Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Nutrition Coordinator
Job ID: 200006AE
Location: Damaturu, Yobe
Reporting to: Field Manager
Grade: 3
Employee Status: Fixed Term
Reporting to Position: Nutrition Project Officer / Assistant
Child Safeguarding
- Level 3. The responsibilities of this post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children and young people. In the overseas context all posts are considered to be level 3.
- As part of these responsibilities the post holder will support the establishment of child safeguarding systems, promote a culture of keeping children safe, and ensure that potential harm to children (by our own staff and / or as a result of how we do our work) is identified and addressed on an ongoing basis.
- The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.
Scope of Role:
- The Nutrition Coordinator will be responsible for overall implementation and oversight of nutrition activities (CMAM & IYCF).
- He / she will also oversee Nutrition Officer and Assistants implementing nutrition activities in the areas of jurisdiction.
- He / She will who support the day-to-day running of project activities along with SCI partners. The Nutrition Coordinator will also ensure that nutrition activities are fully integrated into other sectoral interventions and also enhance coordination between sectors.
- The Nutrition Coordinator will Engage in capacity building activities including training and on the job mentorship to team members, provide training to the nutrition team in IYCF-E, CMAM, and other related nutrition-focused activities;
- This position will be based at Yobe with travel to field sites; and reports to the Field Manager
Key Areas of Accountability:
- This post focuses on emergency / humanitarian programming and not limited to any project. The position holder will be expected to contribute to SCI’s dual mandate and support as needed.
Key Areas of Accountability
Program Management
- Oversees the implementation of nutrition activities and ensuring that the quality standards and state of the art are met;
- Work closely with the nutrition specialist in providing technical leadership and strategic guidance in the development, implementation, monitoring and learning from nutrition projects
- Supervise, lead, guide, support and manage nutrition officers and implementing partners, thereby enabling them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner
Facilitate trainings for nutrition professionals;
- Participating in and / or leading health, nutrition, and / or multi-sectoral assessments as required;
- Manages all Save the Children resources (equipment, supplies, HR) committed to nutrition program activities;
- Conducts regular field visits to provide supportive supervision to the projects;
- In liaison with the Nutrition Specialist, develop work plans, SOPs, budgets, and other required program documents for nutrition section;
- Conducts regular field visits and review meetings with government officials to monitor the implementation of nutrition programs;
- In collaboration with Nutrition Specialist, ensure timely preparation and implementation of activities while focusing on the targets / deliverables / budgets
Representation and Communication:
- Represent SCI nutrition and participate in internal coordination and share up-to-date within the sector
- Documents findings and recommendations of field visits for follow-up actions; shares as appropriate.
- Actively participates in the development and submission of program reports, ensuring completeness, accuracy and timeliness.
- Documents lessons learned in specific technical areas.
Policy Analysis, Policy Engagement and Advocacy for Policy Change:
- Contribute to nutrition learning and research that supports the sector advocacy objectives and lead the implementation research necessary for evidence-based advocacy.
- Represent the organization at all relevant technical external task forces, working groups, seminars or other meetings as approved by the sector head and use these meetings to negotiate strategic, project and advocacy positions.
- Develop good relations with other NGOs, development and UN agencies working in the sector and where possible forge alliances to influence key actors around advocacy objectives.
- Be fully aware of national policies, strategies and other initiatives and developments by government and other stakeholders in the sector of thematic area covered.
- Ensure that the voices of children guide advocacy and policy change objectives and related activities.
- Compile, Analyze and interpret nutrition response data and provide regular updates to government and NGO coordination bodies as requested, and use the information to justify decisions on further resource allocation.
- Participates in identifying, coordinating, and implementing operational research studies to pilot and scale-up effective direct interventions in coordination
Programme Quality and Effectiveness:
- Ensure that project officers are meeting both internal and donor technical standards and requirements. This includes oversight of implementation quality, reviewing, editing and signing-off donor reports to ensure they are of an acceptable technical and presentational quality.
- Participate in field-based project monitoring and review meetings.
- Liaise with Programme Operations staff to identify technical support needs of projects and staff, and jointly agree on specific and time-bound support needs of projects and staff in relevant technical areas.
- Provide technical training to ensure that the project staff have the necessary skills to technically implement the project.
- Assist project staff in the use of nutrition and cross-cutting tools and guidelines to ensure the quality of work. These include, among others, child participation, child right programming and mainstreaming of gender, diversity and HIV / AIDS.
- Prepare work plans, in consultation with Field manager and Nutrition technical team and ensure that implementation is up to date
- Undertake regular field visits to project sites to ensure technical quality and timeliness of ongoing work.
Documentation and Reporting:
- Provide accurate, complete and up-to-date information required for effective strategic and tactical planning in the North East
- Work with the nutrition and MEAL team to ensure quality data is produced, collated, compiled and shared
- Prepare regular / mandated program / project reports for management to keep them informed of program progress.
- Build the capacities of the nutrition Officers and Assistants to produce quality reports
Program Finance, Logistics and Administration:
- Assist in staff recruitment and training, conduct performance monitoring in collaboration with HR, and ensure that standards and protocols are adhered to
- Timely submit the procurement requests for all projects
- Review and manage program budgets and ensure that there is regular alignment of the budget in regards to expenditures
- Coordinate very closely with logistics in order to ensure that there is no break in nutrition program supplies
- Organize and follow-up on all other procurements needed for the projects
Other:
- The post holder may be responsible for additional tasks and duties as and when required to support the overall Country Programme, regional and head office priorities.
Qualification and Experience
- M.Sc Degree or First Degree in Public Health, Nursing, Nutrition or related health fields with a minimum of 5 years works experience in the nutrition the area of emergency nutrition in NGO environment.
- Strong analysis and writing skills
- Certificate in monitoring and evaluation, nutrition in humanitarian context, CMAM, IYCF, or any other related topics.
- Experience in working with government counterparts and other partners at various levels -
- Excellent understanding of the relevant thematic sector in Nigeria at both field and policy levels; including the national nutrition program and well as CMAM programming
- Proven experience in emergency nutrition projects
- Familiarity with nutrition donors, partners, and NGO groups
- Practical understanding of the challenges and opportunities in realising children’s rights in Nigeria, in relation to thematic area
- Understanding of advocacy and representation within the nutrition sector
Skills:
- Demonstrable experience in M&E
- Good presentation and facilitation skills
- Proven conceptual skills and an ability to think and plan strategically
- Good communication and interpersonal skills and an ability to train and mentor staff
- Proven ability to manage a complex and demanding workload
- Excellent spoken and written English and local language (North east of Nigeria)
- Good computer skills (particularly Excel, Word and databases)
Desirable:
- Experience in nutrition project data management and CMAM programming
- Having an operational experience will be a plus advantage.
Skills and Behaviours (SCI Values in Practice)
Accountability:
- Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
- Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
Ambition:
- Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
- Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
- Future orientated, thinks strategically
Collaboration:
- Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
- Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
- Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to
Creativity:
- Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
- Willing to take disciplined risks
Integrity:
- Honest, encourages openness and transparency
