Health & Nutrition Officer, NOA, Temporary Appointment (364 days), Nekemte, Oromia Region, Ethiopia #00129805 (Open for Ethiopian Nationals only)

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, CARE!

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

How can you make a difference? 

Background and Strategic Context

There is growing evidence that investing in the health, nutrition, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It 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, while also supporting the equitable development of nations. As part of UNICEF’s Core Commitment for Children in Humanitarian Action, the Health and Nutrition Officer is expected to provide technical support, monitoring, coordination, and information system for effective implementation of the UNICEF supported Emergency Health and Nutrition responses.

Summary of Key Functions and Accountabilities

1. Support to program development and planning

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

3. Technical and operational support to program implementation

4. Networking and partnership building

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

1. Support to program development and planning

▪ Contribute to the development and establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives, strategies, and results-based planning, through analysis of health and nutrition needs and areas for intervention; and submission of recommendations for priority and goal setting in line with the new UNICEF CCCs and Nutrition strategies for effective implementation of program goal and objectives.

▪ Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing and administering a variety of technical program transactions, preparing materials and documentations, and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results-based planning (RBM), and monitoring and evaluation of results.

▪ Prepare required documentation and materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.

2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

▪ Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues in the FO and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues. Provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision-making. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.

▪ Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess programs/projects and to report on required action and interventions at the higher level of program management.

▪ Ensure UNICEF supported programs including emergency context meets the standards/benchmarks indicated in UNICEF CCCs and results are in line with the targets highlighted in the CPD.

▪ Through intensive capacity building for government counterparts at all levels so that UNICEF supported interventions are to the standard.

• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, health and nutrition supplies and other assets), verifying compliance with approved allocation, goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures, donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management and stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.

3. Technical and operational support to program implementation

▪ Conduct regular program field visits and assessments, and exchange information with partners and stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support. Take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks, and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

▪ Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners, and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes, and best practices on health and nutrition-related issues to support program implementation, operations and delivery of results.

▪ Support the effective implementation of enhanced community-based nutrition, ensure humanitarian interventions to development nexus to foster resilience and bring a positive impact on nutritional status of children women and adolescent girls.

▪ Support satellite office, at Nekemte to be fully operational and carry out emergency and community-based nutrition program in conflict impacted Western Oromia.

4. Networking and partnership building

▪ Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with nutrition sector government counterparts and stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve programme goals on maternal and child rights as well as social justice and equity.

▪ Draft communication and information materials for FO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for health and nutrition programs.

▪ Participate in appropriate sub-cluster partners, and events on programming to collaborate with health and nutrition partners and colleagues on Humanitarian operational planning and preparation of health and nutrition programs/projects, and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the Humanitarian & development and planning process.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

▪ Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.

▪ Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.

▪ Research, benchmark, and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.

▪ Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients and stakeholders.

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

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: Nutrition, Public Health, Nutritional Epidemiology, Global/International Health and Nutrition, Health/Nutrition research, Health Sciences, or other health-related science field.

Work Experience:

• At least one year of relevant work experience in one or more of the following areas is required: nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child health and nutrition program.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Amharic as the National language of Ethiopia and Afan Oromo as the local language is an asset.
• Any other official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.

Desirables:

• Experience in nutrition and child health program/project development in a UN system agency or INGO and working in a developing country is an asset.

• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency

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 (1)

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

(4) Innovates and embraces change (1)

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

(6) Thinks and acts strategically (1)

(7) Works collaboratively with others (1)

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 female candidates and persons with disability 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.