Health and Nutrition Coordinator

General job description

• Provide strategic leadership to the Health & Nutrition (H&N) programme with focus on strengthening the quality of the H&N programme.
• Represent Action Against Hunger in relevant external coordination meetings (Health and Nutrition Sector meetings and relevant Sub-Sectors, Technical Working Groups, Donors Meetings, national and local authorities, and H&N partners).
• Strength and develop AAH H&N component in Syria at technical, managerial, operational, and strategic level, including significant participation in identifying new potential interventions.
• Build capacity of the H&N team on H&N interventions (including cross-cutting and multisectoral support) to guarantee evidence-based planning and implementation of the projects, as well as support for future interventions.
• Lead the development and design of AAH H&N strategy in the country together with the technical coordinators and wider Programmes team, technical coordinators, as well as Support teams.
• Ensure compliance with global Health and Nutrition standards, SPHERE standards, AAH H&N technical policy and good practices.

Key activities

Objective 1: (Provide strategic leadership to the H&N programme design and technically support implementation)

• Provide strategic leadership with focus on strengthening the quality of the H&N programme encompassing emergency response, preparedness, resilience, and early recovery.
• Embed public health risk communication and community engagement in the H&N programme through effective synergy of both hardware and software components of the H&N portfolio
• In close coordination with other technical sectors, provide leadership and technical support to the H&N team to reach a solid contextual understanding of community’s needs with special attention to the most vulnerable groups’ needs, as well as power dynamics.
• Responsible for leading the design and drafting technically – sound WASH project proposals for funding including coaching H&N team members on conducting needs assessments and project design.
• Contribute to the development of multi-sectorial programming including the country strategy thorough understanding and contextualising the links between H&N and the other sectors (WASH, Food Security and Agriculture, and Livelihoods), as well as between H&N and cross-cutting issues, including gender, protection, environment, and conflict sensitivity as they impact H&N programming
• Work closely with the MEAL team to enhance accountability, ensure that feedbacks and lessons learned feed into programme adaptation, design technical methodologies to effectively monitoring and evaluating the H&N programme
• Provide strategic and technical advice to implementation teams to envisage creative solutions to the delivery and monitoring of H&N services, in both accessible and inaccessible areas.
• Identify opportunity for action-based research aiming at improving H&N programming, piloting innovation projects and seeking collaboration with appropriate institutions

Objective 2: (Capacity Building)

• Participate together with the HR Department and line managers to the recruitment of H&N staff
• Participate in the design of H&N job adverts and job descriptions
• Matrix-manage the H&N team
• Identify capacity building needs for H&N team members and develop learning opportunities using the most appropriate approach
• Support technical capacity building assessment, planning and initiatives of relevant external stakeholders (LNGOs, Ministry of Health).
• Participate in the promotion of a correct and efficient information flow between H&N team members and other members of the AAH Syria mission.
• Promote AAH mandate, strategy, procedures, and internal regulations within the H&N team
• Conduct technical H&N capacity assessments of local organisations collaborating with AAH and contribute to their capacity building

Objective 3: Reporting and Capitalization

• Lead the H&N components of monthly sitreps, Clusters 4Ws, reviewing internal and external reports including donors’ reports.
• Document lessons learned, best practices and case studies to shape in-country strategies and programmatic approaches, and contribute to broader sector learning; conduct lessons learned workshops on technical themes.
• Capitalize all the H&N project experiences and lessons learnt

Objective 4: (Contribute to programme quality standards)

• Develop guidelines and tools for key intervention identified in AAH-Syria Technical Programmatic Framework, to ensure AAH, CORE Humanitarian Standard, SPHERE standards and any other relevant international standard is followed during the whole project cycle.
• Uphold humanitarian principles and AAH principles at all stages of H&N programming and provide pragmatic guidance to the H&N team on this matter to support their principled decision making.
• Effectively collaborate with other technical departments and field-based teams to ensure the integration of the H&N programme within the whole programme as per AAH’s standards.
• Provide technical support for the implementation of H&N activities in Syria – including ensuring coherence, standardized approaches, programme quality, and integration with other sectors across the WASH programme
• Ensure that the programme is inclusive of marginalised and vulnerable individuals and communities, that it promotes the full and equal participation of women and that accountability to affected communities is central to the ways of working
• Develop cross cutting themes framework (gender, protection, environment, conflict sensitivity) within the H&N portfolio
• Coach and support the H&N team in ensuring cross cutting themes are embedded in the implementation: safeguarding, protection and gender mainstreaming including risk analysis, conflict sensitivity mainstreaming and environmental considerations are taken into account
• Develop and revise in collaboration with the MEAL team the methodologies and tools for monitoring and evaluation.
• Provide technical support in the development and implementation of national programme evaluations, learning events and specific H&N programme related research activities.
• Provide technical support to WASH, Food Security and Livelihoods interventions on common areas of work as WASH in health care facilities, hygiene promotion, promoting healthy food consumption

Objective 5: Coordinate with support Departments

• Contribute to the application of the log/kit forms and procedures pertaining to the supply chain, procurement, transport/movement.
• Participate in the design of new budgets related to H&N activities
• Coordinate with support departments in the planning and technical support of H&N interventions
• In coordination with the safety and security department, keeps in mind the security constraints of the area of operations for the design and implementation of the programs
• Coordinate with Logistics to ensure that H&N -related procurement, tendering and contracts are of adequate technical standards, cost effective, timely and appropriate to the context.

Objective 6: (Representation and Coordination)

• Actively participate in H&N cluster meetings and relevant technical working groups
• Represent H&N programming on a technical level to donors
• Effectively coordinate with external humanitarian H&N actors intervening on regular and emergency interventions.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key H&N stakeholders at technical level, including donors, government authorities and international agencies.
• Influence key decision makers on sound technical solutions to overcome H&N challenges based on evidence
• Contribute to advocacy efforts in H&N -related matters

Candidate description

Education

• Degree and/or master’s degree in Public Health, Nutrition, Medicine or related topic

Technical specific knowledge:

• Solid project cycle management knowledge
• Proved experience in proposal writing and strategic planning
• Technical knowledge in implementing H&N emergency intervention
• Excellent experience in reporting
• Strong Knowledge of the Middle East context, and specifically Syrian context is desirable.

Previous experience:

• (at least 3 years)Previous experience in the humanitarian field as coordinator or similar and preferably with AAH and in Middle East;
• Good experience in working with local/national partners, Ministries, experience in implementing H&N interventions and capacity building for partners.

Languages:

• English (compulsory working language, fluent spoken, read and written)
• Arabic (preferable but not required).

IT systems:

• Windows domain, Compulsory expertise in Excel, Sphinx (desirable)

Mobility (national/ international)within Syria and outside of Syria

Remuneration package

We offer immediate incorporation to a dynamic international network with the following remuneration package:

Duty Station :Syria/Damascus

• Salary: according to Action Against Hunger salary scale and according to candidate’s previous experience.
• This packaged includes:
  • Expatriate insurance (health, live, repatriation, travel, etc.)
  • Break flights/trips to defined area: (break per diem: 215 EUR)
  • Yearly holiday return flight ticket
  • Accommodation and housing expenses (in shared guest house)
  • Travel costs to and from the mission.
  • 25 working days of paid leave per year.
  • Extra per month and per child (Under 18 years old): from 100€ to 225€ monthly (according to standard list of Action Against Hunger -Spain).

– Candidates may be contacted for other suitable positions within Action Against Hunger.

– Due to the high-number of application received, only potential applicants will be contacted.

-Applications will be assessed and vacancy might be closed before the end of the announcement as per qualifications availability. – The organization is committed to the principles of non-discrimination and diversity and is particularly interested in receiving applications from a broad spectrum of qualified people.

In the process of recruitment, selection and appointment Action Against Hunger implement a range of procedures and actions including Criminal Background Checks/ International vetting/Certificate of good conduct to ensure children and vulnerable adults are safeguarded and abuse is prevented