Senior Technical Specialist, Micronutrients

About the Role

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Senior Technical Specialist, Micronutrients to provide strategic, technical and management leadership of the Knowledge Leadership (KL) sub-group dedicating in supporting interventions to promote nutrient adequacy. This role will be on a 3 years’ fixed term contract basis, subject to availability of funding. This position is open to GAIN’s country offices in London and New Delhi Offices.

Reporting to the Senior Manager, KL, the Senior Technical Specialist will provide global leadership for a team of GAIN staff engaged in research, evaluation and technical support to micronutrient status, diet assessment, fortification and biofortification assessment and programming (and other programming areas as relevant).

You will develop a research agenda, as well as strengthen the design and implementation of micronutrients and fortification programs at GAIN as part of GAIN’s Knowledge Leadership (KL) team and in support of the program and country teams.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Managing and overseeing the integration and development of research agendas and the integration of research, evaluation and learning into GAIN’s programmes and projects
• Providing senior technical guidance to GAIN’s country and programme teams to use research, evaluation and learning results for continual improvement of design and implementation, and strategic planning within the corresponding areas
• Identifying and building strategic partnerships and opportunities for research and evaluation relevant for fortification and biofortification that are complementary to and relevant for GAIN’s work
• Collaborating with programmes colleagues (programme services and country programmes teams) and communications teams on development of, manuscripts, publications, blogs, white papers, articles, factsheets, and briefs on micronutrient interventions
• Leading and contributing to the development of proposals for new funding, including authoring text
• Contributing to GAIN influencing objectives through participation in committees, boards, advisory groups relevant to GAIN’s strategy
• Ensuring the high quality and timely delivery of donor reporting (narrative and financial) for relevant projects, ensuring compliance with GAIN’s internal reporting processes
• Providing overall leadership to Knowledge Leadership projects and managing a number of direct reports including supporting work plan development and performance management to ensure team synergy and high-quality technical project delivery in time and budget

About You

The ideal candidate will have substantial implementation research design, implementation and publication experience and strong experience in research and programme fundraising and donor reporting.

The postholder will have strong track record mentoring and managing (directly and indirectly) project teams; ability to manage senior and technical advisers and consultants and demonstrable experience in building effective personal networks at a senior level, showing successful fundraising for programs and/or research. Candidates’ with implementation, research, and evaluation experience in large scale food fortification or biofortification is desirable.

You will have excellent communication and negotiation skills and willing to present clear and structured arguments and able to win donors’ commitment to a common vision and clearly stated goals. Also, you will be highly flexible and willing to travel in countries. In addition to this, you will possess excellent written and spoken English and able to work and lead a multicultural team.

A PhD in nutrition, public health or related field and formal project management and/or leadership training. Candidates’ with substantial training in one epidemiology, economics/ agricultural economics, program evaluation is preferable.

The ideal candidate will also have skills in quantitative research methods essential (survey design, implementation, data analysis, survey management, budgeting, etc.) and strong track record of publication and presentational skills.

About our Offer

The starting salary for each office is as follows, depending on experience:

• United Kingdom: From GBP 59,438 – GBP 63,684 (gross) per annum
• India: From INR 2,505,024 – INR 2,864,112 (gross) per annum

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance.

We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

About GAIN

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Due to COVID19, conflict in Ukraine and climate change, malnutrition and hunger have worsened significantly since 2019, reversing a decade of progress. There is growing recognition that our food systems need to change if we are to reverse these trends.

GAIN’s Strategy aims to transform food systems to make healthier diets from sustainable food systems accessible to all people and especially those whose are most vulnerable to shocks. By 2027, we aim to improve the access of 1.5 billion people to nutritionally enhanced staple foods, improve the access of 25 million people to healthier diets, and support positive food system change in 10 countries. This is bold and complex, and the only way to achieve this is to work together with partners including governments, businesses, and civil society at the country and global level. These goals, and the ways of achieving them, build on our twenty-year legacy of transforming people’s lives with improved nutrition through concerted action and effective policy change.

Our Working Culture and Environment

We provide a flexible working environment that includes a combination of home and office working opportunities through our global hybrid working policy. This encourages our staff to have a healthy work-life balance and increases staff motivation, enriches employee wellbeing, and improves performance and productivity.

All of our positions are based in one or more of GAIN’s designated offices as stated on our job advertisements. Successful candidates will be based in one of GAIN’s country offices and must have the existing right to live and work within a reasonably commutable distance of the relevant city / cities in which the role is advertised. Please note, that GAIN does not sponsor working visas and relocations.

GAIN reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment for candidates who are considered to ineligible under the above conditions during or after the recruitment process.

This advert closes on 8th December 2023. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right to close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

If you are interested in applying for this position kindly note that the proposed interview date for this opening will be on the week commencing 18th December.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued. We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.