ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior Health and Nutrition Specialist will be in charge of high quality programming, policy engagement and advocacy outcomes of Save the Children’s development and humanitarian programs in health and nutrition work in Ethiopia.

S/he will support the design and technical assistance of the technical elements of health and nutrition projects with relevant project managers and technical advisors to ensure the projects contribute to the achievement of the thematic program plans.

S/he represents SC values and principles in interactions with staff and external audiences, including frequent interaction with member technical staff.  These values and principles include commitment to the mission of Save the Children, team orientation, quality management and leadership development, introducing systems and procedures to strengthen staff motivation and productivity.

 Strategic Program Development and Representation

·       S/he will be responsible for ensuring good integration of key organizational principles and approaches such as child participation and M&E throughout the project cycle. Among other tasks, the position holder will be responsible to ensure lessons derived through implementation of projects are well articulated, documented and disseminated both internally and externally. S/he will also be in charge for the strategic mainstreaming relevant crosscutting issues in new projects

·       Provide technical training and capacity building support to project staff so that they have the necessary skills and competencies to design, implement, monitor and evaluate projects. S/he will represent the organization in all external technical working groups and task forces, and meetings (seminars/workshops); and, will engage with policy makers and work to achieve advocacy objectives to realize greater change for children

·       Technically support/lead the strategic planning process for H&N and then annual operational planning based on the strategic plan and regular internal program planning and review meetings for the health and nutrition teams, as well as related inputs to quarterly and annual reports

·       Support MEAL for the documentation of program achievements including the rollout of the quality benchmark and other initiatives

·       Communicate program achievements against agreed strategic objectives and milestones, and any emerging new evidence for a wide range of internal and external audiences

·       Actively communicate and coordinate other sector relevant senior technical advisors and project managers to ensure integrated approaches across themes that take into account current good practices

·       Ensure a deep understanding of FMOH and other relevant ministries and government agencies’ priorities; communicate these to the health and nutrition technical lead, H&N and relevant Program Operations team; and use these for program development and implementation

·       Maintain and cultivate key external relationships including with the GOE FMOH, other government sectors offices, donors, multi-lateral organizations, and INGOs

·       Regularly coordinate with member technical staff. Identify technical support requirements, inclusive of field visits, as and when necessary

Program Development

·       Assist the H&N technical director in strategic fundraising to support implementation of the H&N Strategic Plan including advocacy. This includes identifying funding opportunities for projects, research and advocacy to support policy change objectives. Also in analyzing donor priorities and strategic plans in H&N

·       Develop and maintain contacts with current and potential donors, potential partners and key technical agencies, in coordination with the Program Development Unit (PDU) and technical director. Attend relevant donor meetings and visits

·       Collaborate with PDU and SCI members to identify institutional and other funding opportunities

·       Lead the provision of technical input to proposals as assigned by the technical director

·       Work with technical director to contribute to the development and regular updating of an SCI Ethiopia fundraising opportunities matrix.

·       Ensure current technical knowledge, research and current/previous programming lessons learned and good practices are used in proposals.

Program Quality and Effectiveness

·       Carry out technical assistance to projects and conduct research to high technical standards; ensures regular and timely support to field projects through PDQ TAs

·       Provide relevant, timely, and high-quality technical support is provided to all H&N projects throughout the project cycle

·       Work closely with Program Operations teams to support quality implementation including incorporation of recommendations for technical improvements

·       Involve actively in the development of a robust evidence-based learning to support program implementation, development and advocacy. Proper documentation of lessons learned and good practices, their effectively dissemination and, where appropriate, incorporation into wider advocacy initiatives

·       Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team to ensure quality benchmarking is in place for program implementation and all evaluations are conducted at a high level of quality

·       Work with MEAL to ensure dissemination of learning and knowledge to H&N PDQ and relevant Program Operations and partner staff through the active use of one or two Communities of Practice

·       Develop and implement effective strategies to integrate resources and lessons of large stand-alone projects in the thematic area; support cross-fertilization of good practices

·       Understand cross-cutting issues of resilience, gender, child participation, and others to ensure their incorporation into program design and implementation

·       Support Program Operations and Awards in submitting quality donor reports by providing timely and thorough technical review of such reports including recommendations on how these reports could be improved

Policy Analysis, Policy Engagement and Advocacy for Policy Change

·       Actively support the development and implementation of Save the Children’s H&N advocacy work. Provide technical assistance and guidance to advocacy efforts (objectives, messages, targets, approaches) and manage the achievement of each specific objective

·       Develop relevant policy briefs and position papers related to the H&N Program; support the networking and articulating SC’s position, policy and strategy in national forums and meetings

·       Ensure that the voices of children guide advocacy and policy change objectives and related activities

·       Keep abreast of national policies and global trends/good practices in the area of H&N, analyze and share with relevant PDQ H&N and Program Operations staff- ideally through the Community of Practice

·       Participate in relevant working groups, task forces, seminars and related fora in the thematic area; and among donors, UN agencies, International NGOs, and national and sub-national government counterparts

 Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

·       Deputizes the H&NTD in leadership and management of staff and other decision requiring tasks as appropriate

·       Motivates team work and mentors lower level or junior staff

·       Minimum BSc degree in public health, nutrition, nursing or related health fields or extensive experience in health and nutrition

·       Minimum Eight years work experience in health and nutrition programs

·       Able to demonstrate experience working with government counterparts and other partners with progressive capacities from lower levels to high levels

·       Excellent understanding of the relevant thematic sectors in Ethiopia both at policy and implementation levels – the health sector transformation program (HSTP), the National Nutrition Program (NNPII), National Food and Nutrition Policy, other health and nutrition strategies, guidelines, and the relevant supporting documents

·       Proven experience in successful proposal development

·       Demonstrable experience and skills in designing and implementing M&E frameworks including quality standards and benchmarking

·       Very good advocacy and representation skills

·       Strong analytical, writing, and problem solving skills