Internal/External

Vacancy Advertisement 

IR/INT/EXT/VN/075.23

October 26, 2023

Post Title:                     Senior Health & Nutrition Projects Officer  

Report to:                     Health & Nutrition Program Coordinator                 

Duty Station:              Country Office, Addis Ababa

Salary:                           As per the organizations scale

Required:                    One (1)

Duration:                    Eight months       

Introduction

Islamic Relief is an international relief and development charity founded in 1984 with its headquarters in Birmingham, UK. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender. The office officially started operation in Ethiopia in 2004. Islamic Relief Ethiopia (IRE) is operational in the Somali Regional State with a base office in Jigjiga, Hargelle, Elkere, Bare, GG and Dekasuftu, Afar Regional State; Ewa, Awra and Gulina; Oromia regional State, West Harergeye, Chiro and Meayso Woredas,Borena zone of Dire,Dubluk,Elewaye and Yabello woredas  and an additional operational office in Addis Ababa. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.islamic-relief.org/work-with-us

 Job Purpose

The main purpose of the job is to oversee the proper coordination of Health, Nutrition, and WASH Response. The Senior Health and Nutrition Projects officer under the direct supervision of the Health and Nutrition program coordinator will be responsible for the overall technical oversight and guidance of Nutrition and Health Programs for project teams in Somali, Afar, and Oromia regions.  S/he will be involved in the Nutrition and Health program designing, planning, monitoring, implementation, and analysis of program data in close consultation with the field and Health and nutrition program coordinator and department heads. S/he will strengthen and support the capacity of IRE to deliver quality nutrition and health services for the most vulnerable and underserved communities. S/he will work more closely with the area coordinator and other project staff at the base level in addressing technical issues for the smooth implementation of nutrition and health projects in different regions.  S/he is also expected to work in partnership with local government authorities, institutional donors, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, other partners, and the IRE team. Other duties might be assigned as deemed necessary. The Senior Nutrition and Nutrition Projects Officer will be based in Addis Ababa, with significant travel to project areas.

Task & Responsibilities

Objective 1: Ensure the effective implementation of Health and Nutrition program activities

Activities:

·     Participate in project planning, designing, implementation, and monitoring in collaboration in consultation with the health and nutrition program coordinator.

·     Support the Health and Nutrition program coordinator in planning activities for implementation and achievement of program goals in order to achieve the set objectives.

·     Develop case stories, best practices, and success stories in collaboration with the field team.

·     Provide technical support for Health and nutrition projects.

·     Planning, implementing, and coordinating the Health, Nutrition, and hygiene promotion interventions.

·     Develop a compiled detailed implementation plan of work for health, nutrition, hygiene and sanitation interventions.

·     Provide capacity-building training for government partners and field health and nutrition teams.

·     Liaise with concerned government authorities and ensure the programme strategy, objectives, and activities are understood and agreed upon and that appropriate communication channel is in place.

·     Ensure sound monitoring of program activities, linking with Programme Development and Quality Assurance units at field level and the county level.

·     Provide support to the health and Nutrition teams by creating spreadsheets, and checklists, maintaining databases, and creating high-quality reports.

·     Compile and submit weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly routine reports of health and nutrition projects.

·     Provide support to strengthen the capacity of government health systems, Information management systems, and community forums to respond to the needs of Adolescents, maternal, infant, and young child nutrition through improved skills for planning, implementation, integration, coordination, and data-driven decision-making to achieve the organization goal.

·     In consultation with the Health and Nutrition Program coordinator, identify expansion areas for implementation.

·     Support the Health and Nutrition Program coordinator with quantification, and procurement plan development, raising procurement plans, and supporting the purchase of nutrition supplies and materials.

·     Participate in National and sub-national health cluster meetings and report the outcome to the Health and Nutrition Program Coordinator;

Objective 2: Monitor, follow up, and supervise the Health and Nutrition interventions:

·       Provide remote/onsite technical support, coaching/mentoring, and on job support to the project Health and Nutrition teams.

·       Identify gaps in quality of care and provide appropriate training and support to all medical staff as needed.

·       Track performance progress and guide the team to meet project targets through effective budget utilization and conduct regular monitoring or evaluation visits on project sites for quality work delivery. She/he will make sure that the programs under the unit adhere to the national health and nutrition guidelines when designing and implementing projects.

• Conduct frequent mentoring visits to Health and nutrition interventions at Schools, health posts/ kebeles, and households to ensure their integration.  

• Conduct on-site joint supervision visits with government and other stakeholders for problem solving; identify new opportunities and barriers; adjust, fine-tune, and streamline health and nutrition interventions.

• Participate in needs assessment, nutrition survey, baseline, and end-line project evaluation.

Objective 3: Nutrition supplies and stock management

Activities:

• Assist the logistics team in IEC/BCC material printing.

• Ensure that health centres and health posts have adequate supplies of IFA tablets, and functioning weighing scales for ANC services.

• Support the Health and Nutrition team to deliver the AMIYCN, and CMAM services by providing skills-based training, simple job aids, and monitoring tools

• Compile stock requests for the various distribution sites in the follow-up of supplies consumption and orders

• Develop IEC materials and distribute them to project sites.

Objective 4: Meeting and coordination with the relevant sectors

Activities:

• Establish a network with the other actors in the national and sub-national level.

• Develop productive working relationships with Government, Non-Governmental institutions, and other project partners.

• Participate in the relevant cluster meetings and other related forums at national and sub-national level.

• Conduct regular meetings with other program staff to discuss and document lessons learned.

• Assist in organization of project workshops and seminars, training including preparation of short reports.

Additional responsibilities

• This job description is not intended to be all inclusive and the employee will also perform other related tasks as required and be responsible for reporting and communicating of progress and achievement of the specific assigned task.

• Inform the Health and Nutrition program coordinator of any professional problems encountered.

• Conduct all duties in a professional manner following Islamic Relief staff regulations and charter.

• Ability to handle multiple tasks on an ongoing basis, and adapt to a shift or change in priorities, including the ability to work a flexible work schedule as needed to meet deliverable deadlines.

• S/he will support the hiring, training, and supervision of the Health and Nutrition Program coordinator and team at the field level.

• Organize training courses.

Job Requirements

Personal Specification

Formal Education/Qualification and Work Experience

•  A minimum of Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, Public Health, Nutrition or a relevant field with at least 8 years of practical work experience in Health, Nutrition, or WASH, and preferably a Master’s degree with 5 years of experience of which at least 3 in managerial/coordinator position.  

• Previous experience in project designing, proposal writing, coordination, and implementation of the Health and Nutrition program at the country office level is highly desired.

• Experience in strategy development and working across sectors or disciplines.

• Expertise in working with donors, project design, proposal development, and monitoring and evaluation, with the ability to turn concepts and strategy into measurable action.

Skills and Competences

• Familiarity with the national and regional Food and Nutrition and RMNCH strategies, policies, action plans, and key donors funded project requirements and procedures.

• Exposure to national and subnational health and nutrition sectoral/cluster coordination platforms and different TWGs.

• Knowledge and skills of MS Office Suite are required and skills in other statistical software (Epi Info 7, ENA for SMART, and SPSS) are desirable.

• Good knowledge of written and spoken English languages; Amharic and the local language of the project area. 

• Experience in technical tools and materials development and monitoring and evaluation.

• Excellent report writing, communication, and negotiation skills.

• Ability to plan and organize work independently with appropriate follow through while paying close attention to detail and showing initiative in completing tasks and projects in a timely manner.

• Knowledge and application of Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) and Sphere standards and Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct.

• Knowledge of health and nutrition needs in drought and conflict-affected areas, primary healthcare, and CMAM.

• Knowledge of data collection and the ability to analyze and interpret data to contribute to program implementation.

• Experience coordinating complex programs with wide variety of stakeholders.

• Extensive knowledge of nutrition principles, management of acute malnutrition, and conducting nutrition surveys and assessments.

• Ability to read and abstract information from a variety of formats.

• Supervisory and managerial skills with proven ability to manage a demanding workload.

• Project management experience (HR, Finance, Logistic, and Grant).

• Experience on concept/position paper/proposal development, operational planning, budget planning and management, monitoring and evaluation, report writing.

• Training provision and teamwork abilities

• Programme experience in the field of nutrition/health is advantageous.

• Previous experience working for INGOs is an asset.

Safeguarding and Equal Opportunity

 Islamic Relief and Islamic Relief staff considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and people at risk to be paramount to the organization. And must adhere the principle of ‘do no harm and leave no one behind.’ It is critical we do not expose communities or staff we work with to the risk of harm through our interventions.  With a zero tolerance approach Islamic Relief have a number of related policies which also describe standards in behavior expected from the organization, its staff and representatives towards each other and those we serve. Islamic Relief is committed to responding swiftly, appropriately and constructively to any and all information children, young people and people at risk have disclosed.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. We participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and child abuse during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment before signing the contract agreement.

Islamic Relief believes everyone has the right to be safe, respected and valued regardless of who they are or their circumstances, and an equal employment opportunity to all candidates and qualified applicants, we do not discriminate on the base of age, sex, race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability status and diversity. 

How to Apply

Application Procedures

·       Interested candidates are required to submit a complete Job application form with all required supporting documents (copy of credentials and testimonials) through Ethiopia.HR@islamic-relief.org.et.

·       You can access the Job Application Form with this link: HERE. Failure to follow the instructions will invalidate your application.

·       Closing date for the application is November 09, 2023.

·       Due to the high volume of application, we regret that we will be able to contact only the shortlisted candidates.

·      Female candidates are highly encouraged.

Disclaimers: The Islamic relief does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process thus during application, interviews processes, offer and contract