Consultancy: Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) Helpdesk – Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Consultant – Req.#574297

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, hope.

Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) Helpdesk – Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) Consultant

Section/Division/Duty Station: Nutrition and Child Development Section, Programme Group, New York HQ

Duration: 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ/ Home-based 

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: 

The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) is a holistic platform of support for nutrition preparedness, response, and recovery for humanitarian emergencies. This common global mechanism endorsed by over 40 GNC partners provides systematic, predictable, timely, and coordinated nutrition assistance to meet the nutrition rights and needs of people affected by emergencies.

The GNC is a global resource for NiE programme and coordination / information management support and constitutes a platform for learning and development. With a strong focus on localization, collectively with its network of partners, the GNC provides comprehensive support to nutrition practitioners especially to local and national actors who are working close to communities negatively impacted by the consequences of conflict and climate induced shocks.

As part of the evolution in ways of working, a new GNC Operations Team has been created composed of global and country facing operation functions to support the overall operations of the GNC, which includes coordination, information management and NiE programmes.

The GNC NiE Helpdesk will be responsible primarily for responding to NiE programme-related requests from country clusters or nutrition practitioners. He or she will be acting as a link coordinating between the nutrition practitioners requesting technical support, the GNC Operations Team and the GNC Global Thematic Working Groups and Cross Cutting Working Groups. This role entails identifying strategic and emerging technical issues and raising them to the attention of UNICEF and the GNC WGs after consultation with relevant members of the Operations Team.

The NiE Helpdesk will be part of the GNC Operations Team to support the overall coordination of the GNC. In this role, he or she will also support the GNC’s capacity strengthening strategy, in alignment with the GNC Localization Roadmap and in close collaboration with the GNC Climate Working Group.

Scope of Work:

The main purpose of this consultancy is to improve the quality of NiE responses, with a specific focus on supporting localization and climate. This will be achieved in coordination and collaboration with the GNC through the provision of quality technical NiE assistance, capacity strengthening and mentoring.

The following expected results include:

• Provide timely NiE support to nutrition cluster coordinators and nutrition practitioners and foster NiE knowledge exchange
• Coordinate with the different pillars of the GNC, to ensure NiE related questions and discussions are linked and streamlined and NiE knowledge shared
• Deliver NiE capacity strengthening and provide professional development of nutrition practitioners in NiE

ACTIVITES

1. Coordinate and respond to 100 requests for NiE support received via the GNC request management system or via calls, emails, consultations, etc.

2. Execute 40 technical consultations with various stakeholders including UNICEF RO/COs and with local and national actors to identify NiE needs and facilitate cross country and multilevel learning and exchange, with a specific focus on localization and climate. Expected at least 15 consultations will be with regional and country level working groups and teams.

3. Join 20 country calls with GNC coordination team (for priority countries with active emergency) to identify NiE priorities and actions for climate crisis impact mitigation.

4. Coordinate and ensure cohesion with different parts of the GNC through participation in 30 GNC WGs meetings and 20 meetings of the GNC Operations Team

5. Develop and execute 10 learning events jointly with other WGs based on identify NiE priorities, with a focus on localization and climate.

6. Facilitate the capacity strengthening working group, organize and facilitate 10 meetings, maintain updated workplan for the group and monitor the implementation of the capacity strengthening strategy.

7. Based on priorities identified jointly with the GNC capacity strengthening WG (and in collaboration with the Localization WG and Climate WG), travel to 3 countries to deliver capacity strengthening activities.

8. Provide mentorship of 2 individuals (among LNAs) in the GNC mentoring program 

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

1. Coordinate and respond to requests for NiE

– 100 NiE requests answered via monitoring, coordination, and management of the request management system (RMS)

Specific output:

o Quarterly report documenting nature of request and how it was answered.

December  2024, March 2025, June 2025, Sept 2025

2. Execute technical consultations through participation in relevant fora (GNC WGs and their chairs, cross chair calls, GNC Operations team)

• 25 consultations held with NCCs, NC coordination teams, TWG chairs, regional colleagues and/or nutrition stakeholders.
• 15 calls implemented with country TWGs chairs.

Specific output:

 o Technical oversight and cohesion to the different parts of the GNC ensured and documented in 11 monthly reports.

November 2024, March 2025

3. Identify NiE priorities via joint calls

• 20 regional and country calls attended jointly with GNC CT; as well as Partners update calls

Specific outputs:

o Call specific summaries and action points documented.

o 4 Quarterly reports summarizing NiE priorities and next steps for the GNC Programme Team

December 2024, June 2025

4. Coordinate and ensure cohesion with different parts of the GNC

• NiE summaries presented in 30 GTWGs meetings
• 10 Complex questions escalated to the chairs of the GTWGs

Specific outputs:

o 30 summaries for GTWGs developed and documented in quarterly reports.

o Escalated questions documented in quarterly reports

January 2025, September 2025

5. Develop and execute learning events

• Design and delivery of 10 learning events supported, utilizing where appropriate the blended NiE training package that applies both a climate and localization lens.
• Update NiE Agora modules (5)

Specific outputs:

o Update 5 Agora NiE channel modules while applying a climate and localization lens.

o Develop/update basic NiE starter pack applying a climate and localization lens.

o 10 Learning event summaries and recommendations developed.

December 2024, March 2025, August 2025

6. Capacity strengthening working group (WG)

• 10 meetings co-chaired in collaboration with the GNC CT
• 1 Capacity Strengthening Strategy for the GNC finalized

Specific outputs

o 10 agendas and meeting minutes developed

o 1 Strategy is disseminated through GNC channels

December 2024, April 2025, July 2025

7. Support countries’ capacity building approaches and travel to countries to deliver capacity strengthening activities

• Design, organize and facilitate NiE training events in three countries for five days, applying a climate lens and considering localisation (for example, targeting LNAs).

Specific outputs

o Training TOR developed with each country focal point.

o Training report and post training recommendations produced.

Nov 2024, March 2025, August 2025

8. Provide mentorship

• As part of the GNC mentoring programme, mentor two individuals over 12 weeks. This support entails ten sessions per person of 60m duration plus follow up.

Specific output:

o Mentoring summary report (2 pages)

March 2025, June 2025

Qualifications

(1) Education

• Master’s degree in Nutrition, Public Health International development or other relevant field.

(2) Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• At least 8 years of experience in nutrition in emergencies programming or nutrition, food security programme management, including experience of coordination of nutrition responses in a range of settings including sudden onset natural disasters and conflict settings.
• Excellent understanding of the humanitarian architecture at global and field level and the IASC Transformative Agenda
• Familiarity with the work, working methods, and members of the GNC
• Experience in developing and delivering training and other capacity strengthening initiatives
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience of mentoring in a professional setting
• Fluency in English and French. Knowledge of Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese and other languages are an asset
• Proven ability to work independently and deliver results
• Excellent communication skills

Requirements: 

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :
  • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.