Senior Technical Advisor – Nutrition and Health

Job Summary

As a member of the Action Against Hunger-USA Technical Services and Innovation team, Senior Technical Advisors offer the organization deep knowledge in essential technical areas in the battle to end hunger. In the organization, they are recognized as one of the top-level experts in his/her/their area of focus. They are sought out by internal and external colleagues as the person who knows or knows where to find the answers to some of the most challenging technical questions. If no answer exists, they are inspired to seek out an answer. Senior Technical Advisors are guiding voices in advancing an impact-driven workforce unified in the pursuit to end hunger. Not only do Senior Technical Advisors hold a deep field based technical knowledge, they foster a cohesive approach to addressing key drivers of hunger: social injustice, climate change, conflict and poverty.

Senior Technical Advisors are driven by three forward looking values:

1. Promote an impact-driven organization. The incumbent can translate his/her/their deep technical expertise into an integrated response and expands our focus and combats underlying causes of hunger, connects with diverse partners and mobilizes the public for lasting change.
2. Fuel the knowledge transfer essential for innovation and evidence-generations. Thru engagement with the Knowledge and Innovation Hub (based in Nairobi) the incumbent will ensure transference of effective and innovative global approaches to the field and conversely field based knowledge generated from the field are spotlighted on the global stage.
3. Develop creative, successful new funding programs and in turn, communicate these successes in various external settings. Cultivating, securing and retaining institutional and individual donors is a top priority for this role. USG is considered the top priority institutional donor. These advisors bring professionals together, streamline efficiencies, and mainstream research and evidence-generation as part of a successful resource mobilization strategy.

Senior Technical Advisors are exceptional communicators. They are effective in inspiring donors and staff to achieve a world without hunger, now – to act sooner than later. Every advisor is a strategic thinker, deeply versed in technical leadership and sought out for his/her/their contributions. These advisors, with colleagues, drive us towards a comprehensive, evidence-based, scalable approach which embraces local, community-led, inclusive change.

The position reports directly to the Director, Technical Services and Innovation or an Associate Director.

Nutrition and Health

Specifically, the main responsibilities of the Nutrition and Health Senior Technical Advisor are to provide technical leadership and guidance to nutrition approaches and interventions by:

• Contributing, from a nutrition and health perspective, to the end of hunger.
• Maximizing impact
• Leading resource mobilization efforts
• Design and lead organizational learning by integrating innovative approaches and applied best practices for developing and implementing evidence-based and innovative nutrition and health approaches and interventions; and contributing to global nutrition learning.
• Support knowledge transfer from the field to a global level, and from the global level to the field
• Bridge knowledge and capacity building efforts across the organization

Purpose: Provides provide global leadership and strategic direction for Action Against Hunger in nutrition. Leads and designs top level nutrition expert analytical and services.

Engagement: Promotes a multisectoral approach to tackle undernutrition and synergies with other sectors of interventions. Collaborates with technical experts. Engages with and coordinates on strategic initiatives and working groups for nutrition across the Action Against Hunger network. Represent Action Against Hunger.

Delivery: Sets the nutrition strategy, policies, position papers, proposals, guidance and tools as part of a wholistic approach to the root causes of hunger.

II. Essential Job Duties

1. Technical Leadership in Maximizing Impact

• Sets nutrition and health strategic technical direction, including overseeing the refinement of our programming framework and interventions in support of bringing our innovative programming to scale, such as assessments of multiple micronutrient supplementation or advance nutrition outcomes by improving consumption of nutritious and safe food.
• Leads collaboration across multisectoral programming in a manner that helps the organization achieve performance excellence and program impact including addressing matters of climate change and gender inequality.
• Collaborate with internal and external advisors especially those in agriculture and livelihoods, education, gender, youth, HIV, early childhood development (ECD) and others – to integrate nutrition with complementary areas of programming.
• Expand the use of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches through development and promotion of evidence-based tools and materials – e.g., training curricula, job aids, mobile applications
• Leads program development of nutrition and health components of technical policies, framework, approaches and project models such as expand the use of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches to accelerate interventions at scale.
• Lead and contribute to efforts focused on improving maternal, child health and nutrition outcomes.

2. Resource Mobilization and Program Development

• Leads and designs applications/proposals that integrate innovative approaches and best practices in nutrition.
• Contributes to strengthening engagement with USAID and US-based foundations, identifying potential partnerships, increasing awareness in Washington DC & New York of our core capacities, signature interventions, program achievements and evidence, learning, and the Action Against Hunger brand.
• Builds and develops relationships for strategic collaborations and partnerships with key stakeholders, including academic and policy institutions
• Secures funding from USAID’s Food for Peace in the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), USAID Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), UK Department for International Development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Eleanor Crook Foundation and other foundations focusing on nutrition.
• Represents the organization with donors, policy makers and other stakeholders to support fundraising efforts

3. Expand Learning, Evidence base and Knowledge Transfer

• Contributes and be a lead partner for the knowledge exchange of the Action Against Hunger Knowledge and Innovation Hub
• Contributes to the utilization of successful nutrition related interventions and approaches, and their continued performance.
• Builds partnerships with other agencies &/or partners to ensure up to date knowledge and understanding of the latest pertinent nutrition programming, tools, technical developments, and innovations
• Leads and coordinates the development of guidelines, manuals, position papers and other institutional documents on nutrition topics and collaborate with Action Against Hunger network initiatives, advancing and promoting these guidelines, etc.

4. Influencing & Engagement

• Develops and implements a robust influencing agenda to positively affect the policies and practice of key stakeholders most critical to organizational goal of ending hunger and undernutrition.
• Develops a robust influencing agenda to positively affect the policies and practice of key stakeholders most critical to organizational goal of ending hunger and undernutrition.
• Represents Action Against Hunger at global alliances, coalitions, and other working groups and technical fora (such as with USAID/Bureau for Global Health, USAID/BHA, Global Nutrition Cluster, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Simplified Approaches Working Group, CORE Group Nutrition Working Group etc.)
• Secures invitations to represent Action Against Hunger with key audiences (such as USAID, Dept of State, WHO, United Nations, UNICEF, Eleanor Crook Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation etc.)
• Engages colleagues in supporting nutrition research and programs including but limited to early childhood nutrition, infant and young child feeding, or other maternal child health and nutrition topics.
• Authors other organizational communications, not limited to opinion papers, editorials, or other media outlets.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum Post-Graduate degree (Master’s Degree or higher preferred) in Public Health, Nutrition, or health-related field. Equivalent experience considered.

Required Skills & Experience

• A minimum of 10 years previous work in programs overseas with an international humanitarian and/or developmental organization.
• Strong technical understanding of nutrition and health, evidence-based approaches – both nutrition-specific (ICYF, maternal nutrition) and nutrition-sensitive (WASH, ECD, food security) – with experience in emergency nutrition and health systems strengthening required.
• Extensive experience and knowledge of technical fields related to health and nutrition technical topics which may include nutrition related Public Health, and Community Mobilization.
• Good working knowledge of Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM), , including: Management of small & nutritionally At-risk Infants (MAMI), concurrent wasting-stunting, Integrated Community Case Management (iCCm)+ nut, integration of nutrition into health systems etc.
• Expertise specifically relating to but not restricted to addressing acute malnutrition in children under five years old and pregnant lactating women, in humanitarian context
• Extensive knowledge of approaches and related global-level protocols and policies
• Experience working in development and humanitarian/post-crisis contexts
• Proven communication skills including external representation Proven ability to lead new business activities and secure new funding through competitive and non-competitive funding mechanisms
• Applied research or technical development experience, involvement in the development of guidance and support tools and methodologies.
• Experience collaborating and securing funding from major donors (e.g. USAID, BMGF, ECHO, FCDO)
• Author of technical publications and reports
• External representation experience in US and international technical and lay forums
• Familiarity with the USG policy and key stakeholders
• Experience engaging in research, and/or rigorous evaluations and linking to other initiatives (external engagement and communications, etc.).
• Ability to manage and prioritize own workload.
• Ability to present clear ideas and arguments, providing distance support, training, and influence.
• Flexible, adaptable, dynamic, and enthusiastic in working with staff from other sectors.
• Proactive and taking initiative, autonomous and reliable.
• Good working knowledge of computer software, MS Office.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Working knowledge of French strongly preferred, or Spanish desirable.
• Existing eligibility to work in the US is a requirement.