Nutrition Sector Coordinator Job at UNICEF Nigeria

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.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Nutrition Sector Coordinator, P4
Job Number: 518615
Job Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Work Type: Fixed Term Staff

How can you make a difference?

• On behalf of the IASC Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Nigeria and UNICEF as the lead agency for the IASC Nutrition Cluster) and in collaboration with the State Authorities, the Nutrition Cluster Coordinator will facilitate a timely and effective nutrition response in Nigeria and ensure that the capacity of national and local institutions is strengthened to respond to and coordinate emergency nutrition interventions that demonstrate results and impact achieved.

Summary of Key Functions/Accountabilities
With the support of the Global Nutrition Cluster, the Country Nutrition Cluster Coordinator will be responsible for leading the Nutrition Cluster at the Country level in  Nigeria

Identification of Key Partners:

• Identify key humanitarian partners for the cluster, respecting their respective mandates and program priorities
• Identify other key partners including local and national authorities, peacekeeping forces, etc.
• Carryout capacity mapping of all current and potential actors – government, national and international humanitarian organizations as well as national institutions, the private sector and market assess to materials and services

Establishment and maintenance of appropriate humanitarian coordination mechanisms:

• Ensure appropriate coordination between all Nutrition humanitarian partners (including national and international NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, IOM and other international organizations active in the sector) as well as national authorities and local structures
• Ensure the establishment/maintenance of appropriate sector coordination mechanisms including working groups at the national, and if necessary, local level;
• Ensure full integration of the IACS’s agreed priority cross-cutting issues, namely human rights, HIV/AIDS, age, gender and environment, utilization participatory and community-based approaches.  In line with this, promote gender equality by ensuring that the needs, contributions and capacities of women and girls as well as men and boys are addressed;
• Secure commitments from cluster participants in responding to needs and filling gaps, ensuring an appropriate distribution of responsibilities within the cluster, with clearly defined focal points for specific issues where necessary;
• Ensure that participants work collectively, ensuring the complementarities of the various stake holder’s actions;
• Promote emergency response actions while at the same time considering the need for early recovery planning as well as prevention and risk reduction concerns;
• Ensure effective links with other clusters (with OCHA support), especially Health & Nutrition, Agriculture and Livelihoods and Education;
• Represent the interests of the cluster in discussions with the Humanitarian Coordinator on prioritization, resource mobilization and advocacy;
• Act as focal point for inquiries on the cluster’s response plans and operations.

Planning and Strategy Development:

• Ensure predictable action within the cluster for the following:
  • Needs assessment and analysis; development of standard assessment formats for use within the sector;
  • Identification of gaps;
  • Developing/updating agreed response strategies and action plans for the cluster and ensuring that these are adequately reflected in the overall country strategies, such as the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) an integral component of the CAP process.
  • Drawing lessons learned from past activities and revising strategies and action plans accordingly;
  • Developing an exit, or transition, strategy for the cluster.

Application of Standards:

• Ensure that cluster participants are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards and relevant commitments that the Government/concerned authorities have undertaken under international human rights law;
• Ensure that responses are in line with existing policy guidance, technical standards, and relevant Government human rights legal obligations.

Monitoring and Reporting:

• Specifically needs to include an analytical interpretation of best available information in order to benchmark progress of the emergency response over time. 
• That is - monitoring indicators (quantity, quality, coverage, continuity and cost) of service delivery which are derived from working towards meeting standards (mentioned in point 4).
• Ensure regular reporting against cluster indicators of service delivery (quantity, quality, coverage, continuity and cost) supports analysis of cluster in closing gaps and measuring impact of interventions.

Advocacy and Resource Mobilization:

• Identify core advocacy concerns, including resource requirements, and contribute key messages to broader advocacy initiatives of the Humanitarian Coordinators and other actors;
• Advocate for donors to fund cluster participants to carry out priority activities in the sector concerned, while at the same time encouraging cluster participants to mobilize resources for their activities through the usual channels.

Training and capacity building of national/local authorities and civil society:

• Promote and support training of humanitarian personnel and capacity building of humanitarian partners, based on the mapping and understanding of available capacity;
• Support efforts to strengthen the capacity of the national/local authorities and civil society.

Acting as “Provider of Last Resort”:

• As agreed by the IASC Principals, cluster leads are responsible for acting as the provider of last resort to meet agreed priority needs and will be supported by the HC in their resource mobilization efforts in this regard;

Job Requirements

• Education: An advanced university degree in any of the following fields: Public Health, Nutrition or a related technical field.
• Work Experience: Minimum of eight years with significant experience working in emergency contexts preferably UN or NGO experience at a senior programme management level. Experience in health/nutrition programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset
• Language Proficiency: Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate:
UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results:

The functional competencies required for this post are:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (II)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise (III)

View our competency framework at: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

Note

• 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 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.
• 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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.