Roster Refresh Nutrition Consultants to be engaged by UNICEF offices across different locations in India

UNICEF is maintaining a roster of pre-qualified high-caliber candidates to be hired as ‘Nutrition Consultants’, from which UNICEF country office and different state offices select and fill any consultancy requirement through a faster contracting process as soon as a need is identified.

LOCATION: New Delhi / any of the 13 UNICEF Field Offices (Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Guwahati, Hyderabad/Telangana, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi)

VALIDITY OF ROSTER: Three years

 CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATION SUBMISSION: 31 March 2020

1 BACKGROUND:

 Based on the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (2016-18) and WHO/UNICEF/World Bank 2019 joint estimates, India is home to over 25%  (40.7 million) of the 149 million stunted children world-wide. Similarly, there are around 50 million wasted children in the world, of which India alone houses 20.3 million (37%) of them.

Adequate nutrition during the first 1000 days- from conception to a child's second birthday, not only helps children survive and thrive, but supports them to reach their full growth and development potential, which has an impact on learning and educational outcomes; and hence improving India's macroeconomic growth.

As a technical partner, UNICEF supports both national and state Governments’ efforts to reduce child stunting and wasting including among the most vulnerable populations, through improving quality, universalizing coverage and reach of proven high impact interventions around the first 1000 days of life and for adolescent girls and for preventing and treating severe acute malnutrition at facility and community levels.

2 PURPOSE:

UNICEF is maintaining a roster of pre-qualified high-caliber candidates to be hired as ‘Nutrition Consultants’, from which UNICEF country office and different state offices can quickly select and fill a requirement through a faster contracting process as soon as a need is identified.

Candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to apply following which a desk review of their skills and experience will be done to determine whether they qualify for the Nutrition Roster. The process will ensure all candidates in a Nutrition Roster Group are evaluated prior to recommendation for a specific consultancy opportunity. Successful candidates will be notified and placed in a Nutrition Roster Group for a four (4) year period. However, engagement of identified consultants for specific assignments would be as per the terms and conditions specified in the contract entered into.

The Roster of Nutrition Consultants, once in place, will allow nutrition colleagues to select three or more potential candidates from the roster for further appraisal and selection of one candidate, rather than going through a formal advertisement process for each consultancy assignment. Ideally, this will expedite the placement of consultants (both short term and long term) and also provide the supervisor the scope to choose from a vast pool of potential candidates with nutrition background. The database will be managed centrally by Supply & Procurement (S&P) section, New Delhi. In this context, should the currently on-board consultants with UNICEF be interested in being considered for future opportunities with UNICEF, they need to apply to the roster.

3 LOCATION:

 The position would be responsible for providing technical support to national / state / divisional / district level/ sub-district levels (in certain cases) nutrition programming in UNICEF supported states in India, with specific deliverables to be achieved for improved nutrition outcomes. The position would be based at Country Office or State or selected district HQs within the states.

Possible locations are: New Delhi, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Guwahati, Hyderabad/Telangana, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Raipur and Ranchi.

4 VALIDITY OF ROSTER:

The roster once established would be valid for a period of 3-years.

 5 QUALIFICATION, SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Education: Master’s or Diploma in Public Health Nutrition/Food and Nutrition/Public Health/Home Science/Rural Development Management(Nutrition)/ Health Administration or relevant social science degree
• Technical knowledge: Excellent technical knowledge about public health and nutrition programs especially in context of India
• Language: Fluency in English or English plus Hindi is required. Knowledge of other local Indian language as relevant to the state is an asset. Good negotiation and influencing skills supported by excellent communication, writing and presentation skills is desirable.
• Computer literate and conversant with MS Office and its application, internet, e-mail
• Working knowledge on analysis package like SPSS/R/STATA  will be an added advantage
• Knowledge/familiarity with the national flagship programs (NHM, ICDS, MDM, Tribal Welfare, Livelihood Mission and others)
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary environment and to establish harmonious and effective working relationships with governmental, non-governmental and civil society organizations

6. HOW TO APPLY: Please submit your application along with the below mentioned documents: 

1. 1. A Cover letter explaining the motivation for applying and also explaining how the qualifications and skill-set of the candidate are suitable for this position (to be uploaded under cover letter section)
   2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded under CV/resume section)
   3. Relevant Work Samples (at least 2-3 documents, where the candidate has had a major role in – explain that role – and that clearly demonstrate the person’s technical expertise and experience. In a word document you can share the links to these documents and explain your role and contribution/expertise under each link shared)
   4. Technical Experience Template (To be completed and uploaded online under Transcripts. Please note that do not upload your educational certificates only upload this technical experience template.)

 NUTRITION TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE TEMPLATE_RJ.docx

You will notice that scores have been assigned to the work sample and technical experience template. Hence, it is mandatory to upload these documents. Without these documents your application will be considered incomplete and will be invalidated.

7. Evaluation Criteria

1. Cover letter                                                                        Min 07/Max 10
2. Relevant Education Qualifications                                         Min 14/Max 20
3. Relevant technical experience                                              Min 21/Max 30
4. Work Samples of previous work                                           Min 28/Max 40

Candidates' who score 70 marks and above and also score the minimum points against each of the above sub-criteria will be considered for inclusion in the roster

Total points to qualify in overall technical evaluation     Min 70/Max 100

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process.

For any clarifications, please contact:

UNICEF

Supply & Procurement Section

73, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003

Telephone # +91-11-24606516 (Direct)

Email: indconsultants@unicef.org