Nutrition Officer (Prevention of Micronutrients Deficiencies Among Children, Adolescents and Women), NOB, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, safe water, sanitation and appropriate hygiene, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

Under the supervision of the Nutrition Specialist (Stunting Reduction) P3, the Nutrition Officer (Prevention of micronutrient deficiencies among children, adolescents and women) is responsible to support Government and Civil Society partners to plan, implement, monitor and interventions for prevention of micronutrient deficiencies among children, adolescents and women. The Nutrition Officer provides technical support to the Government at the central (Ministries and Agencies) and decentralized (Local Government Authorities and Regionals Secretariats) level to: i) plan, implement, monitor and review six-monthly Child Health and Nutrition Months (CHNMs); ii) design, implement and monitor adequate interventions to achieve universal salt iodization (USI) in Tanzania and iii) design, implement and monitor adequate interventions to address anemia among children, adolescents and women. The Nutrition Officer is be based in Dar es Salaam, with frequent visit to Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe and Songwe region, and Zanzibar.

Impact of Results

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Nutrition Officer to planning, implementation, monitoring and review of interventions for prevention of micronutrient deficiencies among children, adolescents and women contribute to the national efforts to improve the nutritional status of mothers, infants and children in the country. In turn, this contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to continue to provide program services to mothers, newborn and children that promotes greater social equity in the country.

Key Results Expected

• Support implementation of twice yearly integrated Child Health and Nutrition Months including Vitamin A supplementation, deworming and SAM screening and referral.
• Support implementation of salt iodization progamme for elimination of iodine deficiency in Mainland and Zanzibar.
• Support anemia prevention programme for children, women and adolescent girls.

Key Accountabilities Duties & Tasks

1. Support to program development and planning

• Conduct/update situation analysis for the program sector/s for development, design and management of nutrition related programs/projects. Research and report on development trends (e.g. political social, economic, nutrition, health) for higher management use to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through analysis of nutrition needs and areas for intervention and submission of recommendations for priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical program transactions, preparing materials/documentations and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required documentations/materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programs/projects and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of program management.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare regular/mandated sectoral program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress.

3. Technical and operational support to program implementation.

• Conduct regular program field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on nutrition and related issues to support program implementation, operations and delivery of results 

4. Networking and partnership building.

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with nutrition sector government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve program goals and social justice, equity and rights of mothers, newborn and children.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for nutrition programs.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of nutrition programs/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

Core Values

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication (II)
• Working with people (I)
• Drive for results (I)

Functional Competences

• Formulating strategies and concepts (I)
• Analyzing (II)
• Applying technical expertise ((II)
• Learning and researching (II)
• Planning and organizing (II)

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

• A University Degree or higher in nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, nutritional epidemiology or other health related science field is required.
• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management and/or in relevant areas of maternal, infant and child health/nutrition care at the international level and/or in a developing country is required. Experience in health/nutrition program/project development in UN system agency or organization is an asset
• Fluency in Swahili and English both written and verbal is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package under UN system.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all nationals, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.