Stretch Assignment : Nutrition Partnerships Specialist

Position description

This Stretch is in the Nutrition and Child Development Section in Headquarters (HQ) in the Nutrition and Child Development in Humanitarian Action team.

The 2023 WHO Guideline on the Prevention and Management of Wasting and Nutritional Oedema in infants and children under five years provides an opportunity to foster programmatic shifts to ensure that as many children as possible benefit from coordinated early actions to prevent and address wasting in humanitarian settings. UNICEF and WFP’s Strategic Approach for the Early Actions to Address Wasting in Children and Women in 15 Priority Countries sets out a clear direction of travel including several important shifts in the way the two agencies support wasting programming together. This Strategic Approach includes a three-year transition plan (2024-2026), in 15 priority countries, to support governments and partners incorporate evidence-based programmatic shifts in alignment with the WHO Guidelines, leveraging the mandate and comparative advantage of each agency. 

To effectively transition to the new Strategic Approach the Nutrition and Child Development in Humanitarian Action team will support the fundraising, programme design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting on progress towards the intended results in 15 priority countries. This will require maintenance and building of strong partnerships, including with WFP and BHA.

The Nutrition Partnerships Specialist will report to the Nutrition Specialist, working closely with the Programme Specialist, to work on strengthening UNICEF’s engagement with key nutrition in emergencies donors, through supporting partnership and grant management, as well as the WFP partnership.

The key result of this assignment is to strengthen the team’s partnership management capabilities and ensure UNICEF’s on-going influence and leadership for nutrition and child development in emergency settings.

Key expected results

Planning

1. Establish clear performance objectives, goals and timeline for the stretch assignment and monitor progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
2. Lead the work plan for assigned area, in order to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of results, in accordance with the unit work plan.

Grant management

3. Support the grant management of HQ managed multi-country awards for the support of UNICEF’s nutrition in emergencies work.
4. Develop and maintain a tracking and reporting system for the BHA Global Title II and Global Affairs Canada Awards, to collect progress data from country teams (without duplicating existing channels) and develop comprehensive high-quality reports.
5. Facilitate the preparation and submission of regular progress reports, ensuring compliance with UNICEF and donor guidelines, and in coordination with UNICEF HQ, Regional and Country offices (RO/CO), and Public Partnerships Division (PPD) to ensure the quality of final narrative and financial reports submitted to partners.

Partnerships

6. Support the UNICEF-WFP partnership for wasting programming in humanitarian contexts including supporting with coordination, communications and knowledge management.
7. Support the development of compelling communications products to promote and advocate for the strategic partnership.
8. Support the collection and management of knowledge related to the transition in 15 countries, including documentation and sharing of experiences and key guidance to support implementation at country level.
9. Support other areas of work detailed in the Joint Work Plan.

Fundraising

10. Support the development of a new funding appeal for nutrition in humanitarian contexts in alignment with UNICEF priorities and the Child Nutrition Fund.
11. Support the development of fundraising needs and plan for the UNICEF-WFP Strategic Approach to Early Actions for Addressing Wasting in Children, in alignment with UNICEF priorities and the Child Nutrition Fund.

Other

12. Support the development of new partnerships and resource mobilization practices within the team, by establishing contacts and reviewing current practices and providing recommendations for strengthening.
13. Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team.

Minimum Qualifications and Competencies

• An advanced university degree is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, international development, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five (for P3) of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: public affairs, programme management, resource mobilization, external relations, or other relevant area.
• The ability to allocate appropriate time and resources for successful achievement of goals, and foresee risks and allow for contingencies when planning.
• Ability to implement clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies, identify priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required.
• Diplomatic communication and negotiation skills to establish and maintain trusted partnerships for achievement of objectives and to develop close and effective working relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Authoritative knowledge of humanitarian issues, strategies, as well as programming policies and procedures in humanitarian response.
• Authoritative knowledge of nutrition and child development in emergencies is a strong asset.
• Authoritative knowledge of practices in partnership development and resource mobilization.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate new approaches in respect of resources management and outreach- related activities.
• Skill in the identification of new opportunities or requirements to meet challenges in the field and propose changes.
• Excellent communications skills, verbal and written.
• Familiarity with political and governmental processes.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language, especially French, considered as an asset.

Funding/Release arrangement

• This is a temporary development opportunity and there will be no changes to the staff member’s status (position number, level, etc.).
• The Office will cover the ticket for economy class travel and 100% of the UN DSA rate during the first 30 days, and 50% DSA for the remaining time.
• Interested UNICEF staff should discuss this opportunity with their supervisor and seek the approval of their management before applying.
• Candidates considered potentially well-matched for the stretch assignment will be contacted for an informal interview. Supervisors may also be contacted for references.
• Once the selection process has been completed, the receiving and releasing offices will communicate to reach an agreement on the exact start date for the recommended staff member and funding arrangements.  It is anticipated the releasing office will support salary costs.
• The staff member selected for this stretch assignment will continue to receive salary and emoluments from the releasing office during the assignment on the basis of the parent duty station location.

Application instructions

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