Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Nutrition Officer is ultimately responsible for providing technical support, coordination, policy and planning, advocacy and evaluation of the Nutrition Programmes in UNHCR. The incumbent will report to the Chief of the Public Health Section and will work closely with colleagues working on food security and public health within the Division of Resilience and Solutions. The close linkages with food security should be maintained across the Division.
The Public Health Section's objectives are to reduce morbidity and mortality among UNHCR's populations of concern (POC) and to improve their wellbeing. The Senior Nutrition Officer brings crucial expertise to the work of the Section with the aim of ensuring that UNHCR's nutrition programmes meet minimum UNHCR and international standards, to minimise malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia prevalence in POC and towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The incumbent holds a professional management position responsible for provision of expert technical support and advice as well as strategic planning and policy making on activities within the areas of nutrition and public health as an integral part of UNHCR programmes. S/he will provide strong and timely technical support and strategic guidance to UNHCR senior management, and technical support to the regional and country level public health, nutrition and food security and programme staff as well as to update/develop policies and strategic plans on nutrition and support their implementation.
The Senior Nutrition Officer will lead the development of policy and guidance on nutrition, technical nutrition trainings; provide input into briefings and evaluation documents; support the design and development of global monitoring systems; support the institutional and donor reporting on nutrition; lead the nutrition dialog and liaison with UNICEF and other partner agencies; prepare global agreements with partners; support global procurement documents for nutrition related items; support country and regional bureaux to ensure quality of nutrition assessments, technical protocols and advise on specific nutrition interventions; and support the development and roll out of global strategy plans on Public Health and Nutrition; and lead the development of nutrition-related advocacy briefs.
The incumbent will coordinate approaches and strengthen/develop strategic partnerships with other UN agencies, including UNICEF, WHO, WFP and FAO on nutrition related matters, with NGOs involved in nutrition and academic and policy institutions, to share information and experiences, carry out joint assessments, produce joint technical guidelines, implement joint projects, seek new opportunities for interagency collaboration on specific nutrition issues, seek financial and technical support for selected refugee operations, conduct joint trainings, operational research and coordinate with UNICEF on nutrition in mixed refugee and IDP situations including through the cluster approach.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Duties
Coordination, Leadership and Partnership
Coordinate UNHCR's nutrition portfolio at global level with other government(s), UN agencies, donors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other humanitarian partners including development actors to ensure alignment with the Global Compact on Refugees and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), including SDG 2.
Represent UNHCR in relevant global technical nutrition meetings, conferences and similar fora leveraging UNHCR nutrition data and programme learning for advocacy. Facilitate technical partnerships at the global level
Support inter-sectoral collaboration between nutrition and public health, WASH, food security/livelihoods, cash, education, environment, shelter, and protection etc.
Support the efforts in resource mobilisation in the area of nutrition and related sectors with an emphasis on non-traditional donors (including the private sector) to UNHCR as well as develop/assist in project proposal writing and fundraising.
Strategic planning and development
Contribute to the development, implementation, reporting and review/evaluation of UNHCR's Strategic Plan for Public Health.
Ensure that UNHCR's nutrition policies, guidance and strategies address known gaps in nutrition and food security programming with due consideration to multi-sectoral linkages, nutrition sensitive actions and existing national nutrition and social protection programmes are grounded in best practice and best-available evidence.
Contribute to the development of regional and country public health and nutrition strategies and programmes. Ensure they are based on up-to-date assessment and identification of needs, recognizing the contributions of governments and other actors and in support of national health systems as much as possible; include preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative care; recognise the different approaches required for the stage of the humanitarian response (preparedness, emergency, stabilisation, transition and long term inclusion) as well as for settlement or camp based POCs and those in urban or non-camp situations.
Support as far as possible the inclusion of refugees into national or sub national nutrition policies and plans, including in supply and procurement planning.
Technical Support
Provide technical assistance on nutrition to UNHCR's regional and national public health coordinators and partners remotely and through field missions.
Mentor the nutrition personnel and provide technical support on nutrition to public health and food security personnel at field level through regular calls, joint monitoring and supervision visits and training.
Review and provide technical inputs on reports and programme proposals from the Field with the view to verify compliance with UNHCR policy priorities including refugee women and children, gender, adolescents and other related priorities.
Ensure dissemination and implementation of internationally accepted technical standards, policies, and guidelines within UNHCR and among partners; adapt accordingly to the unique situation of refugee populations.
Be available to rapidly deploy for mission to new refugee emergencies.
Support application of UNHCR's and international standards and guidelines in nutrition.
Make recommendations to Senior Management on nutrition issues concerning refugees.
Leverage data and evidence to advocate for refugee nutrition at global level in terms of policy, briefings, funding, participation in conferences, publications etc.
Assessment, analysis and monitoring
Design and maintain the implementation of a global monitoring system for refugee nutrition including testing and roll-out of innovative mechanisms for data collection and visualization linking to other UNHCR public health monitoring systems.
Support Regional Bureau and Country Offices in ensuring quality control of UNHCR Standardized Expanded Nutrition Surveys (SENS) and other assessments and nutrition monitoring.
Maintain the global database of refugee nutrition data from SENS.
Undertake operational research with relevant stakeholders in order to improve programmatic response, assimilate and produce best practice/lessons learnt/academic articles.
Cultivate technical partnerships in order to be able to leverage specific skills unavailable in-house to conduct comprehensive reviews of UNHCR nutrition data and share findings when relevant e.g. CDC, ENN, specific donors.
Capacity Strengthening
Expand and establish strategic partnerships in key technical areas to support capacity of field operations as well as mobilise expertise and resources for nutrition (in collaboration with food security colleagues).
In collaboration with food security staff, ensure that nutrition and food security are adequately addressed in in-house capacity building activities including training.
In conjunction with the Global Learning Centre and external actors, support development of capacity strengthening tools and materials including webinars, e-learning materials and online learning tools, contribute to relevant communities of practices.
Ensure that current gaps in skills and knowledge in the area of nutrition are addressed through global and regional training as well as on job support during field missions.
Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P4/NOD - 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree
Field(s) of Education
Human Nutrition, Food Science, Public Health or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Certificates and/or Licenses
Public Health, Food Assistance, Food Security;
Reproductive Health, Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF);
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of emergency and protracted nutrition and food security programmes. Minimum of five years working experience in emergency nutrition. Strong communication skills both verbal and in writing. Ability to promote good working relationships among colleagues, supervisors, and supervisees. Analytical and creative thinking abilities with solutions-oriented approach. Proficiency in basic computer software such as Microsoft Office applications, MS Access, Epi Info and other statistical programmes required for nutritional survey data analysis.
Desirable
Previous professional work with refugees and other populations of concern to UNHCR with UNHCR, NGO's and / or UN agencies. Experience in multi-sector programming for nutrition outcomes.
Functional Skills
MD-Nutrition
MD-Reproductive Health
MD-Public Health Epidemiology
MD-Nutrition-Food Supplm, SMART methodology, CMAM, IYCF, Voucher/Cash transfer
TR-Training/Coaching/Facilitation
IT-MS Office Applications
MS-Presentation
CO-Strategic Communication
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit their application online on the UNHCR Careers Page at https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html by clicking on "Vacancies".
Closing date for applications: 14 May 2020 (midnight Geneva time).
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.