Nutrition Innovations Consultant, Product Innovation Centre, Supply Division, Cph

Supply Division is looking for a Nutrition Innovations Consultant

Nutrition Innovations Consultant

Product Innovation Centre, Supply Division, Cph

Duration:  11.5 months

Location: Copenhagen

Travel: Travel will be invoiced at actuals in line with UNICEF rules and regulations

Start Date: January 2021

Reporting to: Innovation Manager, UNICEF Supply Division, Copenhagen

BACKGROUND:

In 2019, UNICEF procured $3.826 billion worth of supplies and services from all over the world on behalf of governments and other partners to address the needs of children.  Much of UNICEF Supply Division’s (SD) work focuses on working with suppliers and a range of partners to ensure the availability of life-saving products. SD’s work in product innovation enables the development of new products or the improvement of existing ones, hereby ensuring value for money and the availability of fit for purpose and value for money products that can benefit children around the world.

UNICEF Supply Division (SD) is seeking a consultant to supplement the work of the SD Product Innovation Centre (PIC) in the position of “Nutrition Innovations Consultant” to manage a number of Product Innovation Projects (PIPs) in the area of Nutrition.

The office requires a nutrition expert with project management expertise, to identify, and drive development and scale up of high-impact innovations for the nutrition of children. The consultant will be expected to drive product innovation projects to success, in close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. The consultant should be a self-starter capable of driving projects and producing polished documentation independently.

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this full-time consultancy is to manage two product innovation projects (PIPs) in the Nutrition space while scoping a third activity. This involves ensuring the products are commercially available and procured by UNICEF as well as driving demand through select interventions. The consultant will be further expected to provide input, both technical and commercial to existing PIPs in the Nutrition space and other activities related to enabling product innovation as required. Travel may be required.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

 Under the supervision of the Innovation Manager, PIC and in close collaboration with the Technical Specialist, Medicines and Nutrition Centre, the consultant will: 

Manage two Product Innovation Projects (PIPs)and explore one additional:

• Work with country offices in UNICEF MENARO region and WFP partners to implement the complementary feeding bowl PIP into existing feeding programmes.

• Support field validation of the new height measurement device and depending on the outcome of these trials, introduce it to the UNICEF catalogue.

• Explore the potential for a new humanitarian parenting kit in collaboration with the Early Childhood Development team in NYHQ.

Critical activities across the different projects :

• Ensure quality decisions are made on whether/how the projects should be brought forward, considering maximum impact for the resources spent. This involves continues clarification and communication of the exact value proposition of the projects using the learnings from the activities to determine if and how the projects are taken forward

Ensure appropriate project management, including planning and execution to achieve timely results

• Manage multi-stakeholder budgets and its distributions.

• Support the convening of advisory committees where relevant (and manage related meetings)

• Create project documentation including Innovation Review Board submissions, proposals and presentations for high-level endorsement

Two related trips

• Mission to initiate qualitative testing of the Infant and Young Child Feeding Toolkit (MENA)
• Technical consultation visit to UNICEF ESARO and partners (Nairobi) to discuss implementation modalities of the Complementary Feeding Bowl.

KEY DELIVERABLES:

Shepherding two PIPs through the innovation process and potentially introducing a third pending the outcome of exploration and research.

Ensure appropriate planning of two new Nutrition PIPs (Product Innovation Projects). It is expected that the consultant would deliver the following for each of the two projects (using existing documentation where available in consultation with Technical Specialist, Medicines and Nutrition Centre):

 Scoping documentation

1. Outline the methodology and approach to validating and scaling the products
2. Specify the procurement scenario for UNICEF, including appropriate criteria for procurement (regulatory and ‘performance’)
3. Document supplier landscape
4. Specify the demand forecast (with underlying sheet, clearly specifying core assumptions)
5. Developing funding modalities and mobilizing resources to support the projects
6. Establishing monitoring frameworks to ensure user feedback on products.
7. A final report for each project, delivering an overarching recommendation for whether and how UNICEF should engage

Project documentation (as relevant according to outcome of scoping exercise)

1. Innovation Strategy
2. Innovation Review Board Submission Documents (internal documentation)
3. Project Presentation
4. Project Briefing note
5. Monitoring Framework
6. Acceptability trial design (s)
7. Project plan including timelines

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Nutrition, Food Technology, Food Science, Public Health, Innovation, Micro-biology, medical degree or another relevant discipline
• A First university degree combined with additional two years of relevant work experience in new product development, innovation or project management or additional courses in relevant subjects will be considered in lieu of a master’s degree if the candidate can demonstrate high level of experience with related projects.

 Work Experience:

• Minimum five years of relevant, progressively responsible, professional experience is required
• Health and nutrition education or experience is required
• Preferred candidate will have experience in managing innovation projects or managing scientific trials eg. acceptability trials or field trials, ideally in the context of public procurement and / or in the development / humanitarian sector
• Experience of food industry is a strong asset – in particular, working with suppliers and producers of specialist foods
• Knowledge of deploying nutrition products in developing countries is a strong asset
• Knowledge of the environment in which UNICEF operates is considered an asset
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements and/or UN procurement processes is an asset

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.
• Knowledge of another UN language would be an asset.

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application
2. CV
3. Financial quote at a monthly rate in US Dollars. Financial quote should be inclusive of service fees, taxes and all living expenses. DSA will not be paid in addition to monthly rate for this consultancy.
4. Examples of previous, relevant projects or work
5. 2 written references from previous employers, or contact details for 2 referees who may be contacted
6. P11 form which can be downloaded from our website at https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc

Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above.  Applications submitted without a monthly rate will not be considered.

Applications should be submitted by 15 December 2020

UNICEF considers best value for money as a criteria for evaluating potential candidates.  As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant or individual contractor follow the “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.  Please note that consultants and individual contractors are responsible for assuming costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance.

Successful applicants will be evaluated by the following criteria: