JBC BLOG & NETWORK: Consultant Nutritionist AT International Medical Corps Lagos, NG

Job description

Essential Job Duties/Scope Of Work

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training, relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, non-political, non-sectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations. International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

International Medical Corps has been operating in Nigeria since November 2013, and currently has projects in three States (Sokoto, Kano and Borno). In Borno, International Medical Corps has been actively implementing interventions to support vulnerable populations recently affected by conflict and displacement due to Boko Haram insurgency. Northeastern Nigeria has experienced large-scale population displacement over the last few years because of the Boko Haram insurgency. Currently it is estimated that at 8.5 million people need humanitarian assistance in the three affected states of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno in North eastern Nigeria, of these, 4.4 million are in Borno state alone. There are 1.4 million IDPs in Borno, accounting for 69% of all IDPs in the three states. The IDPs are either living in informal settlements, host communities, and government designated formal IDP camps around Maiduguri town, the capital city of Borno State.

Since Oct 2016, International Medical Corps has been implementing an Emergency Nutrition Response project supported by the World Food Program/WFP. In Oct-December 2016, the program distributed over 1.5 MT of food commodities. The current WFP aims to reach 136,000 beneficiaries with 8.5 MT commodities for BSFP under 5 years, PLW and General Food Distribution. IMC runs sister programs with support from ECHO and OFDA, International Medical Corps is currently implementing integrated emergency humanitarian response programs in Borno focusing on WASH, Health and GBV by targeting internally displaced persons and host community.

SCOPE OF WORK

The consultancy will last for 3 months – starting 15 th March until 15 th June 2017.

The Nutritionist is responsible for leading the WFP nutrition team and providing technical support and capacity building of the team to successfully plan, implement and monitor International Medical Corps nutrition program activities within in its WFP food assistance program in Nigeria. The Coordinator must can organize and support all aspects of the nutrition program including liaising with the Ministry of Health, other international and national agencies, and donors.

The Nutritionist will be responsible for ensuring that the nutrition activities are implemented in line with the ministry’s guidelines and international humanitarian standards and donor guidelines. Additionally, the Nutritionist will work closely with the Country Director and Emergency Program Coordinator to provide input into proposal development and country level strategies as required.

Essential Task

Lead on nutrition assessments and surveys in existing and in potential new areas for program expansion in North East Nigeria and feed assessments results into proposals
Coordinate nutrition and food security/ assistance programs implementation ensuring targets and indicators on all active projects are constantly monitored to avoid deviation
Work with the Emergency Program Coordinator and Country Director to identify existing project implementation gaps and actively identify and pursue new opportunities for nutrition and food security programming especially areas in North East Nigeria
Assess the training needs of nutrition staff; develop a training program to meet these needs; conduct nutrition training for project nutrition staff and MOH counterparts implementing nutrition programs, focusing on all aspects of community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM), IYCF, food security, etc
Establish and strengthen nutrition monitoring activities and train nutrition staff (IMC, MOH, and local NGO) in case detection and referral mechanisms
Conduct and train nutrition staff on surveys including SMART surveys, causal analysis, and other assessments of nutritional status of target groups.
Ensure that the implementation of the nutrition and food security programs conform to internationally accepted standards and country guidelines
Monitor program impact and ensure that program data is valid and relevant, and used to inform program development.
Demonstrated understanding of the underlying causes of malnutrition and ensuring that the IMC project is addressing these underlying causes
Demonstrated understanding of multi-sectoral approach to malnutrition and ensuring that nutrition project beneficiaries are linked with other sector interventions and provide guidance to staff on the integration of a nutrition component into other sectors as appropriate
Actively participate and represent International Medical Corps in nutrition and food security sector coordination forums, discussions and activities, serve as an International Medical Corps nutrition and food security sector resource person, and display technical and organizational leadership in sectoral activities
Coordinate International Medical Corps’s nutrition and food security response and recovery activities across a wide range of actors including donors, host governments, UN and NGO partners to ensure consistency of programming.
Actively participate in development of emergency response proposals to be submitted by International Medical Corps to ensure that proposed activities and programs align with best practice in the nutrition sector. As appropriate, apply new developments in the nutrition sector to International Medical Corps programming.
Assist in staff recruitment and training, conduct performance monitoring in collaboration with HR, ensure that standards and protocols are adhered to
Review and manage program budgets and ensure that there is regular alignment of the budget in regards to expenditures
Ensure equitable allocation of human, material and financial resources
Coordinate very closely with logistics to ensure that there is no break in nutrition program supplies.
Organize and follow-up on all other procurements needed for the projects

Compliance & Ethics: Promotes and encourages a culture of compliance and ethics throughout International Medical Corps. As applicable to the position, maintains a clear understanding of International Medical Corps’ and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards. Conducts work with the highest level of integrity. Communicates these values to staff and to partners and requires them to adhere to these values.

The duties and responsibilities listed are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all inclusive

A Master’s Degree in Nutrition or other relevant field is required, extensive experience in managing food assistance program in complex emergencies
At least consecutive 3 years of international experience in nutrition response, including experience in emergency response and recovery preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Experience in assessment, program design and evaluation, and technical training and support.
Previous experience and familiarity with WFP food assistance program and/or other similar in-kind food assistance program is important
Proficient analytical skills that demonstrate an understanding of the current concepts, priorities, and issues in program monitoring, data collection and evaluation.
Strong skills in technical proposal writing and donor reporting, designing and implementing nutrition programs
Ability to exhibit tact, diplomacy, and resourcefulness in dealing with high level officials from donor agencies, international organizations, and other foreign and domestic government officials and partners.
Strong supervisory and organization skills
Flexible and able to deal with stressful situations
Creativity and the ability to work with limited resources in difficult settings
Good knowledge of human resources management and experience in finance and logistic
Strong communication and leadership skills, able to effectively present information clearly and respond appropriately to questions from senior managers and headquarters staff, counterparts, senior government leaders and donors
Must have excellent English written and oral communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with other departments within International Medical Corps, donors, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.
Capacity and willingness to live and work in remote and insecure areas