technical assistance/advice to colleagues in the Section on all aspects of programming and implementation to enable colleagues to achieve program/performance objectives

Program development and planning:

• Support the development and update of UNICEF Nutrition emergency response plan, including up-dated situational analysis, and monitor its implementation in Borno and Yobe states.
• Plan and/or provide technical support/guidance to the preparation/design and conduct/update of state situation analysis for the nutrition sector/s to ensure timely comprehensive and current data on maternal and child nutrition are available to guide policy and development, design and management of nutrition programs/projects.
• Keep abreast of development trends to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic program discussion on the planning of nutrition programs/projects.
• Supporting states government and other partners in the development, update, implementation and monitoring of the state Nutrition emergency response for women and children, including exit strategy and link with longer term programme
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies and to determine state specific priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide authoritative technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programs/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated. Specific focus here on provision of an integrated health, nutrition, WASH emergency response

Program management, monitoring and delivery of results:

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector/s in nutrition programs.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with state government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programs/projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners/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.
• Plan, monitor and certify and control the optimum/appropriate use of program resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity and ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources
• Assessment and analysis of the emergency health and nutrition situation of women and children in the state and conducting desk reviews of the existing data.
• Provide regular updates on the implementation of the emergency response plan for Borno and Yobe states including integration of emergency nutrition response with other sectors e.g. Health and WASH. Special attention is required to maintaining a robust and efficient supply pipeline
• Prepare mandated and key program/project reports for donors and other partners to keep them informed of program progress.

Advisory services and technical support:

• Provision of technical assistance in reviewing the nutrition components of the humanitarian response plan in line with the findings of the comprehensive rapid assessment conducted in the states responding to the emergency. In line with UNICEF corporate responsibility as Cluster Lead agency for Nutrition in emergency, work closely with the CFO to provide the required support to the State Sector Coordinator and State Information Management Officer
• Provide advice to key government officials, NGO partners, UN system partners and other field office partners/donors on policies, strategies and best practices and approaches on health and related issues to support program development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in program strategic discussions/planning to provide technical advice/contribute to policy discussions and agenda setting to promote health/nutrition interventions especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness and maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic program materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives program development and contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated.

Advocacy, networking and partnership building:

• Work with other UN, humanitarian partners and state agencies to ensure a well-coordinated mutually enforcing response.
• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with nutrition/health sector government counterparts, national stakeholders and global partners/allies/donors/academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and/or promote cooperation and alliances to achieve program goals on maternal/children rights and social justice/equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials to highlight program goals, achievements and/or needs to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for nutrition programs (maternal, newborn and child survival and development) and maintain good and informative relationship with partners and donors.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable health programs/projects initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark and implement best and cutting edge practices in health management and information systems. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Organize, plan and/or implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on health/nutrition related programs/projects.

Impact of Results

• The efficiency and efficacy of program preparation planning and implementation of nutrition programs/projects contributes to and accelerates the nutrition emergency response efforts to improve the nutritional status of mothers, infants and children in Yobe and Borno States, and this in turn contributes to maintaining/enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to continue to provide program services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equity in the States.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate
Education:

• An Advanced University Degree in Nutrition, Nutritional Epidemiology, Public Health, Global/International Health and Nutrition, Health/Nutrition Research, Policy and/or Management, or other health related science field is required.
• First university degree with additional two-years of relevant work experience is acceptable in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in public health/nutrition planning and management and/or in relevant areas of maternal, newborn and child nutrition health care at the international level some of which preferably in a developing country in emergency context is required.
• Relevant experience in health/nutrition program/project development and management in any UN system agency or organization and specifically in the use of emergency management tools and interventions, including but not limited to CMAM, IYCF-E, CERF, Cluster coordination is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset

Competencies of Successful Candidate
Core Values:

• Commitment
• Diversity and inclusion
• Integrity

Core Competencies:

• Communication (II)
• Working with people (II)
• Drive for results (II)

Functional Competencies:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (II)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise (III)

Application Closing Date
26th December, 2016.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• The successful candidate for this emergency recruitment MUST be available to commence work within 31 days of receiving an offer.
• Please note that Maiduguri Borno is a non-family duty station.