Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor at Resolve to Save Lives

Background

The prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been increasing globally, including in Nigeria. This increase has been attributed to a concomitant rise in risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, tobacco, and alcohol intake as well as unhealthy diet. Unhealthy diet is among the top 10 risk factors responsible for the greatest morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. The prevalence of unhealthy diets amongst the populace is high at 74.8% while the mean daily salt consumption is 9.6g/day which is above the WHO recommended daily limit of 5g/day.

The Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) Cardiovascular Health Initiative focuses on large-scale hypertension management, global elimination of trans fat, and effective interventions to reduce sodium consumption. RTSL and partners have been supporting the passage of a TFA elimination policy in Nigeria and will support the implementation of the policy once it goes into effect.  Furthermore, RTSL has been collaborating with the Government to develop and implement a public food procurement policy and guidelines and to strengthen capacity for implementation of nutritional standards to further safeguard the health of the population. A healthy public food procurement policy establishes nutrition standards which encourage food that promotes healthy diets and/or limit or prohibit food that contributes to unhealthy diets.  Finally, RTSL and partners will be partnering with the government to support salt reduction policies.

Position Summary

The Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor shall contribute to efforts to prevent cardiovascular disease in Nigeria by supporting the government to develop and implement policies aimed at reducing sodium consumption and eliminating trans-fat in the diet. This is a full-time position based in Abuja and requires frequent travel to the field. The Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor will report to the Resolve to Save Lives CVH manager in Nigeria. They will receive technical support from the Resolve to Save Lives Director of Nutrition Policy and Surveillance, who is based in New York. They will also work closely with global office program staff who lead on sodium reduction and trans-fat elimination.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead the development of select nutrition policy and programming initiatives in Nigeria, as needed
  • Coordinate with in-country partners and RTSL headquarters on dietary trans-fat elimination activities, including implementation of the TFA policy, support to small and medium enterprises and work with the RTSL lab advisor on trans-fat testing of food and laboratory support
  • Coordinate with in-country partners and RTSL headquarters on salt reduction activities and policy advocacy and development, including for developing and implementing a policy for reformulation of foods to contain less salts through target setting and supporting the government to develop and implement a healthy public food procurement and service policy
  • Support the development of a monitoring system around nutrition policies in Nigeria
  • Collaborate with RTSL and partner communications teams to launch media campaigns around key salt reduction policy priorities
  • Follow/Monitor the overall nutrition policy landscape in Nigeria and provide input to the nutrition team on key developments and topics to watch
  • Represent RTSL at meetings to advocate for dietary sodium reduction and trans-fat elimination, and other nutrition policies in Nigeria
• Ensure the review of the current legal framework, context, and policies to understand the feasibility of nutrition policies, such as reformulating packaged food to reduce sodium, public food procurement, and front-of-pack labeling
  • Ensure the mapping and identification of key stakeholders for nutrition policy in Nigeria
  • Ensure the mapping of current food procurement activities and policy environment

• Provide technical oversight to projects
  • Support day-to-day subgrantee management functions and technical oversight
• Regularly track and report on progress against operational goals and objectives

• • Synthesize scientific and technical information such as scientific journal articles, reports, or news summaries related to nutrition topics, including sodium reduction, trans fat elimination, and cross-cutting issues in Nigeria
  • Develop presentations, technical, and other communications materials regarding various topics around nutrition and surveillance in Nigeria
• Support the establishment of monitoring and evaluation systems to track and record progress, implementation, and effectiveness of nutrition policies
• Contribute to RTSL’s global work on nutrition policy

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in public health and/or nutrition
• 8 or more years’ experience in public health programs and policy implementation/ management
• Up to 2 years focused on nutrition policy and / or programming will be an added advantage
• Experience in policy development and implementation
• Experience in communications and behavior change campaigns is desirable
• Experience in project management.
• Strong analytical skills
• Exceptional coordination and organizational skills
• Demonstrated experience managing partnerships
• Exceptional inter-personal skills and ability to communicate and work effectively with all key stakeholders
• Solid report writing skills
• Fluency in local language(s) and English
• Willingness and ability to travel to the program site.

In addition to a competitive salary, Resolve to Save Lives, Nigeria offers excellent benefits including health, vision and dental insurance, life insurance, pension contributions, paid annual and personal health leave, parental leave, professional learning and development opportunities, and more.

We are grateful for your interest in our work and for your application. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications typically received, we can only reply to shortlisted candidates.