Job Title: Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition
Department/Country: PIQA/Headquarters
Position Type: Full-time
Job Location: Baltimore
Band:E
FLSA: Exempt
Reports To: Senior Technical Advisor for Health and Team Leader
About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 93 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs.
Job Summary/Background:
The position of Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition will contribute to the advancement of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work and leadership in the field of nutrition through (1) the design and development of high quality nutrition programs aligned with national nutrition policies and evidence-based practice; (2) the provision of strategic technical assistance to improve program quality and achieve desired project outcomes; (3) strategy implementation focusing on the development, testing and scale-up of effective, innovative products, tools and services targeting the first 1000 days of life and supports integration of nutrition with other sectors; (4) staff capacity building; and (5) increasing CRS’ influence in the nutrition field by raising awareness about CRS’ work, donor engagement, advocacy and external representation through high-level nutrition and related working groups forums. This position will collaborate with HQ and regionally based health/nutrition technical advisors, country programs teams as well as advisors and staff from other sectors, such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Agricultural Livelihoods, to effectively address the needs of the agency, host-countries, communities and people CRS serves.
Job Responsibilities:
Technical Leadership for Business Development
· Assist headquarters, regional and country program staff to effectively engage with governments, partners (faith-based and secular) and donors to increase influence in nutrition programming and support donor diversification.
· Support headquarters, regional and country program staff to pre-position for strategic nutrition growth opportunities.
· Collaborate with technical advisors and staff from other sectors such as WASH and Agricultural Livelihoods to design innovative and effective approaches that enhance nutritional outcomes and leverage CRS as a multi-sectoral organization.
· Design, write, review and contribute to new project proposals to ensure responsiveness, technical excellence, incorporation of agency approaches and alignment with national nutrition policies.
Technical Leadership in Program/Project Implementation
· Identify technical assistance needs and ensure timely execution of technical assistance services.
· Conduct technical visits to country programs to support technical excellence in ongoing nutrition and projects with a nutrition component.
· Collaborate with technical advisors from other sectors (e.g., Agricultural Livelihoods, WASH, Gender) to advance nutrition objectives.
· Support country programs and partners (government and faith-based) to integrate and/or co-locate nutrition services with other interventions e.g., early childhood development, agriculture, WASH for better nutrition outcomes.
· Conduct analysis and disseminate briefs about the epidemiology of nutritional disorders to support programmatic alignment.
· Remain abreast of emerging issues in nutrition and nutrition/integration in order to incorporate them into country program, regional and global programming.
Strategy Implementation
· Develop and advance agency standards, approaches, guidelines and best practices around nutrition.
· Identify/develop/refine innovative products, tools and services targeting the first 1000 days of life; support the collection of evidence to demonstrate their contributions to improved nutritional outcomes.
· Expand the use of proven approaches; facilitate the completion of necessary materials (training of trainer guides, curricula, mobile applications etc.) to facilitate scale up internally and externally.
· Support opportunities to integrate nutrition with other areas of health programming and sectors while ensuring technical excellence of the nutrition component(s).
Staff Recruitment and Capacity Building
· Participate in the recruitment of regional and country program nutrition staff, including development of job descriptions, as requested.
· Identify and share professional development opportunities with relevant staff.
· Train and mentor regional colleagues, country program teams and partners in standard CRS tools and products.
· Support a CRS nutrition community of practice.
· Organize and/or facilitate trainings, workshops and conferences to strengthen staff capacity and increase CRS’ influence within the global nutrition community.
Knowledge Management and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning
· Support the design and development of implementation research to advance CRS’ work in nutrition.
· Ensure key successes, promising practices and lessons learned are documented and disseminated internally and externally, including publication in peer reviewed journals.
· Develop nutrition-related content for materials to support discussions with peer and donor organizations.
· Participate in mid-term and final project reviews/evaluations.
Influence, Representation and External Engagement
· Represent the agency to donors at the highest levels; contribute to relevant information management systems.
· Network with appropriate organizations to build CRS’ profile in nutrition e.g., active participation/leadership in technical working groups.
· Identify opportunities to showcase CRS products, tools and programming in nutrition; build staff and partner capacity to represent CRS effectively.
· Prepare abstracts for conferences and assist country programs in preparing their abstracts.
· Attend strategic conferences, preferably as a presenter of CRS work.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
· Serves with Integrity
· Models Stewardship
· Cultivates Constructive Relationships
· Promotes Learning
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: STA Nutrition, other members of the PIQA Health and Social Services Unit, Regional Technical Advisors for Health/Nutrition, STAs and RTAs in other sectors such as Agricultural Livelihoods, Gender, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Microfinance, Education, Youth, Governance, Peacebuilding, and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning. Overseas Publications, the Institutional Donor Engagement and Advancement Department, Chiefs of Party/Project Managers of Nutrition and multi-sectoral projects with a nutrition component, US-based advocacy staff and other members of US Operations.
External: Technical Working Groups, Advocacy Groups, Nutrition Forums, Peer Agencies, Donors.
Qualifications:
· Advanced degree in nutrition, public health or health-related field.
· Minimum of 8 years of experience working in global health with 5 years overseas in multiple regions, as a technical advisor and/or program manager of a nutrition and/or multi-sectoral project with a nutrition component.
· Deep understanding of technical principles, theories, and concepts in the nutrition field.
· Track record of successful business development with proven ability of capturing public and private donor funding and partners (e.g., Bureau of Food Security, USAID Global Health, DFID, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Private Sector).
· Expertise in the development and production of curricula, tools, and products to support nutrition interventions and programming.
· Knowledge of gender-responsive programming and how it relates to nutrition.
· Experience working with local partners – government, faith-based and civil society.
· Experience with program monitoring including development of indicators, data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
· Examples of technical and/or academic publications highly desirable.
Personal/Professional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
· Excellent written and oral communication skills.
· Excellent training and facilitation skills.
· Proven ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary/multicultural team.
· Excellent organizational and planning skills; self-motivated and able to work under pressure.
· Strong leadership, teamwork, coordination, interpersonal and negotiating skills.
· Strong analytical skills, sound judgment and the capacity to think and plan strategically.
· Ability to assess complex programs and situations rapidly and form accurate opinions.
· Proven ability to work independently with local partners.
· Proven ability to utilize the Internet to research, communicate and participate in knowledge-sharing networks.
· Computer literacy and familiarity with Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets and budgeting.
Physical Requirements/Environment:
Normal conditions akin to office environment; based in Baltimore at CRS Headquarters; willingness and ability to travel extensively and at short notice 30% of the time.
Foreign Language Required:
Fluency in English (FSI S/R 5). Professional proficiency in French (FSI S/R 3).
Major Responsibilities of Position:
Proposal design and development; multi-faceted technical support, training, mentoring and capacity building; product and tool development; knowledge management, monitoring, evaluation and learning; representation and influence.
Note: All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application.
If you are interested and meet this criterion, please visit our website at www.crs.org to submit your cover letter and resume referencing job code and salary requirements.
Disclaimer:
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation
EOE/M/F/D/V
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