Head of Department - Nutrition and Health at Action Against Hunger | ACF-International

Action Against Hunger is the world’s hunger specialist and leader in a global movement that aims to end life-threatening hunger for good within our lifetimes. For 40 years, the humanitarian and development organization has been on the front lines, treating and preventing hunger across nearly 50 countries. It served more than 21 million people in 2018 alone.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head of Department - Nutrition and Health

Location: Abuja
Employment type: Full time
Reporting to: Deputy Country Director Program
Proposed start date: April 2024

Key Responsibilities

• Nutrition and Health Assessment (SMART/Rapid SMART/SQUEAC/SLEAC etc.) and analysis of the prevailing context of nutrition and health in the country;
• Develop new proposals for intervention in medical and nutritional programme areas for submission to funding bodies in collaboration with Program Managers and Field Coordinators (Development grants);
• Collection and quality control of monitoring, follow up and evaluation data for development grants;
• In collaboration with the regional nutrition and health coordination team, development of an ACF nutrition and health strategy specific to the mission;
• Reviewing the standard of nutritional and medical proposals submitted by his/her teams
• Production of quality reports for the health and nutritional situation analysis;
• Identifying challenges and proposing research projects and innovative approaches in the field of malnutrition;
• Liaise with finance and logistics departments to establish budgets for new programmes in nutrition and health [Development grants];
• Frequent engagement with Heads of Departments in other technical areas to develop an integrated multi-sectoral approach;
• Compile a synthesis of all data collected by Nutrition and Health Programme Managers and inform the Mission’s Country Director and relevant HQ personnel of the key indicators having a bearing on the programmes;
• Support the development of the technical skills of Nutrition and Health teams;
• Manage overall planning and dispatching of work as well as individual action plans for the Nutrition and Health team in the capital;
• Evaluation of the technical performance and skills of Programme Managers;
• Work closely with the Field/Area Coordinator to identify any team-related challenges and also provide practical solutions;
• Dissemination of the ACF nutrition and health strategy at the country level to partners and funding bodies;
• Establishing MoU to define the terms of various partnerships with national/sub-national Government partners;
• Negotiation with local partners on work organisation, protocols, action plans, and training at all levels (local, regional and national) taking account of all those involved in the area;
• Coordinating the implementation of programmes with representatives of national and local government;
• Liaise with partners and participate in meetings with other agencies (WFP, UNICEF, other NGOs etc)  with a view to defining partnership agreements;
• Lending technical support to the development of national and local strategies in the struggle against malnutrition;
• Setting out a common strategy and action plan (ACF and partners) concerning specific projects;
• Collaborating with partners by the ongoing provision of useful information and regular meetings;
• Building a long-term strategy for the programme, with a view to enabling the partner to achieve autonomy, with particular attention, where necessary, to cost recovery aspects;
• Influencing the definition of national protocols through negotiation with representatives of partner structures (notably the Ministry of Health) with a view to disseminating ACF's technical standards for dealing with malnutrition;
• Representing ACF in dealings with national and international authorities on matters of health and nutrition in close collaboration with the regional coordinator and Deputy CD – Programmes;
• Developing and maintaining relations with current and potential donors (visits to projects, presentations of ACF and its work, requests for funding);
• Promoting the philosophy and protocols of ACF to local partners (NGO, MoH, etc.);
• Representing the areas of health and nutrition in the national coordination of ACF;
• Producing technical, strategic and activity reports in the fields of health and nutrition (for partners);
• Producing and/or publishing information, both internally and externally, concerning technical progress in the fields of health and nutrition in the country of intervention;
• Elaborating communication tools for disseminating information on ACF and the nutrition and health dimensions of its programmes.

Position Requirements

• Advanced Degree (Master's) preferably in Human Nutrition, Medical Sciences or Social Sciences
• Minimum of 5 to 7 years of previous experience working with NGOs specifically in nutrition and/or health;
• Proven management and coordination skills (HR, projects, and stress management);
• Proven ability to translate analysis and evaluation into operational planning and strategy;
• Experience with evaluations and monitoring as well as Project Management Cycle;
• Experience with external representation and knowledge of Nutrition & Health Cluster mechanisms;
• Advanced knowledge of Nutrition and Health guidelines and procedures including those of donors and international standards (e.g. SPHERE);
• Ability to work in a mainstreamed manner and analyze/capitalize institutionalized information;
• Excellent written and spoken English, including the ability to write clear and engaging reports;
• Disciplined and able to work and arrive at decisions autonomously and with minimal guidance;
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to ACF field locations;
• Experience working with multiple donors (BHA, ECHO, UNICEF…) including compliance reporting and regulations.

Application Closing Date
26th March 2024.

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