Nutrition Technical Specialist

Nutrition Technical Specialist (TS) - Kenya Country Office

ROLE PURPOSE:

Under the general direction and guidance of the Head of Health, Nutrition & WASH and as a key member of the Programme Development and Quality (PDQ) team, the Nutrition TS will ensure that all nutrition programming is of excellent technical quality, attracts significant donor funding and contributes significantly to Save the Children’s strategic objectives, national and global learning and advocacy. The Nutrition TS is expected to provide technical advice and support to programme staff at the national and county levels to ensure programming objectives are successfully achieved. He/she will also contribute to the development and implementation of the country office’s multisector Nutrition Strategy with strong linkages with Health, WASH, Education and Child Poverty/FSL wider nutrition resilience efforts.

The post holder will play a key role in the technical design of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive projects, working with relevant project and programme managers to ensure the projects contribute to the achievement of Goal 1: Children Under 5 Thrive of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2022-2024 and the Survival Breakthrough under Save the Children’s Ambition 2030. The role holder will ensure that key organizational approaches such as child participation, gender transformation, climate action, evidence and learning are well integrated throughout the project cycle. He/she will also be responsible for ensuring that lessons derived through the implementation of projects are well articulated, documented and disseminated both internally and externally, engage with policymakers, work to achieve advocacy objectives to realize greater change for children in collaboration with the Head of Advocacy and Campaigns.

He/she will ensure the overall country's strategic intent to focus on risk reduction, adaptation and nutrition resilience in light of the changing context in East and Southern Africa is realized. The function is expected to backstop nutrition technical staff embedded in the various projects and programs at national and county levels. This will ensure consistency in SC's technical approach, scalability and learning. Lastly, the TS is expected to lead high-level representation in key technical forums and meetings at the national level with nutrition-specific and sensitive sectors of Health, Education, Social Protection, Agriculture and WASH and will initiate strategic engagement with key donors and development partners that may include, but are not limited to, institutional donors (UN Agencies).

 

SCOPE OF ROLE:

 

Reports to: Head of Health, Nutrition and WASH

Contract Duration: 2 years

Staff reporting to this post: None. Expected to provide coaching and mentoring support to operational and other nutrition technical staff embedded in projects and partners implementing nutrition programmes within SCI.

Role Dimensions: The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Save the Children members, the Country Office Programme Development & Quality team, nutrition advocacy colleagues, regional advisors, technical counterparts in other organisations, donors, National and county governments in areas of operations in liaison with SCI projects etc. The role is expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice.

Context : Humanitarian and development

Primary Technical areas: Nutrition

Primary Sub technical area: Nutrition and WASH 

Secondary Technical areas: Social Behaviour Change 

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

 

Strategic Planning and Programme Development

• Be fully aware of and actively participate in the development and review of the country strategy and thematic programme plans. He/she will specifically lead the operationalization and implementation of the nutrition component of Save the Children’s Survival Goal Plan in the Country Strategic Plan (CSP) and ensure that nutrition-sensitive strategies and approaches are integrated into other thematic strategies.
• Analyze donor priorities and positions on issues related to nutrition; identify institutional and private sector funding opportunities; develop and maintain contacts with potential donors, partners and key technical agencies. Ensure that new partnerships in this technical area reflect the programme quality we expect of ourselves.
• Build on technical knowledge and understanding of the operation of nutrition policy and services in Kenya across nutrition-specific and sensitive sectors within current and previous programming in order to develop proposals for new programming in close coordination with the programme staff.
• Support the business development team during project design to ensure all new projects and programs support the achievement of Save the Children’s objectives as outlined in the CSP, specifically improving child survival, food security, resilience, governance and adaptation in Kenya.
• Ensure that programme strategies support and demonstrate good practice in child safeguarding.
• Using a child rights programming lens, ensure that our nutrition programming is built around the Theory of Change and aligns with global and country office nutrition strategies.
• Operationalize the localization agenda for nutrition programs and contribute to the realization of the country office's milestones towards shifting power to children, communities and local actors by promoting, recognizing, respecting and strengthening the leadership of local and national actors (LNAs) in our humanitarian and development work.
• Establish linkages and networks in new nutrition spaces at the national level (education, agriculture, social protection, etc.) and intergovernmental level, such as the Council of Governors and select regional economic blocks aligned to our work through thought representation.

Advocacy and Policy Development

• Be fully aware of and actively participate in the development, review, dissemination and implementation of national policies, strategies, other initiatives and developments relating to nutrition and related to Health, WASH and/or food security issues by the government and other stakeholders. Regularly assess and communicate the implications for Save the Children’s programme and priorities of any changes in the operating environment relevant to this theme.
• Working closely with the Head of Advocacy to ensure nutrition advocacy priorities are well articulated in the ACCM strategy, implemented and monitored.
• Support and monitor the implementation of nutrition-related elements of the advocacy strategies at the national and county level, including by ensuring that programme staff have relevant advocacy skills and that roles and responsibilities for different activities are clarified.
• Develop policy briefs and position papers as and when required related to the nutrition programme in coordination with key programme staff. This may require technical support from other technical specialists within the country office or among the SC members.
• Support the representation of Save the Children and advocate with UN agencies, donors, the Kenyan government, NGOs and others at the highest levels to ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice  in terms of innovation and quality of implementation, with a focus on child survival, food security and nutrition resilience. Specifically, ensure that evidence, learning and recommendations from Save the Children’s programs are shared through:
  • Active participation in monthly nutrition technical forum meetings at the MoH, linking TWGs with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MOALD) and establishing key nutrition forums and TWGs of interest to SCI
  • Participation and/or sharing of information for use by the ACCM team to share through different channels and platforms at the national, regional and global levels, as well as at the county and community level.
  • Participation in national technical working groups and relevant fora (ENAC, NTF, MIYCN and those in other sectors), research in nutrition and regional food security and nutrition working group meetings
  • Ensuring pro-active engagement with the UN and UNICEF, including through coordination meetings at national and regional levels.
  • Advising field teams to ensure adequate field visibility through technical attendance and technical meetings at district level.
  • Build relationships and linkages with academia and research institutions to further nutrition in the country's portfolio.

Programme Quality

• Ensure quality in the design of programme interventions and that strategies proposed for implementation are  in line with the decentralized functionality of nutrition at the national and county level for increased sustainability and ownership.
• Monitor and provide timely, relevant and accurate input on the overall technical aspects of Save the Children's nutrition programme in Kenya.
• Liaise with the Programme Operations department to ensure all nutrition and other programme staff receive the necessary and appropriate technical support. In consultation with staff and project managers, agree on the range of advice, support, training and/or other assistance required to facilitate high-quality programming. This will involve regular visits to Save the Children's operational areas.
• Assist in the development of tools for project staff and partners to improve the quality of nutrition work. Where necessary, provide or ensure the provision of technical training for project staff and partners as required (IMAM, IYCF, C4D, KAP, nutrition surveys, other monitoring and evaluation).
• Ensure alignment and carry on approaches and tools to future SCI projects in the country to ensure sustainability. For example, the multisector nutrition approaches and accompanying tools and strategies developed by SCI
• Where external consultants (local or international) are required to technically support, monitor and evaluate projects, lead the recruitment and subsequent management of contracted consultants as per the recruitment guidelines.
• Review relevant monitoring reports for donors to ensure that technical debates are well articulated and reports are of acceptable quality before submission. Provide support where necessary to improve report-writing skills.
• Provide input on partner selection and provide technical coaching to partners in nutrition.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• In collaboration with the Head of MEAL and engagement with field-based MEAL staff, ensure the development of MEAL frameworks and key indicators for nutrition that help each project clearly demonstrate progress and impact, improve the quality of reporting, identify issues for advocacy and create new programs and projects in the future.
• Plan and participate in nutrition programme review meetings (APRMs, ensure reports are reviewed and aligned with the intervention logic, the log frame and the SC theory of change,
• Participate in the design of baseline, mid-term and end-of-project evaluations for nutrition programs or nutrition components of multi-sectoral programs. Monitor the evaluation process and provide input and clarification as needed. Review evaluation findings and ensure that lessons and recommendations are implemented and used to improve current programming as well as inform the design of future programs.
• Regularly review and monitor programs for child safeguarding issues. Take corrective action by modifying programme activities and/or reporting incidents.
• Plan and execute learning events aimed at knowledge harvesting, analysis and utilization for quality improvement applications in new business development. Ensure knowledge and promising innovations are shared widely and SC is acknowledged when such innovations are scaled up by peer organizations.
• Ensure the active dissemination of programme findings and lessons learned through the production of high-quality materials and their effective dissemination to key stakeholders

Networking and External Engagement

• In alignment with Country Office strategy and leadership, engage in strategic positioning with donors, partners and government in-country, and ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice in Nutrition.
• Ensure that Save the Children is influencing and learning from others through national technical coordination and networking bodies such as health and nutrition clusters and working groups.
• Strengthen civil society engagement in national dialogues and policy processes through working closely with advocacy and child rights governance colleagues. Ensure that the diverse voices of children, girls and boys are equitably heard and represented in our nutrition work.
• Represent the program to National and Local government representatives, donors, partner agencies, etc. as required.
• Ensure the quality, clarity and consistency of technical components of internal and external reports (e.g., programme reports, sit-reps, internal updates), working closely with awards, programme implementation and communications colleagues as needed.
• Leverage and liaise with technical colleagues from across Save the Children, including technical working groups and centres of excellence, ensuring that learning from the Country Office is shared with others and global lessons brought back.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds oneself accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children's values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities, giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages others and motivates them
• Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

 

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Nutrition professional with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition or equivalent of higher qualification  in Nutrition  (PhD )
• At least 10 years of experience implementing nutrition programs, with at least 5 years of working at an advisory level in nutrition for international NGOs or the private sector in Kenya.
• Excellent understanding of the nutrition sector within the Kenyan context, particularly nutrition in the lifecycle, MIYCN, Nutrition in Emergencies and broader nutrition (and Health) and the sensitive sectors of Agriculture, Social protection, Education etc.
• Clear understanding of and proactive approach to nutrition resilience, hunger and food security issues in Kenya, particularly in the context of 23-25 or so counties declared as Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL).
• Experience of the national context, strategies and policies to enable advocacy at national / regional level in order to hold duty bearers to account to realise children’s rights, including the right to health services and food.
• Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilise resources.
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children ·
• Experience of promoting quality and impact through at least one crosscutting area: gender equality and inclusion, adaptive and safer programming; child rights; disability; migration and displacement.
• Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.
• Experience of supporting humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery
• Experience writing donor funding proposals for large institutional grants in excess of US$1 million.
• Strong writing skills, including experience in writing proposals, capacity statements and position papers.
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