CARE is seeking a talented Regional Technical Advisor, Maternal Child Health (RTA, MCH) Nutrition located in Accra, Ghana. The Child Health and Nutrition team (CHAN) within CARE USA's Health Program has a broad nutrition program throughout CARE that includes Infant and Young Child Feeding and related maternal nutrition in both a development and an emergency context. CARE's flagship nutrition program is the Window of Opportunity program, a privately funded Infant and Young Child Feeding and related Maternal Nutrition (IYCF + rMN) program. The goal of the program is to protect, promote and support optimal IYCF and related maternal nutrition practices in selected in 5 countries. Technical priorities to achieve CHAN's nutrition goal are integration, capacity building, advocacy, behavior change communication, monitoring and evaluation and knowledge sharing. As CARE has moved to a program approach with long term commitments and the combined realities of climate change and food security have become more visible, many CARE country offices have focused their programs around these issues both of which include nutrition. USAID's Feed the Future program also has a significant focus on nutrition which is one of the major indicators of impact. Given the multiplicity of CARE programs focusing on food security, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to build staff capacity to design, implement, monitor and evaluate nutrition programs as they are integrated into food security interventions.
The Regional Technical Advisor (RTA), MCH Nutrition is responsible for providing technical support specific to maternal, infant and young child nutrition that meets the objectives of the CHAN nutrition program, and facilitates the integration of nutrition into CARE food security programs in Africa. In this role, s/he is responsible for operationalizing the nutrition and food security agenda to build staff capacity and develop programs in nutrition in COs where there is an appropriate impact population or country office focus on food security. S/he will develop technically appropriate materials and tools for capacity building that will meet the needs of varying cultures and work environments. The Nutrition RTA, MCH Nutrition will also work closely with the CHAN HQ team to ensure the most appropriate and up to date technical strategies are used in monitoring and evaluation, implementation, communications, knowledge sharing and that the outcomes of analysis are applied. Another component of the position is advocacy with partners in specific country offices and regionally to move forward the appropriate integration of nutrition strategies within food security programming.
Primary Responsibilities
- Provide technical leadership for the integration of nutrition into food security programs.
- Capacity-Building of country office staff.
- Building partnerships, networks and representing CARE in national and regional forums.
- Documentation of evidence and Resource development.
- Foster organizational learning to promote technical excellence.
Required Skills
- Master’s degree in nutrition, food security, or other relevant specialization.
- 5-7 years experience in MCH-N programming and provision of technical assistance in MCH-Nutrition
- Previous work experience with nutrition programming in the context of food security
- Experience working with non-profit organizations
- Strong experience in program design, implementation and evaluation
- Demonstrated technical leadership
- Experience with research and analytical skills
- Overseas experience
- Experience in reviewing, analyzing and making recommendations on program strategy and donor agreements
- Language skills in French
- Provision of MCH/Nutrition technical assistance in developing country context
- Relevant experience in community approaches
- Excellent verbal and written English skills, particularly communication skills for diverse audiences
- Demonstrated ability to conceptualize and operationalize program strategies
- Demonstrated ability to work in team and/or facilitate teamwork
- Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relationships with government, donors, ministry officials, community leaders and other development partners
- Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet software, and data processing
- Ability to prepare presentations and write articles for publication
Desired Skills:
- PhD with focus on IYCF or maternal nutrition
- Previous international post experience
Location: Accra, Ghana
Status: Full-time
Language Requirement: French
Expected Travel Percentage: 30%
Our diversity is our strength; we encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences, particularly women, to apply
