Jobs at Helen Keller International

 Job Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the State Coordinators, the Nutrition Program Officer implements, monitors and evaluate Helen Keller Nigeria’s nutrition programs and projects in accordance with national protocols and policies.

Technical Capacity:

• Liaise with the nutrition unit of the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) or State Primary Health Care Development Agencies (SPHCDA) to develop costed nutrition strategic work-plans.
• Support the state in advocating for timely allocation and release of funds to implement the bi-annual Maternal Newborn and Child Health Weeks.
• Support the state in assessing personnel, logistic and commodity needs towards effective microplanning.
• Support training of health personnel at State, LGA and Ward levels and facilitate training of independent monitors prior to the VAS campaign.
• Provide technical assistance to the state and support implementation of nationwide bi-annual VAS through Maternal Newborn and Child Health Weeks.
• Analyze, interpret and present program data in useful formats and disseminate findings to relevant stakeholders to promote timely decision making and course correction.
• Work closely with the State to conduct yearly Post Events Coverage Surveys after the VAS campaign, analyze results and share findings with relevant stakeholders for course correction during subsequent campaigns.
• Maintain regular communication with other state nutrition program partners.
• Facilitate program planning and review meetings on Vitamin A supplementation.
• Collaborate with the state and partners to develop /roll out IEC / SBCC strategies and tools to support nutrition programs.
• Actively participate in key relevant national and state level nutrition technical forums
• Work closely with State Nutrition Officers to strengthen technical reporting in accordance with defined reporting schedule and program indicators.
• Track program progress using mutually agreed indicators, targets, and recommend remedial action to keep programs on course.
• Contribute to and support the maintenance of an updated database of technical program reports including site visits, monthly reports, quarterly and annual reports.
• Participate in research to increase VAS coverage and other nutrition interventions.
• Support the capacity building of nutrition program officers on relevant nutrition interventions.
• Support the implementation of other relevant nutrition activities beyond the Vitamin A Supplementation project such as healthy lifestyle project, infant and young child feeding, community management of acute malnutrition, food fortification, food security e.t.c.
• Perform any other duty as assigned.

Competencies Required:

• Demonstrates technical knowledge pertaining to job requirements.
• Prior experience working in the field of VAS will be an added advantage.
• Able to work under pressure minimal supervision and able to meet up deadlines.
• Ability to use the Internet and computer software such as Microsoft office.
• Must possess good interpersonal skills and be a good team player.
• Ability to analyze and interpret program data using SPSS or STATA statistical software.
• Demonstrated excellent personal integrity and confidentiality.
• Ability to speak the local language is highly desirable and an added advantage.

 Qualifications Required:

• Minimum of master’s degree in nutrition or food and Dietetics
• Or bachelor’s in nutrition plus a master’s in public health or similar related field
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience

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Functional relationships

 The Program Associate will report to the Program Director

Key Responsibilities

 Logistics support

• Manage logistical conflicts expeditiously, keeping Program Director informed.
• Coordinate travel for Program Director. Support the Operations Manager to coordinate international/domestic travel and hotel arrangements related to TL project activities.  Ensure that all travel arrangements comply with donor regulations and Helen Keller procedures.
• Communicate and follow up with countries to meet the deadlines for documentation necessary for their activities.
• Contribute to the preparation of workshop agendas and any necessary technical materials.
• Draft and send follow-up correspondence with participants after completion of workshops. Prepare written communications for participants, partners, and clients.
• Collaborate with finance to assure all purchases for activities are procured according to donor rules in a timely manner.
• Coordinate production and binding of materials for events.
• Travel to various activities in and outside of Abuja and provide support when required.

 Operations and Information Management

•  Update electronic calendar daily as activities are scheduled or modified.
•  Attend and document meetings as required.
• Develop and maintain project tracking sheets for ongoing activities and pending items.
• Serve as a resource to and operational liaison for other country offices and/or headquarters regarding program activities, as necessary.
• Maintain responsibility for file management on the shared drive on the network.
• Maintain contact lists for counterparts, clients, resource persons, consultants, etc.
• Follow up with countries for timely submission of project reports and documents to the Project team.
• Following guidance from Program Director and technical advisors, contribute to the collection of project information, the documentation of progress towards results and support the preparation of reports. This includes collating information, formatting, producing, and distributing reports. as appropriate.
• Conduct and/or support any special projects or other duties as assigned by supervisor.

 QUALIFICATIONS:

•  Bachelor's Degree and/or equivalent relevant experience.
• Verbal and written language skills in English required.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Ability to work independently and take initiative.
• Ability to learn complex program procedures.
• Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Strong office and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work as an effective team member in a complex and fast paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to interact professionally with culturally diverse staff, clients and consultants.
• Demonstrated ability in computer skills for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations (Microsoft Office applications preferred); and ability to learn new software packages.