Nutrition Specialist (Nutrition Activity - World Bank) - DRC

The Organization:

Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA) World Health, a member of Corus International, has been present in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2000. Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, Farmers Market Brands, and Cadasta. In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Corus operates under IMA World Health. Our more than 400 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world's most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives.

At Corus we believe that good only grows stronger and we reflect that belief in our workplace culture. We value every employee's specialized area of expertise and nurture professional growth. We promote an engaging and supportive work environment, where employees feel enabled and driven to innovate, learn and collaborate. And because our subsidiaries often function as partners, our employees have the opportunity to work across our enterprise family.

Job Brief:

Position Summary: This position will be an employee of IMA World Health DRC. Actual hiring is contingent upon signed award and donor's approval. Congolese nationals are highly encouraged to apply.

The Nutrition Specialist is responsible for managing the technical delivery and activities on the large-scale nutrition project designed to reduce chronic malnutrition among children under two and improve nutrition outcomes for pregnant and lactating women. Working through the existing health system, the project will strengthen household practices during the first 1,000 days, community-based nutrition and referral mechanisms, the management and quality of services in health zones and provincial structures, and national nutrition strategies and health-system initiatives. The 2-year project will focus on:

• improving access, utilization, and quality of community essential nutrition practices and health services;
• integrating nutrition into Maternal Neonatal and Child Health services; and
• empowering households by reinforcing community structures and implementing income-generating activities.

The competencies required to be successful in this position also include extensive theoretical and practical understanding of nutrition and approach, and ability to manage technical direction across the project locations, with minimal management support. The position requires managing, contributing to, and supporting the technical implementation of focused activities and by providing technical inputs into nutrition, project workplans, budgets, technical guidelines, training curricula, implementation tools, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation in compliance with the requirements and regulations of the award. Duties include organizing and coordinating with the Country Director consultants, and headquarters or regional Technical Business Unit (TBU) staff.

Responsibilities:

Technical Delivery Services, Quality and Impact (60%)

• Manage appropriate health zone level nutrition approaches and activities that support implementation and monitoring of technical interventions in alignment with the project goal and objectives, and donor standards.
• Manage, model and coach colleagues in best practices in technical delivery and activities.
• Participate in forums that enhance sector knowledge to incorporate into technical activities on the project.
• Identify and make use of grant opportunities that offer a return on investment (ROI) for the grantee and the donor.
• Work in partnership with project team, IMA DRC team, PBU Great Lakes and Southern Africa (GLSA), headquarters/regional TBU staff.
• Track progress of nutrition program targets and deliverables, identifying issues/challenges that need to be addressed, and ensuring that technical reporting requirements are met in line with Project Management Manual as well as complementary tools, policies, and procedures.
• Provide input into budgeting and forecasting exercises related to technical activities spending within the fiscal year.

Coordination and Collaboration: (25%)

• Based on knowledge of the PBU and project portfolio, provide inputs into interdepartmental efforts such as quarterly portfolio reviews, program implementation and learning exchanges (PILE) and program reviews.

• Manage documentation of IMA's technical capacities based on nutrition project achievements in coordination with project team and in collaboration with TBU team.

• Contribute to the wider work of TBU through active participation in the achievement of the project deliverables, team meetings, TBU community of practice and the development and sharing of technical knowledge and resources.

Data Management, Documentation, and Reporting: (15%)

• Contribute to the quality data reported into the project reporting system, in collaboration with the M&E team.
• Prepare high quality, timely technical content, including monthly and/or semi-annual performance reports, and other project documents under the guidance of the Project Manager, with support from PBU, headquarters, and TBU, as applicable.
• Apply knowledge of donor rules and regulations to monitor for technical and M&E compliance for various actions during project start up, implementation, and close out.
• Ensure data integrity and completeness by maintaining project documentation in electronic databases, as applicable.

Supervisory:

• Nutrition Supervisors at Health Zones (HZs)

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's in nutrition, public health, medicine equivalent field or equivalent combination of education and experience; Master's desired.
• Must have at least 7 years of professional experience in the implementation of nutrition programs, including 3 years in the prevention and management of malnutrition.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with national protocols and guidelines related to SRMNEA-NUT, PCIMA, ANJE, NAC, CPS, and micronutrient supplementation interventions.
• Have practical experience in organizing and supervising UNTA, UNS, and UNTI services, as well as community-based nutrition interventions.
• Proficiency in active screening strategies, PB-Maman, growth monitoring and promotion, and the referral and counter-referral of malnutrition cases.
• Possess skills in training, coaching, mentoring, formative supervision, and quality assurance of nutritional services.
• Mastery of the integrated approach to nutritional interventions based on the household-community-ESS continuum.
• Experience working with colleagues in a multicultural, multi-linguistic environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing terms and conditions as well as other international donors (e.g. World Bank, U.S. Department of State, FCDO).
• Proven track record of developing and maintaining strong working relationships with host country counterparts and NGO/FBO/CBO actors.
• Experience working with US-based and international partners and or local (NGO/FBO/CBOs, universities and other technical institutions).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong working knowledge of international donor funding mechanisms (including grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements), preferred.
• Strong knowledge of international development, including nutrition and health, and best practices.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills to communicate effectively and credibly, both verbally and in writing in French and English.
• Proficiency in Office 365 applications including Word, Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint. Experience with Salesforce a plus.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical delivery, coordination of/collaborate on program implementation across multiple teams (between departments, between headquarters and country offices, etc.).
• Experience working in humanitarian, refugee, or emergency settings preferred.

Physical and Mental Requirements

• Ability to and reside travel in project sites located in remote health zones (HZs) - Ilebo, Luebo, Bulape, Mweka, Ndjoko Mpunda, Mutena, and Kakenge - in DRC.
• The physical requirements that may be needed to execute responsibilities may include bending, standing, and walking, etc.
• The mental requirements that are essential to satisfactorily executing the responsibilities outlined in this job description include, but not limited to: learning new tasks, comprehending, and retaining information, completing tasks independently, effectively communicating verbally and in writing, demonstrating proficiency in using computer software to perform assigned tasks.