Senior Technical Advisor, ELEVATE Nutrition

Job Summary

Action Against Hunger USA is seeking a Senior Technical Advisor, Wasting to oversee wasting management and prevention efforts on the recently awarded USAID ELELVATE Nutrition Project.

ELEVATE Nutrition (Enhancing Local Efforts for Vital, Transformative, and Evidence-Based Nutrition), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year cooperative agreement led by FHI 360 in collaboration with Action Against Hunger, Bixal, CNFA: Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, GEMNet-Health, and Oxford Policy Management. The project aims to advance local implementation of high-quality nutrition programs and policies to improve the nutritional status of women and children, particularly in the first 1,000 days. ELEVATE Nutrition will drive efforts to sustain USAID technical leadership in nutrition, enhance locally driven nutrition programs and policies, and boost innovative efforts to share learning and transfer knowledge.

Purpose : The Senior Technical Advisor, Wasting will provide technical direction and strategic leadership to ELEVATE Nutrition’s portfolio of wasting prevention and management activities. The senior technical advisor will serve as a member of ELEVATE Nutrition’s technical leadership team and provide strategic leadership for the design and implementation of wasting activities. S/he will establish quality standards for wasting-related activities and ensure the project’s wasting work achieves those standards in support of ELEVATE Nutrition’s goal to advance evidence-based, local efforts for improving nutritional outcomes. S/he may supervise other technical staff on the project for work related to wasting prevention and management. S/he will collaborate with ELEVATE Nutrition staff and partners to maintain a multi-sectoral focus across all project activities.

Key activities in your role will include

Thought Leadership (40%)

Provide technical thought leadership in wasting prevention and management for ELEVATE Nutrition. Specifically:

In collaboration with other thought leaders within Action Against Hunger and FHI 360, stay abreast of global developments in wasting prevention and management and ensure ELEVATE Nutrition is both represented within, and benefitting from, evolving global dialogue and directions. Curate, develop, and adapt promising wasting management and prevention strategies, ensuring consistency with USAID priorities and interests. Identify and document promising developments in wasting prevention and management, with particular focus on country-level innovations, and ensure broad dissemination through the project’s Knowledge Management, Sharing, and Dissemination Strategy, to include technical publications and products. As agreed with USAID, identify research gaps, and oversee development and implementation of wasting related research to fill those gaps. Ensure research activities reflect local priorities and needs. Represent ELEVATE Nutrition on webinars, panels, in working groups, and within other opportunities related to the subject matter; and, Contribute to development of scopes of work for USAID country and/or regional wasting needs.

Program Quality and Technical Assistance (45%)

Support USAID and the ELEVATE Nutrition Technical Leadership Team in refining global and country-level priorities, and ensure timely, quality support to wasting management and prevention activities. Specifically:

Oversee design or adaptation of evidence-based activities to address wasting, ensuring relevance to the local context and USAID priorities. Contribute to the development of global and country-level work plans and budgets, ensuring the technical integrity and feasibility of proposed wasting prevention and management activities. Oversee delivery of wasting-related activities, ensuring timely, appropriate technical assistance and support to ensure the quality and integrity of the work. Collaborate with the ELEVATE Nutrition technical leadership team to identify and implement knowledge exchange methods that strengthen locally led learning for evidence-based wasting prevention and management. Support local nutrition leaders to prepare for global events related to wasting prevention and management – assist with the preparation of abstracts, posters, and presentations ensuring they meet the highest technical standards. Provide supervision and mentoring to technical staff and/or consultants engaged in ELEVATE Nutrition’s wasting work to ensure their work meets technical quality standards and to contribute to their professional development. Contribute to routine project donor reports; and, Participate in technical leadership meetings and provide input on progress, challenges, and proposed adaptations to strengthen implementation as related to wasting prevention and management.

ACF Technical Coordination (10%)

Represent Action Against Hunger technical engagement within the ELEVATE Nutrition project team, coordinate ACF Network support to the project, and ensure timely accurate reporting to the project team.

Specifically:

Stay abreast of developments in the field of wasting management across the ACF Network - identify the best sources of support to the ELEVATE Nutrition project. Ensure ACF USA leadership are apprised of latest developments within ELEVATE Nutrition and are appropriately engaged in relevant strategic discussions and negotiations. Lead development of Scopes of work for network members (core and country buy-ins), and work with the ACF USA Awards Management Team to develop budgets and facilitate requisite awards processes. Ensure timely, accurate and quality reporting on ACF program activities in close collaboration with the ACF USA Awards Management Team; and, Ensure ACF USA and the broader network are kept apprised of ELEVATE Nutrition priorities and activities.

Other duties as required (5%)

Perform other duties as required.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Supervisory responsibilities will vary depending upon USAID related priorities and commitments. The Senior Advisor, Wasting may supervise a small team of specialists within the ELEVATE Nutrition technical team and will provide technical and managerial oversight to project activities delivered through ACF network members.

Fiscal Responsibility

The Senior Advisor, Wasting may directly manage budgets associated with core-funded Wasting management activities within the ELEVATE Nutrition Project. The incumbent will work closely with the ACF USA Awards Management team to monitor budgets and expenditure in project activities delivered through other network members

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short time frames under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with interruptions. To travel to the field, the employee must attest to a level of physical fitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited diet and/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing or tents. The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Working Conditions, Travel and Environment

The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Must be available to work outside normal office hours or on the weekends as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations. Must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel as well as to the missions if appropriate. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.

Gender Equality Commitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

Foster an environment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access to information. Provide a work environment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance. Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff. Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation. Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status. Value and respect all cultures. Do you meet the profile required criteria?

Required Qualifications

Master’s degree in nutrition, public health, international development and/or related field; PhD and/or MPH desirable. 12+ years of experience providing technical leadership to global nutrition programs. Considerable experience implementing or supporting nutrition or public health programs in LMIC’s essential. Prior work experience in a non-governmental organization (NGO), government agency, or private organization in subject matter area of expertise; and, Experience working in USAID funded programs highly desirable.

Required Skills & Experience

Demonstrated track record in the field of wasting prevention and management, including leadership in strategic planning and programming with bilateral and multilateral donors, implementing partners, and local organizations. Expert technical knowledge on issues related to wasting, including but not limited to basic and underlying causes of malnutrition; community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programming; wasting management among pregnant and lactating women; management of at-risk infants and their mothers (MAMI); specialized nutritious food formulations and products; key stakeholders in procurement and supply of specialized nutritious foods; WHO guidelines on management and prevention of wasting; and other relevant topics. Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality technical products. Ability to work with technical teams across diverse contexts; demonstrated success providing technical assistance in complex environments. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Fluency in written and spoken English. Fluency in French, Spanish, or Portuguese desirable; and, Willingness to travel as required (up to 25%). We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees & qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender-identity, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. ACF-USA complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.

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