Nutrition Officer

United Nations Children's Fund

Mexico City, Mexico

The Nutrition Officer – adolescent nutrition and innovation (NO.1 – TA), under direct supervision of the Nutrition Officer – social and behaviour change (NO-1), will provide overall technical assistance to Government and other counterparts from academia, civil society and the private sector, in the design, support, monitoring and reporting of the interventions related with innovation and adolescents such as Mobile Health, SBC campaigns and educational materials, trainings, implementation of the new Food Based Dietary Guidelines for Mexico, digital apps, activities in social network, among others.  

Coaching of implementing partners and networking with authorities to monitor and ensure quality of programme will be a key component of the work. Additionally, the Officer is expected to provide technical support in donors’ reporting and proposals development, in collaboration with other areas.  

Support to programme development and planning :

  • Update the situation analysis related to adolescent nutrition and the use of innovations in nutrition programming, for the development and management of the nutrition programme. 
  • Provide technical and administrative support in all phases of program planning through preparation of documentation and materials, and compliance with organizational processes and management systems. 
  • Identify in collaboration with counterparts, including federal and state government counterparts, UN agencies, academia, and civil society the needs for scientific evidence generation and capacity building for adolescent nutrition and innovation policy design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. 

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results:

  • Perform timely monitoring of program implementation under his/her responsibility to ensure that activities are in line with action plans.  
  • Monitor and report on the use of sector program resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocation, objectives, organizational rules, regulations, procedures, donor commitments, accountability standards and integrity. 
  • Conduct field visits to provide technical assistance, assess progress and take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer them to appropriate officials for resolution.  
  • Identify and report critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve program results. 
  • Assist in the timely preparation of program related reports in accordance with established guidelines and procedures. 

Technical and operational support to programme implementation: 

  • Support in the design of communication materials and advocacy strategies for the strengthening of nutrition policies related to adolescent nutrition and innovations in nutrition programming. 
  • Provide technical assistance to federal and state government counterparts in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition policies related to adolescent nutrition and innovation. 
  • Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned among stakeholders.   

Networking and partnership building :

  • Generate and maintain close contacts with the academic sector for the generation of scientific evidence that contributes to the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public policies to improve adolescent nutrition.  
  • Create and maintain close and effective working partnerships with counterparts, including federal and state government counterparts, UN agencies, academia and civil society through information sharing, capacity building and advocacy strategies to improve the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of public policies to improve adolescent nutrition.  
  • Prepare proposals, materials, and reports for donors for fundraising and partnership development. 

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building :

  • Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results. 
  • Exchange information and knowledge with other programs to contribute to the achievement of the overall objectives of the national program. 
  • Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders. 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

  • University degree in Nutrition, Public Health, or other disciplines like Social Development, Education, Psychology with focus in nutrition
  • One year of professional work experience in planning, programming, implementation, monitoring or evaluation of nutrition programmes aimed to adolescents, as well as experience with digital programmes and SBC campaigns.
  • Professional work experience in a technical expert capacity in nutrition is a distinct advantage.
  • Professional experience is desirable, collaborating with Government authorities. 
  • Developing country work experience or field work experience is an asset.
  • Fluency in Spanish.  Proficient level of English is required, but complete fluency is preferred. 
  • The duration of the post is for 12 months initially (from October 2023 to 30 September 2024), but with possibility of extension based on performance and funds availability. 

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/564142