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Technical Adviser (Nutrition Guidelines and Standards)

Rome

  • Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • Location: Rome
  • Grade: Mid level - P-3, International Professional - Internationally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Nutrition
    • Food and Nutrition Division, ESN
  • Closing Date: Closed

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device
The length of appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to the extension of appointments

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

• The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization.

Organizational Setting
FAO's Food and Nutrition Division assists Members to improve diets and raise levels of nutrition and provides support with appropriate policies, strategies and methodologies for improving the efficiency and inclusiveness of their agriculture and food systems. As a knowledge leader, areas addressed include dietary assessment, support on nutrition-sensitive food and agriculture policies and programmes, effective nutrition promotion programmes, food value chains, market linkages, post-harvest handling, food loss and waste reduction and nutrition-sensitive agro-processing. FAO is committed to support Members in their efforts to improve nutritional outcomes as stated in the Rome Declaration on Nutrition (November 2014) and to mainstream nutrition across all of the work of the Organization.
The Nutrition and Consumer Awareness Group (ESNE) of ESN is responsible for the 'School food nutrition guidelines and standards for safeguarding children and adolescents' right to food' project. The three-year project has set to accomplish two mutually-reinforcing outcomes: 1) improve children's and adolescents' diets, through the regular consumption of school food that is better aligned with their food and nutrition needs and situation, and through the adoption of health-promoting food practices, and 2) enhance legal recognition and civil awareness of adequate school meals/food as legal requirements to children's right to food. The overall strategy to achieve the outcomes is centred around constructing a global methodology for developing cost-effective, feasible, participatory, context-specific, flexible and (food) systems-based school food nutrition guidelines and standards (NGS), and to promote tools and complementary measures that can enhance their impact, as well as their integration into national legal frameworks anchored in the Right to Food. The methodology will be piloted in two countries at subnational level with the purpose of testing, reviewing, improving and measuring results, and documenting lessons learned. Further, global and country level capacity development, communication and advocacy strategies are planned to further support and complement the results.

Reporting Lines
The Technical Adviser reports to the Senior Nutrition Officer under the overall guidance of the Director of the Food and Nutrition Division, and under the guidance of the project's Budget Holder.

Technical Focus
Support the development of a global methodology for school meals nutrition guidelines and standards, oversees the piloting of the methodology at country level, develops a knowledge hub for school-based nutrition education, nutrition guidelines for school meals and other related initiatives, and coordinates the project activities.

Key Results
Research, technical analysis, and project related services to support the delivery of programme projects, products, and services.

Key Functions
• Researches and analyses technical-related issues on the development, the implementation and evaluation of assigned programmes/projects; assists to the review of relevant documents and reports;
• Produces a variety of technical information, data, statistics and documents as well as technical input for reports and web pages;
• Provides technical support/analysis to various assessments, studies and projects and provides technical backstopping to field projects;
• Collaborates in the development of improved/updated tools, systems, processes, and databases;
• Oversees the updating of databases and web pages;
• Participates in multidisciplinary teams, and/or leads working groups/teams collaborates with other divisions and agencies on work groups and committees and promotes best practices;
• Collaborates in, provides technical backstopping to and ensures the quality/effectiveness of capacity development activities within member countries such as policy support, organizational development and individual learning events including preparation of related information, learning materials, online tools;
• Promotes knowledge sharing and best practices at international meetings and conferences and guides partners in stakeholder consultations;
• Performs other duties as required.

Specific Functions
• Follows up on the implementation of project components providing technical support and ensuring linkages among the different project components;
• Supports the technical development of a methodology for designing cost-effective, feasible and context-specific NGS for school food/school meals, based on FAO's experience and expertise with food-based dietary guidelines.
• Supports the setting up and functioning of a consultative group with representatives from various UN agencies and international nutrition bodies to ensure the technical quality of the NGS methodology;
• Contributes to establishing and populating an online knowledge hub for healthy school food and school-based food and nutrition education (SFNE) and related initiatives, similar to the FAO's food-based dietary guidelines global platform;
• Contributes to the organization of technical workshops/consultations for the potential integration of NGS-related indicators in school food and nutrition policy assessment and/or guidance tools;
• Assists in the organization of a series of regional workshops to seek input, revises and promotes the uptake of the NGS methodology;
• Technically supports the process of developing school food/school meal NGS and resulting menus, based on a series of assessments conducted in piloting countries;
• Contributes to the development of school food environment and SFNE strategies to support the implementation of school food/school meal NGS;
• Technically supports the design and implementation of capacity development interventions adapted to different stakeholders and institutions involved in the development, implementation and monitoring of school meal NGS;
• Provides support to country piloting processes of school food/school meal NGS and complementary strategies at school level.
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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced university degree in nutrition, nutrition education, public health or a related fields;
• Five years of relevant experience in policy advice and analysis relating to food and nutrition security, agriculture and rural development, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes, in particular in the area of school-based nutrition interventions;
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills
• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable;
• Extent of technical knowledge in the area of food-based nutrition programmes and initiatives;
• Demonstrated experience and capacity of handling partnerships and coordinating inputs from different sectors and stakeholders;
• Extent of knowledge in food-based dietary guidelines development and implementation;
• Extent and relevance of experience in supporting technical programmes or multistakeholder initiatives related to school nutrition;
• Extent and relevance of experience in programme/project formulation, analysis, planning and implementation;
• Understanding of FAO policies and programmes is considered a strong asset;
• Proven record of publications and guidance in the area of school-based nutrition education, programmes, school nutrition guidance or food based dietary guidelines.

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