About the Organization:

UNICEF works Across 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children’s rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive, and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

How can you make a difference?

The Regional Adviser, Nutrition reports to Deputy Regional Director for general guidance and direction and serves as an authoritative and expert adviser to the Regional Director/Deputy Regional Director, the Regional Management Team, Country Offices, and government institutions and officials on strategies, policies, approaches, best practices, and knowledge on nutrition-related issues. The Regional Adviser leads regional office support to Country Office on nutrition-related program development planning, implementation, management, resource mobilization, and capacity building. In doing so, s/he contributes to achieving concrete and sustainable results on an adolescent, maternal, infant, and child nutrition, to improve the well-being and health of mothers, newborns, and children in the country.

Key function, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks

Regional advisory services and technical support on strategic planning

• Advise key national government officials, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners on policies, strategies, approaches and best practices on maternal, infant, and child nutrition, including emergency preparedness and resilience programming, to support program development planning, management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in regional/country program planning, preparation, and reviews to provide advice on the formulation, design, management, enhancement, and communication of UNICEF country office nutrition programs including setting priorities and results-based management goals.
• Participate in key regional events and strategic discussions to influence policy discussions and agenda setting on maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs and national development efforts to improve the well-being and health of mothers, newborns, and children in the country.
• Develop and/or recommend regional program policy/papers, strategies, and approaches. Lead and/or organize regional strategic discussions and planning on maternal, infant, and child nutrition programs and projects. Collaborate with other Regional Advisers/Country Offices on cross-cutting issues to harmonize, link, and/or leverage competencies.

Oversight and support to country offices on program development and planning

• Collaborate with the Regional Management/Country Office teams throughout all stages of nutrition programming to provide technical support to program preparation, implementation, and monitoring for results.
• Provide policy guidance and technical support to national external partners and internal colleagues to develop national policies and strategies for UNICEF assisted programs including scaling up of nutrition programs.
• Contribute to the planning and updating of the situation analysis to ensure that current and comprehensive data on maternal, infant, and child nutrition-related issues is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, interventions, and development efforts on nutrition programs and projects, and to set program priorities, strategies, design, and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national, regional, and international development priorities on maternal and child nutrition-related issues to leverage UNICEF’s position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities, and constituents and to advocate and promote nutrition-related interventions and policies and social change to improve maternally, infant and child well being and survival.
• Provide technical advice to facilitate the preparation of the Country Office nutrition program recommendation and related documentation, and to ensure alignment of programs goals with UNICEF’s overall Strategic (Nutrition) Plans and regional strategies.
• Consult and collaborate with national and global colleagues, partners, and allies to develop the framework of a partnership to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing and scaling up nutrition programs/projects.
• Evaluate and facilitate synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programs/projects with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities; donors’ development strategies and policies; national priorities and competencies, and UN System development interventions/initiatives.

Regional quality assurance, program monitoring, and assessment

• Collaborate with HQ Advisers, as well as Regional/Country Monitoring and Evaluation Advisers/Officers to establish benchmarks, performance indicators, and other UNICEF/UN system indicators and measurements to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results on nutrition programs and projects.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews, and annual sector review with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine and to provide advice on required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Assess COs monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths, and/or weaknesses in program management; identify lessons learned, and use the knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Submit and share assessments on nutrition programs in-country offices, highlighting critical issues and suggestions for enhancing performance and delivery of sustainable results.

Advocacy, networking, and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with regional and national government counterparts, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes, and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on nutrition programs and projects.
• Collaborate with and advise country offices in the region to develop strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances, and support resource mobilization for UNICEF and Country Office nutrition programs and projects.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF (as delegated/designated) in key events, meetings and in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on nutrition-related issues to ensure organizational position, interests, and priorities are clearly articulated and fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda-setting.
• Collaborate with regional inter-agency partners and colleagues in UNDAF planning and preparation of nutrition-related programs and projects.

Innovation, knowledge management, and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and introduce technological and program innovations, approaches, and good practices in the region for sustainable nutrition program/project initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices in the region’s nutrition program management and information systems. Institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.
• Identify, assess, vet, and disseminate a roster of qualified experts and highly recognized institutions for easy access and use by stakeholders.
• Lead and/or develop policies and procedures, and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.
• Lead, plan, and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on nutrition programs/projects.

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

• 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.
• A minimum of ten years of relevant professional experience in nutrition, public health, related research or planning, and management in relevant areas of maternal, infant, and child nutrition at the international level, some of which preferably in a developing country is required.
• Experience in health/nutrition program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Source:https://jobs.unicef.org/mob/cw/en-us/job/534808/external-vacancy-announcement-regional-adviser-nutrition-p5-unicef-south-asia-region-kathmandu-nepal