To Apply

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, health and nutrition, agriculture, education, microfinance and peace building.

Job Summary

The Senior Technical Advisor (STA)-Nutrition/Team Lead will provide global leadership and strategic direction for CRS in nutrition.  The position will serve as the agency’s technical lead for: design and development of high quality nutrition programs aligned with national nutrition policies and evidence-based practices; provision of strategic technical assistance (TA) to improve program quality and achieve desired project outcomes; oversight of developing, testing and scaling-up effective approaches which integrate nutrition with other sectors; promotion of local leadership and support staff capacity building; and increasing CRS’ influence in the nutrition field through donor engagement, advocacy and external representation. This position will collaborate with HQ and regionally based health/nutrition technical advisors, country program teams as well as advisors and staff from other sectors – Humanitarian Response, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), agriculture & livelihoods, education, gender and others –  to effectively address the needs of the people we serve.

Job Responsibilities

Leadership and Representation

• Represent CRS to governments, donors, multilateral organizations, strategic partners and other key stakeholders at the highest levels.

• Network with appropriate organizations to build CRS’ profile in nutrition such as active participation and leadership in technical working groups and exploring new networks and spaces for agency influence.

• Identify opportunities to share CRS learning, results, tools and programming through presentations and publications.

• Collaborate with CRS’ Mission and Mobilization unit to support advocacy with the U.S. Government and to support campaigns with U.S. supporters on food security and nutrition issues.

Technical Assistance

• Identify technical assistance needs and ensure timely provision of TA services, including (context permitting) conducting visits to country programs to support ongoing nutrition projects and research studies.

• Collaborate with technical advisors, country program staff and partners from other areas – in particular Humanitarian Response and WASH, and also agriculture & livelihoods, education, gender, youth, HIV, early childhood development (ECD) and others – to integrate nutrition with complementary areas of programming.

• Coordinate with the Humanitarian Response Department on integrated approaches to resilience that strengthen nutrition within the continuum of emergency to recover to developmental programming.

• Support the design and development of formative and implementation research to generate lessons learned and advance agency learning agenda

• Expand the use of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches through development and promotion of evidence-based tools and materials – e.g., training curricula, job aids, mobile applications – to facilitate scale up internally and influence externally.

• Remain abreast of emerging issues in nutrition and nutrition/integration in order to incorporate them into country, regional and global programming and research.

New Business Development

• Cultivate strong relationships with donors in nutrition – including USAID’s Food for Peace in the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), USAID Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), UK Department for International Development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other foundations focusing on nutrition, and more.

• Work closely with CRS’ Institutional Donor Engagement Advancement (IDEA) department, PIQA’s Global Grants team, and regional and country program staff to effectively engage with governments, partners and donors to position for and pursue new opportunities

• Collaborate with technical advisors and staff from other sectors to design innovative and effective approaches that enhance nutritional outcomes and leverage CRS strengths as a multi-sectoral organization.

• Contribute to major proposals, including serving as technical lead, writing technical sections and engaging with partners.

Local Leadership and Capacity Strengthening

• Promote strategic partnerships with field-based institutions

• Support systems for training, mentorship and learning for HQ staff, regional colleagues, country program teams and partners in CRS nutrition

• Organize participation and presentations at conferences by staff, ensuring national staff in particular have the opportunity showcase learning, engage with peer organizations and demonstrate sectoral leadership.

Management

• Manage one staff member and lead a community of practice across the agency.

• Foster a motivating environment within the nutrition community, ensuring strong communications and a commitment to meeting field needs.

• Oversee development and implementation of annual work plan and budget.

• Ensure strong coordination with other sectoral leads and communities of practice

• Work closely with team members, directors and executives on nutrition-sensitive policies and practices

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Master's Degree in nutrition, public health or health-related field required. PhD or equivalent degree preferred. 

• Minimum of 10 years of experience working in global health and nutrition with 5 years overseas in multiple regions, as a technical advisor and/or program manager of a nutrition and/or multi-sectoral project with a nutrition component.

• Strong technical understanding of nutrition, evidence-based approaches – both nutrition-specific (ICYF, maternal nutrition) and nutrition-sensitive (WASH, ECD, food security) – with experience in emergency nutrition and health systems strengthening preferred.

• Track record of successful business development, capturing public and private donor funding and strengthening relationships (e.g., USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Bureau for Global Health, DFID, multilateral agencies, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, other private foundations, corporations).

• Expertise in the development and production of curricula, tools, and products to support nutrition interventions and programming; including a strong understanding of of social and behavior change (SBC) approaches and tools.

• Experience working with local partners – government, faith-based and civil society.

• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation as well as operations research, including development of indicators, data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.

• Technical and/or academic publications highly desirable.

Personal Skills 

• Excellent relationship management and representation skills with ability to influence and obtain buy-in among staff and partners from diverse geographical and cultural settings. 

• Excellent strategic, analytical and systems thinking skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including research publications

• Excellent presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills

• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language 

• Fluency in English required.

• Proficiency in French preferred.

Travel Required

• Travel up to 30% required, context permitting.

Key Working Relationships 

Internal: Members of the Health, Social Services, and Education Team, Agriculture/Livelihoods unit and other staff in the Program Quality and Impact Assessment (PIQA) Department; IDEA and Humanitarian Response Departments as well as the Mission and Mobilization team; Regional Technical Advisors, country program health leads, and Chiefs of Party/Project Managers of nutrition and multi-sectoral projects.

External: Peer agencies, USAID and other public/private donors, technical working groups, research institutions, advocacy networks, partner organizations and others.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff): 

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

Integrity

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

Builds Relationships

Develops Talent

Strategic Mindset

Accountability & Stewardship

What we offer

CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, generous retirement savings plan and the opportunity to work in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that is committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS' processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

NOTE: All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

EOE/M/F/D/V - CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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