Senior Program Associate – Nutrition

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.

We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.

Practice:

Malnutrition represents one of the most formidable challenges of the 21st century to achieving country health goals and economic success. Over 45% of under-five child deaths globally can be attributed to malnutrition and those children who survive face higher risks of living in poverty and of giving birth to malnourished children, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and social inequity. In contrast, good nutritional status is linked to improved school completion rates, higher household income, and a greater chance of escaping poverty and boosting intergenerational equity.

This is a critical time for nutrition that requires fresh thinking and new tools and solutions. R4D’s Nutrition Team has designed a suite of approaches to support global and country partners across a broad range of areas, including:

• Strengthening health systems to provide essential nutrition services through integration into primary health care, as countries pursue universal health coverage

• Food systems:enabling policymakers to achieve better policy outcomes across the different dimensions of the food system, with a specific focus on ensuring healthy diets and nutrition

• Sustainable nutrition financing across sectors: Providing high quality tools, guidelines, and resources for multisectoral nutrition planning and sustainable financing for nutrition at the global, national, and sub national levels

• Data for Nutrition: Generating quality nutrition evidence and innovative data for decision-making

To meet ambitious nutrition targets, Results for Development works at the global and country level to help change agents as they navigate complex challenges. Across all of our work, we are committed to building capacity of change agents at the national and sub-national levels- including government and civil society organizations partners.

Opportunity:

To support this mission, R4D seeks a Senior Program Associate (SPA) to join our rapidly growing Nutrition Practice to support various nutrition projects spanning across multiple sub-practices, with a focus on nutrition financing. This position is normally based in Washington, D.C., and will report to the Nutrition Senior Program Officer (remote opportunity may be possible).

Responsibilities

Responsibilities will encompass a range of tasks related to research, analysis, project management, and communications.

• Support qualitative and quantitative analytical activities
• Conduct literature reviews and formative research, including the facilitation of key informant interviews and focus group discussions
• Prepare highly polished presentations, reports, briefing materials, and other products such as blog posts, newsletters, meeting summaries, thought pieces, contribute towards the development of communication materials, and e-communications on analysis and key topics of interest
• Other research support as necessary
• Managing discrete workstreams of projects
• Support a range of project management tasks, including developing contracts, budgeting and expenditure tracking, and funder progress reports, organizing meetings and workshops
• Contributing to business development by participating in team brainstorming, drafting scopes of work, and coordinating with colleagues on compilation of proposals.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated and energetic individual with superior organizational skills and attention to detail. He/she must be able to function relatively independently and flexibly, complete duties creatively and at a high-quality.

• Excellent research and analysis skills including data management and analysis with demonstrated expertise in Microsoft Excel
• Expertise in a programming language with preference to R, or strong interest and ability to learn
• BA + 3 years or MA + 1 year of relevant professional experience
• Strong academic record in economics, international nutrition, global health, public policy, public health, or related discipline
• Excellent writing, editing, and presentation skills, including the ability to synthesize technical content into effective presentations
• Enthusiastic about joining a diverse and inclusive work environment
• Ability to function flexibly and independently and have a strong commitment to excellence and attention to detail
• When deemed safe to do so: willingness to travel