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.

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For every child, dedication

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/.

For every child, a champion

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy, and operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop, and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life, in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions, her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

The Nutrition Specialist supports the development and preparation of the nutrition programme and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting the programme progress of a sector of the nutrition programme within the country programme. The Nutrition Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results in maternal, infant and child nutrition programmes/projects. This is carried out according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

Key functions/accountabilities:

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to programme development and planning
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Support to programme development and planning

• Contribute to and support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the nutrition sector(s) to ensure comprehensive and current data on maternal and child nutrition is available to guide policy development, and the design and management of nutrition programmes/projects.
• Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of nutrition programmes/projects.
• Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the nutrition programme proposal, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, Country Programme, and coherence/integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies, as well as national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans for the nutrition sector(s) based on results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities/competencies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Plan and/or collaborate with internal and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators, and UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the assigned sector in nutrition programmes.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action and interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes and projects through field visits, surveys and/or exchange of information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress. Identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, and standards of accountability. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

3. Technical and operational support to programme implementation

• Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, best practices, and approaches on nutrition and related issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation, and delivery of results.
• Participate in discussions with national partners, clients and stakeholders to promote nutrition and development issues especially in the areas of emergency preparedness and maternal, newborn and child survival and development.
• Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Participate in emergency preparedness initiatives for programme development, contingency planning and/or to respond to emergencies in country or where designated.
• Support the piloting of the 2023 WHO guideline update on the prevention and management of children with wasting and nutritional edema.
• Support the implementation the multisectoral project in Jigawa.

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.
• Facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve programme goals on maternal and child rights as well as social justice and equity.
• Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for nutrition programmes (maternal, newborn and child survival and development).
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda setting.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders, and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best and cutting edge practices in nutrition management and information systems. Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Document the learnings for the Katsina pilot as well as the Masaki 2.0 in Jigawa.

• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.

• Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on nutrition related programmes and projects.

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

Education:     

An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required:  nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, nutritional epidemiology, or another health-related science field

Experience:   

A minimum of five years of professional experience in a developing country in one or more of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child health/nutrition care.

Experience in health/nutrition programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.

Extensive documented experience in the facility- and community-based management of children with SAM.

Experience in mobilizing government resources for nutrition programs will be an asset.

Language Requirements:   

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others. (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people) for supervisory role

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver 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.

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 are also 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.

This position is opened for one year.

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