The Nutrition Specialist (P3) will play a critical role in supporting UNICEF Venezuela’s humanitarian response to address acute and chronic nutrition challenges affecting children and women, compounded by pre-existing vulnerabilities and the ongoing socio-economic crisis. The incumbent will lead the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of nutrition interventions within the country programme, ensuring alignment with emergency response priorities and long-term resilience-building strategies. The Nutrition Specialist (P3) will drive the rapid strengthening of UNICEF Venezuela’s humanitarian nutrition response, ensuring high-quality evidence generation, context-adapted strategies for acute malnutrition in Severity 4 and 5 municipalities, inclusive program delivery, capacity building of implementing partners, strategic alliances across the UN and international cooperation ecosystem, and donor engagement/fundraising. The postholder will enhance the quality, timeliness, and accountability of UNICEF-supported services for maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN), prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition (wasting), and nutrition-sensitive, multi-sectoral approaches aligned with UNICEF’s Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs)

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 for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, sustenance

The humanitarian and operational context in Venezuela continues to be characterized by high levels of complexity and structural fragility, with persistent challenges in access to basic services, food security, health, protection, and human mobility. These challenges disproportionately affect children, adolescents, and women, limiting community coping capacities and requiring sustained preparedness and a highly coordinated humanitarian response.

UNICEF has a strong, established operational presence in Venezuela, with long-standing relationships with national and local authorities, civil society organizations, and communities, including in hard-to-reach and crisis-affected areas. UNICEF currently operates across 54 municipalities, supporting essential services for children and adolescents in health, nutrition, WASH, education, and child protection. This presence provides a critical foundation for early detection of risks affecting children, continuity of life-saving services, and rapid adjustment of programmes as conditions evolve. UNICEF also leads or co-leads key sectors, including WASH, nutrition, education, and child protection, giving the organization a central coordination role within the humanitarian system.

In anticipation of a potential escalation, UNICEF has actively strengthened preparedness measures. A contingency plan has been developed to address the humanitarian needs of an initial caseload of 50,000 people, including 20,000 children, under a realistic and fundable scenario of US$5 million. The plan prioritizes continuity of life-saving services while accounting for operational constraints such as insecurity, movement restrictions, disruptions to electricity, communications and banking services, and the presence of armed actors. UNICEF has pre-positioned critical supplies, activated contingency activities within existing programme documents, and reinforced coordination with implementing partners to ensure operational feasibility in the early phase of a crisis. The operational burden and the need for agile decision‑making currently exceed the existing team’s capacity, considering the significant staff separations in the last six months which have left the team understaffed.

The temporary deployment of a Nutrition Specialist on mission status is therefore critical to immediately reinforce the Country Office’s capacities and providing technical 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 programmes/projects.

How can you make a difference? 

1. Evidence Generation & Real-Time Monitoring

• Review and strengthen methodologies, tools, sampling, community-based screening approaches (e.g., MUAC), data collection mechanisms (digital and paper), information flows, quality assurance, storage, and protection.
• Map and consolidate data sources (programme, partner, government, inter-agency assessments; facility/community data; supply/stock data; AAP/feedback mechanisms; disability-inclusive indicators).
• Establish/enhance real-time monitoring of screening, admissions, treatment outcomes, service availability, and supply pipeline—prioritizing Severity 4 and 5 municipalities.
• Develop a light, field-friendly data dictionary, standardized SOPs, and a dashboard specification (e.g., Power BI/ActivityInfo/Kobo) with disaggregation by age, sex, disability status, indigenous identity, and mobility status (children on the move).
• Produce analytical briefs and visualizations (maps, trend charts) for decision-making, advocacy, and donor updates; ensure data quality checks, ethical safeguards, and Do No Harm.

1. Strategy & Frameworks Adaptation for Acute Malnutrition (Severity 4 & 5)

• Reviewing existing conceptual frameworks and operational strategies (e.g., IMAM/CMAM, IYCF‑E, MAMI Care Pathway for small and nutritionally at-risk infants under 6 months and their mothers) to Venezuela’s context, emphasizing low-access, hard‑to-reach, and mobile populations.
• Integrate inclusive approaches for indigenous peoples, children with disabilities, and children on the move, addressing linguistic, cultural, geographic, and accessibility barriers.
• Update protocols for screening, referral, admissions, follow-up, and discharge, aligned with national guidance and inter-agency/cluster standards.
• Review minimum service packages for health facilities and community platforms, with clear escalation pathways in Severity 4/5 settings.

1. Programme Implementation Strengthening & Implementing Modalities

• Support the amendment of the current WP, PD, or SPD with IP in alignment with the humanitarian response plan.
• Optimize implementation modalities with CBOs, NGOs, FBOs, community networks, and public institutions, including last-mile delivery and community-based outreach models.
• Establish or refine community screening and referral networks, including indigenous and migrant community leaders, women’s groups, disability organizations, and youth networks.
• Strengthen supply planning & last-mile tracking (RUTF, anthropometric tools, counselling materials) with simple consumption tracking and stock-out alerts.
• Integrate nutrition with Health, WASH, Education, SBC (social & behaviour change), and Child Protection, including IPC (Infection Prevention & Control) and PSEA risk mitigation.

1. Capacity Building for Implementing Partners

• Conduct rapid capacity needs assessment (facility and community levels).
• Develop and deliver modular training packages (IMAM/CMAM, IYCF‑E, disability-inclusive programming, AAP, safe data handling, community mobilization, rapid monitoring).
• Provide coaching and supportive supervision (in-person and remote), including on‑the‑job mentoring, case reviews, and quality improvement cycles.
• Produce job aids, checklists, referral flowcharts, and SOPs in Spanish, with culturally adapted visual materials for indigenous contexts.

1. Partnerships & Alliances (UN, International Cooperation, Donors)

• Strengthen coordination with Nutrition Sector/Cluster mechanisms and inter‑sectoral groups (Health, WASH, Protection, Social Protection).
• Drive joint analysis, harmonized indicators, and response planning with UN agencies, INGOs/NGOs, academia, and government counterparts.
• Prepare talking points, situation updates, and evidence-based briefs for senior management, partners, and donors.

1. Resource Mobilization & Donor Engagement

• Draft high‑quality fundraising proposals (theory of change, logframe, budget, procurement plan, risk matrix, MEAL plan, sustainability/transition) tailored to donor requirements.
• Contribute to detailed donor reports and visibility materials (stories from the field, photos with consent protocols, infographics).
• Participate in donor meetings/field visits as requested by the Representative/Deputy Representative.

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

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.

• 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.
  • Proven track record in inclusive programming (indigenous peoples, disability inclusion, migrant/IDP contexts).
  • Experience with UN coordination/cluster mechanisms, inter‑agency planning, and donor proposal development.

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

Desirables:

• Prior experience in Latin America/Caribbean or similar contexts is an asset.

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 

(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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 is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, all eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required 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.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

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 only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

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.