Food Systems Officer, NOA, Temporary Appointment, Quito, Ecuador #575763

Transform children’s nutrition by shaping policies, improving food environments, and promoting healthy eating habits. ¡¡Join us in creating a healthier future for our children!!

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, health

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes and operations. UNICEF accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Such efforts have made it possible to reduce the global prevalence of child undernutrition by one-third over the last two decades, and the number of undernourished children by 55 million, demonstrating that progress for maternal and child nutrition at scale is possible and is happening, across countries and continents.

However, despite this unprecedented progress, one in three children in low- and middle-income countries is not growing well because of malnutrition – undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight – and two in three children live in moderate of severe food poverty as they are not fed the minimum diverse diet children need to grow and develop to their full potential.

Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UNICEF Nutrition Strategy 2020-2030 sets forth UNICEF’s vision: A world where all children, adolescents and women realize their right to nutrition. UNICEF’s nutrition programmes aim to prevent child malnutrition in all its forms across the life cycle in all contexts, and to ensure the early detection and treatment of children with life-threatening malnutrition when prevention efforts fall short, including in humanitarian settings.

UNICEF’s Nutrition Strategy calls for a systems approach to improving nutrition outcomes through the implementation of nutrition-specific interventions across five systems: food, health, water and sanitation, education, and social protection. These systems have the greatest potential to deliver on the Strategy’s goal to protect and promote nutritious diets, essential nutrition services, and positive nutrition practices that support optimal nutrition for all children, everywhere.

How can you make a difference? 

The Food Systems Officer GJP is to be used in a Country Office (CO) where the Health and Nutrition Programme is a component of the Country Programme (or UNDAF). The Food Systems Officer reports to the Health and Nutrition Officer.

The Food Systems Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the nutrition programmes and projects. The incumbent applies theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing, and presenting technical programme information to support the development and formulation of the Health and Nutrition Programme within the Country Programme, while learning organizational rules, regulations and procedures.

Technical oversight and support

• Steer UNICEF’s global efforts to develop, implement and monitor SBC strategies and programmes to improve the quality of children’s foods, food environments and food practices from early childhood, though the school years into adolescence, to prevent all forms of malnutrition across the life cycle, in line with the UNICEF Strategy 2020-2030.
• Provide technical to country teams on the effective use of SBC to transform food systems for children strengthening the local production, normative environment and social marketing of nutrient-dense complementary foods, fortified foods, food supplements and therapeutic foods for children. This includes support to country teams to design and implement multi-system and multi-channel SBC approaches to prevent undernutrition children, adolescents, and women and to build the capacity of health providers and community-based workers to counsel women, men, and caregivers on maternal nutrition.
• Provide technical assistance to the country team in developing and implementing actions to transform policies, regulations, and environments for the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity.
• Support the integration of SBC and systems thinking to strengthen iodine deficiency disorders prevention and control programmes, supporting advocacy efforts with national and regional authorities for adequate iodine nutrition at both national and sub national levels, based on context specific analysis of the food systems, especially where pockets of iodine deficiency and excess iodine intake coexist.
• In collaboration with UNICEF Regional Offices, the SBC Global Technical Team, and partners, provide remote and direct technical field support on the transformation of food systems for children’s nutrition and development, including food practices.

Capacity Strengthening and learning

• Contribute to develop a compelling narrative on food systems for children and women with nutrient-dense complementary foods, fortified foods, food supplements and therapeutic foods integrated within and underpinned by an understanding of behavioral science and systems thinking, for sustainable policies and adequate private sector practices and products.
• Create greater awareness and use of new and emerging SBC methods and techniques to inform and improve efforts on food systems actions to deliver nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets for children in all programming settings – including for children living in development, fragile and humanitarian contexts.
• Lead and coordinate UNICEF’s knowledge generation and knowledge management function as it relates to UNICEF’s SBC efforts and actions in transforming food systems for children’s nutrition and development.
• Support knowledge generation and knowledge management related to children’s food environments for the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity.
• Identify and plan training and learning opportunities for staff and partners on new and innovative SBC approaches to support the transformation of food systems, including behavioral public policy, behavioral data science, social marketing, critical social marketing, behavioral insights, human centered design, social listening, and social accountability mechanisms. This includes supporting the roll-out of a regional e-blended learning programme on SBC, in collaboration with regional partners, with a focus on maternal nutrition.

Partnerships and Resource Mobilization

• Support the Health Nutrition Officer, in the implementation of relevant advocacy actions at the country level.
• Contribute to the establishment and strengthening of strategic SBC partnerships for transforming food systems and prevent childhood overweight and obesity at international level with UN agencies, implementing organisations, donors, academia, media, INGOs, local CSOs and other relevant organizations to promote SBC nutrition programmes and assist in developing the same at  country level.
• Create new opportunities for and support resource mobilisation in SBC for Nutrition, increase donors’ interest in the added value of integrating SBC into nutrition programmes and confidence in UNICEF’s ability to deliver them.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in social and behavioral sciences, including sociology, anthropology, marketing, psychology and/or related field is required.  
• Work Experience: A minimum of 1 year of professional experience in a developing country in one or more of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child nutrition, public policies. Experience in health/nutrition programme/project development in a UN system agency or organization is an asset 
• Language Requirements: Fluency in Spanish is required. Intermediate level of English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable male and women candidates are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.