Senior Advisor, Nutrition - Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health at Save The Children

Save the Children seeks a Senior Advisor, Nutrition for an upcoming USAID-funded health program in Nigeria. The program will focus on reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) and nutrition and will be implemented at least initially in northern Nigeria.

The Senior Advisor, in collaboration with state and Local Government Area (LGA) Ministry of Health (MOH) leadership and the RMNCH team, will provide strategic direction and technical management for the planning and implementation of facility and community-based nutrition interventions in project states.

Responsibilities:

• Provide programmatic leadership and guide priority setting for nutrition interventions in collaboration with the state and LGA MOH and the project RMNCH team.
• Ensure that project, state, and LGA nutrition interventions are technically sound, evidence-based, responsive to needs at both the facility and community level, and aligned with national policies and strategies. Provide assistance to the state and LGA MOH in operationalizing and implementing national nutrition policies and strategies.
• Coordinate closely with the SBCC/CM team to lead the development of evidence-based and behavior-centered nutrition SBCC tools and materials.
• Develop implementation plan and annual and quarterly work plans in collaboration with the Technical Director and RMNCH team.
• Collaborate with state and LGA MOH to review/develop and strengthen the nutrition component of their RMNCHN plans.
• Assist in state and LGA assessment of training needs and together with MOH staff provide technical support and oversight to nutrition service provision including trainings and follow-up supportive supervision.
• Mentor project staff and state and LGA staff as may be needed.
• Liaise with relevant FMOH and Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA) focal persons and participate in selected national forum and technical working groups.
• Guide the analysis, synthesis, lessons learned, and reporting of nutrition program outputs and results in close collaboration with the M&E team, and incorporation into quality improvement processes and other ongoing project tasks.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in nutrition or related field.
• At least 10 years of direct experience in nutrition policy development, program planning, implementation and evaluation, including programs with a strong nutrition behavior change component.
• Demonstrated skills in designing and implementing programs that deliver nutrition services, including the prevention and management of acute and chronic malnutrition.
• Prior experience working with Nigeria’s public health system.
• Prior experience working with USAID funded projects highly preferred.
• Demonstrated management, coordination, teamwork, and planning skills, with proven ability to liaise effectively with and collaborate with a range of key stakeholders, including national and local officials, public, private and civil society partners, and communities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with a diverse team.
• Strong training, mentoring, coaching and interpersonal skills, including supportive supervision.
• Computer literacy in the following: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.
• Fluency in English required; fluency in Hausa preferred.
• Willingness to travel extensively, and potentially live in northern Nigeria.