Nutrition Specialist/Program Consortium Coordinator at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Job Number: 506298
Location: North East, Nigeria
Work Type: Temporary Appointment

Purpose

• The Programme Consortium Coordinator is responsible for coordinating, facilitating, monitoring, evaluating and reporting of progress of the project to the UNICEF Chief of Nutrition, the Steering Committee and the donor.
• The specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming process to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results in maternal, infant and child nutrition programs in Borno and Yobe states.

Major Tasks to be Accomplished
She/ He will be responsible for the delivery of the core functions below:
Management and Coordination of the Consortium:

• Organize kick off meeting- including involvement from project, technical, finance, logistics and human resource departments as appropriate.
• Act as the secretariat of the steering committee by managing the meeting calendar and ensure that agendas and minutes are circulated in a timely manner. Communicate the relevant actions from the steering committee to the respective program managers.
• Participate in quarterly joint State Operations committee meetings to share information, review assessments and situational analysis and discuss common issues
• Carry out weekly catch ups with consortium key focal points in both states
• Ensure that rules and procedures are understood and respected by all partners, sharing information and conducting training if required on proposed systems and processes for consortium management
• Oversee and proactively engage in the implementation of key recommendations from donor, the consortium steering committee, and technical committee
• Coordinate technical and support team of consortium members as needed
• Develop harmonized workplan and ensure that implementation conforms to the proposed activities in the workplan for each partner and that of the consortium as a whole as per the final approved logical framework.
• Ensure that they allocate equal time and attention to both project locations trough the development of a detailed individual activity plan of the project implementation.
• Ensure that they position the response as part of the larger nutrition sector response strategy to the emergency in the NE
• Conduct field visits to project areas to support the implementation and document the observations and findings 

Manage and Ensure timely Reporting:

• In collaboration with the program managers and the Knowledge management specialist ensure reporting for consortium members in a timely manner and according to agreed timelines with donor
• Responsible for compiling all partner reports into a consolidated report to provide to the donor
• Develop a reporting schedule and harmonized reporting templates that are agreed by consortium members and
• Ensure feedback on progress, monthly and quarterly reports from donor and the technical committee are communicated effectively to the program manager and the knowledge management specialist.
• Manage and update the common program consortium log frame if needed in consultation with donor and Steering Committee
• Collect and provide monthly financial and narrative reports from consortium members for internal reference and progress tracking.
• Collect and provide consolidated narrative and financial reports on progress on a quarterly, annually and final basis as per the donor requirements.  
• In collaboration with the program manager ensure that the nutrition program reports are also channeled through the existing state and national health system reporting arrangements on a monthly basis.

Manage Communication Channels for Consortium Partners:

• Represent the joint program externally and on its progress as needed to various coordinating bodies,  and officials
• Put in place adequate practices and channels of communication and interaction between consortium members
• Attend the state levels and national nutrition sector coordination meeting.
• Proactively seek feedback and input from consortium partners on challenges or risks to funds and negative impacts on programme activities.
• Carry out regular communication and updates on consortium management, consortium partner performance and provide timely alerts of key challenges

Consortium Monitoring and Evaluation:

• Ensure compliance with all monitoring and evaluation policies are known and followed by each consortium partner
• Carry out programme monitoring visits to field and share good practices of the implementation across the two implementing states.
• Convene at least annual consortium technical coordination meetings to share good practice and lessons learnt
• Coordinate a final “lessons learned” workshop based on the findings of the final report

Minimum Qualifications and Competencies
Education:

• Advanced University Degree (M.Sc/Ph.D) in Management or Business Administration, Public Health, Epidemiology, Health and Nutrition, Policy and/or Management, or other related field.

Work Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in program/project development and management and/or coordination of partnerships and programs.
• Relevant experience in health/nutrition programs and projects and in UN system agency or international NGO.
• Experience in humanitarian response activity management will be an added advantage

Language Proficiency:

• Fluency in English required.
• Knowledge of the local language widely spoken in the North East region is an advantage