Burkina Faso: Senior Nutrition Manager, Francophone West Africa

Co-founded in 1915 by Helen Keller, Helen Keller International is dedicated to saving the sight and lives of the world’s vulnerable. We combat the causes and consequences of preventable blindness, malnutrition and diseases of poverty with more than 120 programs in 20 African and Asian countries, as well as in the United States. Renowned for its reliability, efficiency and high level of technical expertise, Helen Keller International promotes the development of large-scale, sustainable solutions to some of the most pressing issues in public health. The hallmark of the organization’s work is its proven success in developing, testing and scaling-up health interventions, and integrating them within government and community structures to support and build local capacity and sustainable solutions.

Background

HKI is a partner with IntraHealth in the regional “Francophone West Africa Post Pregnancy Family planning, Nutrition and the Essential Newborn Care” (FWA PPFP) project which will assist the nine Francophone West African countries to develop and implement costed, evidence-based action plans for integration of postpartum family planning, essential newborn care, and nutrition services and policies while building the capacity of local institutions to provide technical assistance, data analysis, and supporting knowledge generation and sharing on integrated services across West Africa.

The project office and regional team will be based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and have national Coordinators in each of the 3 Flagship countries (Burkina Faso, Niger and Côte d’Ivoire).

HKI serves as the Nutrition lead for the program and is seeking a Senior Nutrition Manager, who has specific experience in integration of nutrition into other programs, to be based in the project office, to provide overall nutrition technical and strategic leadership.

Functional relationships

The Senior Nutrition Manager will report to the Senior Advisor, Service Integration with a functional reporting line to HKI’s Africa Regional Nutrition Advisor (based in Dakar, Senegal), for nutrition strategy. The Senior Nutrition Manager will be a member of a multi-disciplinary team, working closely with other technical leads and project country staff. External collaboration includes representatives of partner organizations, Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders, as well as donors.

Regular communication and a spirit of team work among colleagues, both hierarchically and laterally are essential to make this structure thrive.

Scope of the Position

The Senior Nutrition Manager will provide overall technical leadership for the project, working closely with other leads to develop strategies for integrated service, policy, and training across nutrition, family planning, and newborn care. S/he will provide technical assistance and guidance in three focus countries (Burkina Faso, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire) for the project, while supporting broader diffusion and support across all nine francophone countries in West Africa. The Senior Nutrition Manager will provide technical assistance to integrate nutrition policies, services, best practices, communication tools, training modules, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks at the country level. The incumbent will also be responsible for representing HKI and managing relationships with project partners and stakeholders at the regional and country level.

Specific Responsibilities.**

Program Planning, Management and Leadership

· Lead the nutrition component and contribute to the development of overall program technical and programmatic strategies at the regional and country level.

· Work with country and regional program staff to identify opportunities for integration of nutrition into country policies, service delivery, capacity building, and information systems.

· Support project and country teams to develop and implement strategies, plans, and tools for integrated nutrition, family planning, and newborn care.

· Work with regional bodies and partner institutions to build regional capacity to support countries to sustainably roll out integrated services and policies.

· Works with HKI staff to ensure timely program implementation and accountability.

Monitoring & Evaluation and Research

· Provide technical assistance for program situation assessments, and the development of results frameworks, monitoring and evaluation plans, and identification of indicators.

· Support regional project team in to define program monitoring and build capacity on effective use of data to inform and modify program design/activities.

· Lead nutrition project annual planning, reporting and documentation and contribute to same for overall project requirements.

· Support project partners to document and publish/present interesting programmatic findings and lessons learned.

Representation

· Represent HKI and the project at appropriate global, regional and country meetings related to the project.

· Participate actively at the regional and country level, as appropriate, in meetings and workshops with MOH technical teams and partners for program monitoring.

Qualifications

· Minimum seven years of field experience in leading, implementing and delivering results in international nutrition programs in West Africa;

· plus a minimum Master’s degree in nutrition, public health, or in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

· Strong technical skills in Essential Nutrition/Hygiene Actions, Infant and Young Child feeding, Social and Behavior Change Communication.

· Experience in designing and implementing workshops, seminars, surveys, monitoring systems, and evaluations. Experience in research design, data analysis, and interpretation.

· Strong experience in developing multi-sectoral strategies and approaches to nutrition and health, including advocacy and policy development.

· Experience working closely with ministries of health and in health systems strengthening as well as building capacity of government, civil society and multi-sectoral stakeholders and partners.

· Strong interpersonal skills in dealing with external contacts and internal colleagues; demonstrated capacity to develop and maintain productive relationships.

· Demonstrated successful experience in managing teams for high productivity.

· Ability to work independently and undertake extensive field travel in the 3 flagship countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger) and elsewhere in the West African Region.

· Very good oral and written English and French language skills, including the ability to quickly synthesize complex technical and programmatic issues into concise communications.

· Well established and practiced organizational and planning skills;

• Computer literate in use of word-processing, spreadsheet and statistical software; experience in data analysis and interpretation is highly desirable

The initial contract is for two years with possibility of renewal.

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to HKI.Recruitment@hki.org noting the job title in the subject line. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Helen Keller International is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.