UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, sustenance

In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children's rights in partnership with the government, civil society, children, and families.  UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally - click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/.

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

UNICEF's fundamental mission is to promote every child's rights, leaving no one behind. In Nigeria, the nutrition situation of children under five has recorded minimal change, and currently, Nigeria is off track to achieving the World Health Assembly 2025 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Approximately one in three children under five in Nigeria is stunted, while one of every ten children is wasted. Consequently, Nigeria has the world's second-highest number of malnourished children and the highest in Africa.

Nigeria has the second-highest number of malnourished children in the world and the highest in Africa. Malnutrition, in all its forms, is a violation of a children’s right to adequate nutrition.  To change the narrative, UNICEF in partnership with the government and other stakeholders aims to deliver good quality prevention and treatment services at scale to build resilience and protect the most vulnerable, particularly during the First 1000 Days of Life. The focus, in keeping with UNICEF Nigeria’s new Country Programme Strategy (2023-2027), is to (i) strengthen the enabling environment, including data, to inform policy and programming; (ii) strengthen systems, especially the health, and food and social protection system to deliver high-quality services; and (iii) address social and behavioral practices that influence diets and practices.

How can you make a difference?

To enable UNICEF to address social and behavioral practices that influence diets and practices in the first 1,000 days of life, UNICEF Nigeria is seeking a Nutrition Manager (P4, Temporary Assignment) to be based in Abuja, Nigeria. Specifically, the Nutrition Manager will be responsible for the following:

• Develop evidence-informed, gender-sensitive, human-centered strategy to create a ‘new normal’ for diets and practices in Nigeria, particularly in the First 1000 Days of life.
• Engage with stakeholders (internal and external) to execute a harmonized strategy at scale at the national and sub-national levels using a variety of platforms and channels to reach audiences
• Ensure the availability of high-quality data (qualitative and quantitative) to inform the strategy, enable course correction and report progress against outcomes.
• Mobilize resources (both domestic and international) to execute the strategy by developing high-quality concept notes and proposals.
• Be accountable for the documentation of results through reports, presentations, publications, etc.

Key responsibilities:

         1.  Programme development and planning

• Review and refine the analysis of the recently concluded formative research on the First 1000 Days to inform the development of a multi-channel, state of art, gender-sensitive, integrated, human-centered behavior change strategy at scale.
• Engage with stakeholders (internal and external) to support the government to develop and validate a National Social Behavior Change Strategy for Nutrition. Support UNICEF Field Offices to adapt the national strategy to state-specific strategies and plans.
• Aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2022-2026 (UNSDCF), regional strategies, as well as national priorities, plans, and competencies, formulate, design, and prepare high-quality concept notes and proposals to mobilize resources and document results for impact.

        2. Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results          

• Provide management oversight to Output 3 on Diets and Practices and ensure plans are developed and executed in accordance with UNICEF’s Country Programme Strategy and Partnership Framework with the Government of Nigeria.
• Establish priorities and performance measurements for the Output on Diets and Practices, particularly during the First 1000 days in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Develop milestones to track the execution and performance of the strategy, enable mid-course corrections, and achieve results.
• Plan, monitor and enable optimal and appropriate use of resources (financial, human, administrative, and other) ensuring compliance with organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability.

        3. Advisory services and technical support

• Engage with internal and external stakeholders on the development and execution of state of art, gender-sensitive, human-centered strategies to create a new normal for diets and practices and provide technical support as appropriate
• Provide thought leadership to translate findings of the recently concluded formative research on key child survival and nutrition practices in the First 1,000 Days of Life to an implementation strategy in both development and humanitarian contexts
• Serve as the gender focal point for the section and build the capacity of the section on gender transformative strategies

        4. Advocacy, networking, and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with internal and external stakeholders through active networking, advocacy, and effective communication.
• Participate in strategic Programme discussions, contribute to policy discussions and agendas, especially in the areas of gender, emergency preparedness and maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition.
• Build capacity, exchange knowledge and expertise, and/or promote cooperation and alliances to achieve Programme goals on maternal and child rights and social justice and equity.

        5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches for sustainable social and behavioral practices that influence diets and practices
• Keep abreast of research and implement state of art practices in the social and behavioral science that influence diets and practices. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Organize, plan and/or implement capacity-building initiatives to enhance internal and external competencies in state of art social and behavioral practices that influence diets and practices.
• Prepare policy papers, reports, briefs and other strategic documents for management use, donor and government reporting, social media and/or publication.

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

Education:

• A minimum of Masters in Nutrition, Social Science, Anthropology, Sociology, etc.

Experience:

• At least ten years of progressively responsible professional work experience at the national or international level on gender-transformative, human-centered, nutrition diets and practices in the First 1,000 Days of Life.
• Proven experience in leading multi-stakeholder engagement with Government and partners
• Understanding both development and humanitarian contexts is an advantage.
• Experience working on marketing strategies is an advantage.
• Experience in health/nutrition Programme/ project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA). 

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

Builds and maintains partnerships (II)

Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (II)

Drive to achieve results (II)

Innovates and embraces change (II)

Manages ambiguity and complexity (II)

Thinks and acts strategically (II)

Works collaboratively with others (II)

Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (II)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF also strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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:

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to delivering the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

For more information and to apply, please visit here