Roving Health and Nutrition Coordinator Nigeria at Save The Children

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

The Emergency Health and Nutrition coordinator is part of Save the Children Nigeria’s Roving Rapid Response Team responsible for the coordination and supervision of health and nutrition preparedness and emergency response in Nigeria. The candidate ensures project’s implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of approved plans and budget to effectively contribute to the achievement of projects’ result and Save the Children strategic goals to address anticipated causes of disease outbreak and provide lifesaving response during an outbreak. His/her management of this emergency response will ensure quality implementation in accordance with Save the Children’s policies and practices, Vision, Mission, and values.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 

This post focuses on emergency/humanitarian programming and not limited to any project. The position holder will be expected to contribute to SCI’s dual mandate and support as needed.

Program Management:

• Responsible for coordination of HF- emergency health and Nutrition response in Nigeria.
• Collaborate with Sector leads, Health and Nutrition TAs and Early Warning Systems Manager in monitoring the SC- EWS and other National platforms for risk monitoring, timely identification of triggers and deployment of early actions. 
• Prepare predefine interventions to mitigate the impact of a forecasted hazard and/or increasing risk profile.
• Facilitate the mapping and development of context-based Health and Nutrition Preparedness plan. 
• Provide support to ensure smooth and timely start-up and implementation of project activities as per the approved project plans and budget.
• Coordination and engagement with the ministry of health, WHO and other relevant partners to mobilize and harmonize resources, and collective monitoring of trends for timely response. 
• Support the resource management and prepositioning of health and Nutrition emergency stock and facilitate immediate distribution of the relief kits during emergency. 
• Lead the project quality implementation, including development of financial and operational planning and implementation in line with the anticipatory actions.
• Facilitate activation of Risk Communication and Community Engagement, disease case management and surveillance mechanism and establishment of referrals cases to identified treatment/isolation centers.
• Initiate and facilitate linkages, coordination and integration with other similar partners or related programs/projects for coordinator response. 
• Serve as focal point for regular liaison and communication with projects internal and external stakeholders.
• Conducts regular field visits and review meetings and manage all Save the Children resources (equipment, supplies, HR) committed to HF health and nutrition response.

Budget Management and Donor Compliance:

• Prepare monthly work plan based on approved Detailed Implementation Plan (DIPs)
• Manage budgets jointly with Rapid Response Manager, Deputy Director Programme Operations, including phasing of budgets as per work plans, monthly review of budget versus actual expenditure reports, identification of gaps in financial management and required actions to address them
• Ensure the project has clear plans (Procurement, Work plan, Recruitment plan, BVA and Phased Budgets)
• Ensure effective and efficient utilization of projects budget and other resources for intended purpose including assigning resources to partners and follow up on budget utilization and project expenditure as needed.
• Work with other internal stakeholders to ensure appropriate staff and partner training and capacity on compliance with donor and organization regulations.
• Awards efficiently monitor and track burn rates, reporting and financial compliance issues to proactively identify and address any problems.

Representation and communication:

• Represent SCI nutrition and participate in internal coordination and share up-to-date information within the sector.
• Documents findings and recommendations of field visits for follow-up actions; shares as appropriate.
• Actively participates in the development and submission of program reports, ensuring completeness, accuracy and timeliness.
• Documents lessons learned in specific technical areas.

Policy Analysis, Policy Engagement and Advocacy for Policy Change:

• Contribute to health and nutrition learning and research that supports the sector advocacy objectives and lead the implementation research necessary for evidence-based advocacy.
• Represent the organization at all relevant technical external task forces, working groups, seminars or other meetings as approved by the sector head and use these meetings to negotiate strategic, project and advocacy positions.
• Develop good relations with other NGOs, development and UN agencies working in the sector and where possible forge alliances to influence key actors around advocacy objectives.
• Ensure that the voices of children guide advocacy and policy change objectives and related activities.
• Compile, Analyze and interpret nutrition response data and provide regular updates to government and NGO coordination bodies as requested, and use the information to justify decisions on further resource allocation.
• Participates in identifying, coordinating, and implementing operational research studies to pilot and scale-up effective direct interventions in coordination.  

Programme Quality and Effectiveness:

• Ensure that project officers are meeting both internal and donor technical standards and requirements. This includes oversight of implementation quality, reviewing, editing and signing-off reports to ensure they are of an acceptable technical and presentational quality.
• Participate in field-based project monitoring and review meetings.
• Liaise with Programme Operations staff to identify technical support needs of projects and staff, and jointly agree on specific and time bound support needs of projects and staff in relevant technical areas.
• Provide technical training to ensure that the project staff have the necessary skills to technically implement the project.
• Assist project staff in the use of emergency health and nutrition and cross-cutting tools and guidelines to ensure the quality of work. These include, among others, child participation, child right programming and mainstreaming of gender, diversity, and HIV/AIDS.
• Prepare work plans, in consultation with Field manager and Nutrition technical team and ensure that implementation is up to date.
• Undertake regular field visits to project sites to ensure technical quality and timeliness of ongoing work.

Documentation and Reporting:

• Provide accurate, complete, and up-to-date information required for effective strategic and tactical planning in the Nigerian Response.
• Work with the health/nutrition and MEAL team to ensure quality data is produced, collated, compiled, and shared.
• Prepare regular/mandated program/project reports for management to keep them informed of program progress.
• Build the capacities of the ERT team to produce quality reports.

Program Finance, Logistics and Administration:

• Assist in staff recruitment and training, conduct performance monitoring in collaboration with HR, and ensure that standards and protocols are adhered to.
• Timely submit the procurement requests for all projects
• Review and manage program budgets and ensure that there is regular alignment of the budget regarding expenditures.
• Coordinate very closely with logistics in order to ensure that there is no break in nutrition program supplies.
• Organize and follow-up on all other procurements needed for the projects.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (SCI Values in Practice) 

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development, and encourages others to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters.
• Values diversity sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

Qualification and Experience:

• Recommended a minimum of 3 years management experience in a humanitarian and development environment, including significant field operations experience running emergency programs.
• Bachelor’s degree in public health, Nursing, Medicine, or related field. MPH would be added advantage. 
• Experience of emergency program cycle management and well known the intervention area.
• Significant knowledge of humanitarian and development systems, institutions and donors and best practices in emergency management
• Substantial experience and knowledge of effective budget monitoring 
• Ability to analyze information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English and at least one major Nigerian Language
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently, live and work in difficult physical conditions in an area of potential insecurity.
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s Vision, Mission, Values and Practices

Skills:

• Demonstrable experience in M&E 
• Experience in emergency response to cholera, meningitis, diphtheria, and other childhood illnesses 
• Good presentation and facilitation skills
• Proven conceptual skills and an ability to think and plan strategically.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills and an ability to train and mentor staff.
• Proven ability to manage a complex and demanding workload.
• Excellent spoken and written English and local language
• Good computer skills (particularly Excel, Word, and databases) 

Desirable

• Experience in nutrition project data management and CMAM programing
• Having an operational experience will be a plus advantage.