Nutrition Specialist (Humanitarian Development Nexus), NO-C, Temporary Appointment (364 days), #116286, Dhaka, Bangladesh, #540166 (only for Bangladeshi nationals)

Under the direct supervision of Nutrition Section Chief, the Nutrition Specialist will be responsible for liaising and managing relations with key ministries at the national level within the context of a project targeted at building resilience for Rohingya Refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar. The Nutrition Specialist, in coordination with section colleagues, will thereby liaise intensively to support the further development and roll-out of a minimum package of nutrition interventions and generate evidence for scale-up within multiple line Ministries.

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For every child, care.

The project is set within a humanitarian-development nexus context; the influx of refugees has increased and emphasized the local communities’ vulnerabilities. The project aims to address these vulnerabilities through a system strengthening approach, building local capacities in order to build the resilience of communities, systems, and governance congruently. Nutrition outcomes are dependent on a variety of factors, such as access to essential nutrition services, healthy diets, and access to social protection support for the most vulnerable. As such, to achieve improved nutrition depends on different systems, most notably the health system, food system, and social protection system, as well as WASH. In this context, engagement with both national-level Government counterparts for their guidance and instructions, and district-level Government counterparts for their action and support, is necessary to build systemic change for communities.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of Nutrition Section Chief, the Nutrition Specialist is responsible for liaising and managing relations with key ministries at the national level within the context of a project targeted at building resilience for Rohingya Refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar. The Nutrition Specialist, in coordination with section colleagues, will thereby liaise intensively to support the further development and roll-out of a minimum package of nutrition interventions and generate evidence for scale-up within multiple line Ministries.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Liaise with key ministries (e.g. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs) at the national level and UNICEF to ensure effective coordination and streamlining of activities on a day-to-day basis

• Develop and maintain conducive relations with key ministries
• Conduct regular consultations with national ministries on project activities, aligning with project goals and objectives, and contributing to system strengthening
• Support to monitor, analyse, and evaluate project activities and prepare project updates to share with Government on a regular basis

Strengthen capacity for building humanitarian development nexus and coordination at national and district levels (Cox Bazaar) to implement project activities in a coordinated and complementary manner

• Provide technical support for coordination between ministries and directorates at national and district level, both horizontally and vertically, and mainstreaming of nutrition in project-relevant Government programmes 
• Organize quarterly joint coordination meetings with Government stakeholders from key ministries to support planning and review project progress
• Organize and coordinate joint monitoring visits with Government stakeholders from key ministries to oversee project activities
• Liaise and coordinate with other nutrition-relevant development partners to strengthen synergies, complementarities, and linkages with nutrition-relevant programmes (including nutrition sensitive programs) both through existing platforms such as the Nutrition and Food Security Clusters, as bilaterally

Ensure alignment of project activities with the  Minimum Multi-Sectoral Package of Nutrition and evidence standards

• Coordinate and document lessons learned on project nutrition activities within UNICEF and with Government to support refining of Minimum Multi-Sectoral Package of Nutrition
• Enable triangulation of district coordination of nutrition activities through DNCC and UNCC with central line ministries, in coordination with  national consultant at BNNC and technical supervisor
• Develop and maintain evidence standards for the project, including a theory of change, results framework, evidence plan, and sustainability plan
• Support evidence generation and knowledge sharing, in coordination with UNICEF SPEAR section, among public institutions involved in the project at the central and sub-national level to support advocacy for resource mobilization for the multi-sectoral nutrition approach
• Provide technical support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programs/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated
• Establish results-oriented, two-way communication channels between UNICEF and national Ministries to promote and strengthen the multi-sectoral approach for nutrition in support of the project

Support planning and monitoring of project activities as part of the project implementation team

• As part of the project implementation team, support design, planning and tool development, implementation and monitoring of the project within both Government and UNICEF, ensuring strong fidelity of implementation and continuous data analysis for learning and building evidence of progress and impact
• Contribute in the development of regular donor reports and other formal communications with the donor
• With the team in Cox’s Bazar, prepare regular/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress; support donor visits.
• Communicate and coordinate with the donor as and when required

Internal coordination for activities on humanitarian development nexus for nutrition

• Coordinate with other UNICEF sections in Dhaka on project-related relevant activities
• Ensure synergies, complementarities and alignment with relevant sections activities

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required:  nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, Agronomy, Development studies, policy and/or management.
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in the field of nutrition is required.
• Experience in coordinating multi-sectoral nutrition programs, in particular essential nutrition services, agriculture, food security and social protection, and coordinating between different stakeholders at different levels is required.
• Experience in working and coordinating with the relevant ministries, including agriculture, health and women and children affairs is desirable.
• Experience developing and implementing M&E frameworks and conducting quantitative and qualitative research or other evidence generation and knowledge management activities, particularly in the areas of nutrition.
• Experience in health/nutrition programme/food security/social protection project development in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.
• Fluency in English and Bangla is required. 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The core and functional competencies required for this post are...

Core competencies

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (1)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

Functional Competencies:

• Communication (2)
• Working with people (2)
• Relating and networking (2)
• Analyzing (3)
• Applying technical expertise (3)
• Deciding and Initiating action (2)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.

Remarks:

*Internal candidates may be given preference over external candidates. The term "Internal" refers to all personnel with an ongoing employment relationship with UNICEF, including staff members on a continuing, fixed term and temporary appointment, individual contractors and full-time time-based consultants, and UNV.

*Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.