Nutrition Specialist at Connexus Corporation

About the Opportunity

• Connexus is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Nutrition Specialist for the anticipated USAID/Nigeria Value Chain Activity. The Nutrition Specialist will play a critical role in integrating nutrition-sensitive approaches into the Activity’s agricultural interventions to improve the nutritional outcomes for smallholder farmers and agricultural communities. Note: this is a preliminary position description and may be clarified further after solicitation release.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Work closely with Activity staff to design and implement nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions that promote the production, consumption, and utilization of diverse and nutritious foods.
• Conduct comprehensive nutrition assessments to understand the nutritional status and needs of target communities and analyze data to identify key nutrition challenges, gaps, and opportunities for intervention.
• Provide technical guidance and support on integrating nutrition-sensitive principles into project activities, including market analyses, value chain development, and capacity building.
• Develop and delivery training programs and workshops to build the capacity of smallholder farmers and other value chain actors on nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices, such as crop diversification, food safety and preservation, and dietary diversity.
• Coordinate with other technical specialists on the Activity to ensure the integration of nutrition-sensitive indicators, concepts and techniques across all project components.
• Contribute to Activity reporting, documentation, and knowledge management activities, including capturing lessons learned, best practices, and success stories related to nutrition-sensitive agriculture programming.
• Stay abreast of latest developments, research findings, and innovations in nutrition research, and adapt approaches, as necessary, to reflect newest and most relevant nutrition-sensitive innovations and techniques.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Nutritional Sciences, Agronomy, Agriculture Economics, or another relevant field with a minimum of 9 years of professional experience, preferably for USAID or another donor-funded project; or Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences, Agronomy, Agriculture Economics, or another relevant field with a minimum 11 years of experience, preferably for USAID or another donor-funded project.
• Experience designing and implementing nutrition-sensitive international development agriculture programs.
• Strong understanding of nutrition concepts including dietary diversity, micronutrient deficiencies, and food security and approaches used to improve these concepts in international development projects.
• Demonstrated expertise conducting nutrition assessments, surveys, and research.
• Excellent written communication skills, including ability to contribute to high-quality project reports.
• Fluency in English required and other local languages desired.
• Must be authorized to work in Nigeria.