Global Health Fellows Program
Technical Advisor II: Nutrition Advisor
Nutrition Division, Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition, Bureau for Global Health, United States Agency for International Development
Location: Washington, DC
Assignment: Two year fellowship
GHFP-II-P5-212
The Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP-II) is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public Health Institute in partnership with Global Health Corps, GlobeMed, Management Systems International and PYXERA Global. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
GHFP-II’s goal is to improve the effectiveness of USAID health programs by addressing the Agency’s immediate and emerging human capacity needs. The program seeks to accomplish this goal first through the recruitment, placement and support of diverse health professionals at the junior, mid and senior levels. These program participants include fellows, interns, corporate volunteers and Foreign Service National professionals. The program then provides substantial performance management and career development support to participants, including annual work planning assistance, and ensures that professional development opportunities are available.
Looking to the future, GHFP-II also seeks to establish a pool of highly-qualified global health professionals that will ensure the Agency’s ongoing technical leadership and effectiveness. This objective is supported by an extensive outreach program that brings global health opportunities and specialized career advice to a diverse range of interested individuals, with a particular focus on those underrepresented in the field of global health.
BACKGROUND:
The Nutrition Division, currently located within the Office of Health, Infectious Disease and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health (GH), will be reorganized in 2016 as the Nutrition and Environmental Health Division (NUT-EH) within the Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in GH. The Nutrition Division provides global technical leadership to USAID Missions, host governments, partners and stakeholders to improve strategies, policies and programming on nutrition and food security. The Division works with various USAID operating units and partners in the implementation of nutrition and food security programs including the Feed the Future (FtF) Presidential Initiative, the Global Health’s Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths (EPCMD), Title II Cooperating Sponsors/Private Voluntary Organizations, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief partners, and Child Survival and Health Grant Program partners.
Undernutrition contributes to 45% of under-5 deaths. Through GH and FtF, USAID works to reduce stunting and other nutritional deficiencies, and to end preventable child and maternal deaths by supporting country-owned programs to address the root causes of undernutrition and so improve the future potential of millions of people. Nutrition programs are integral to health and food security and ensure that mothers and young children have access to nutritious diets and quality health services.
In 2014, USAID released its first ever Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy 2014-2025 to strengthen and scale up USAID’s efforts in reducing malnutrition globally, with a focus on the critical 1,000-day period from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday. The Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy provides the foundation for the Agency’s work in nutrition across development and humanitarian programs, and across health, water and sanitation, agriculture, and other nutrition-related programs.
INTRODUCTION:
The Nutrition Division seeks a Nutrition Advisor (Advisor) to provide broad expertise in public health nutrition toward achieving the overall objectives of USAID. This expertise would specifically be in designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating integrated nutrition programs, with a focus on nutrition-specific interventions, such as adolescent and women’s nutrition, maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, infant and young child feeding, management of severe acute malnutrition, analysis and interpretation of nutritional indicators including biomarkers; nutrition surveillance and epidemiology. Other areas of engagement may also include food security, food and nutrient intake assessment, cross-support with agriculture, food processing and technology, food safety, water and sanitation, and private sector roles in support of nutrition programs.
Under the programmatic direction of the Nutrition Team Leader and the technical guidance of the Senior Nutrition Scientist, the Nutrition Advisor will contribute significantly to the implementation of USAID’s strategies, policies, and programming as they relate to nutrition and food security. The Advisor will be responsible for technical management and guidance to centrally-funded projects, and provide USAID technical leadership to various activities related to the reduction and treatment of acute undernutrition and stunting, prevention of overweight and obesity and non-communicable chronic diseases, nutritional anemias, iodine deficiency disorders, and other micronutrient deficiencies. S/he will support actions on the Scaling-Up Global Nutrition movement, and the USAID Global Health and Feed the Future initiatives. The Advisor will contribute to providing the human nutrition support to nutrition and food security projects, humanitarian assistance, and national surveys and research on nutrition and food security.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Nutrition Advisor will be responsible for:
- Supporting the Nutrition Division in overall strategy development toward design and implementation of nutrition interventions and technical nutrition leadership, in promoting the advancement and application of human nutrition in programs and projects, the dissemination and implementation of the USAID-Nutrition Strategy (2014-2025), and the US Government (USG) Global Nutrition Coordination Plan.
- Providing technical advice to centrally managed programs: Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance-3 (FANTA-3) Project; Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING); the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN); the UNICEF-implemented Universal Salt Iodization (USI); and others as needed.
- Contributing to USAID’s technical input to the Scaling-Up Nutrition movement, and the USAID FtF, GH, and EPCMD.
- Tracking latest evidence for relevant global activities aimed to improve population nutrition status, such as breastfeeding promotion, infant and young child feeding, preventive supplementation, food fortification, increase of dietary diversity, promotion of healthy eating and life habits, and others.
- Responding to requests for information on nutrition and food security within the agency.
- Participating in monitoring and evaluation at project, national, and global levels for assessing evolution of the nutritional situation, as well as changes on nutrient intakes, biomarkers, and other biological outcomes.
- Providing technical expertise on actual and potential activities related to nutrition research both within the Nutrition Division and across various entities of USAID.
- Providing technical advice to the Global Health Bureau, the Bureau for Food Security, Office of Food for Peace, and USAID Missions in relation to the integration of nutrition into food security, family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, water and sanitation, and infectious disease programs through field support and core programs.
- Planning, facilitating and delivering important technical presentations at international and domestic meetings, workshops and conferences.
- Preparing and leading the development of communications materials, talking points, briefers, analyses, reports, and participating in meetings and a variety of forums relevant to Nutrition.
International and domestic travel approximately 25%.
TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (7%)
- Keeping abreast of literature and latest developments in the fields of nutrition programming.
- Deepening knowledge of latest developments related to USG nutrition policy and frameworks, especially as they relate to interagency collaboration.
- Participating in interagency and intra-agency working groups as appropriate to the scope of work.
- Participating in professional continuing education and skills training within the purview of GHFP-II.
REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE:
- Master’s degree or higher in public health or a related social science field.
- Minimum five (5) years’ experience in nutrition and food security issues and programs, with at least two (2) years’ experience in an international or resource challenged setting.
- Extensive experience working in nutrition and/or food science issues associated to health, food security, monitoring and evaluation, and development settings preferred.
- Experience working with host country governments, cooperating agencies, international organizations, or private voluntary organizations preferred.
- Strong interpersonal communication, public speaking and writing skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse teams.
- Demonstrated adaptability and flexibility as policies, programs and priorities evolve.
- High degree of professional judgment, ingenuity and originality to interpret and provide input into the development of strategy, to analyze, develop and present work and to monitor and evaluate programs.
- Ability to travel internationally.
- Fluency in a foreign language, particularly French, preferred.
- US citizenship or US permanent residency required.
SALARY AND BENEFITS:
Salary based on commensurate experience and earnings history. The Public Health Institute offers a comprehensive benefits package including professional development programs.
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