Nutrition technical advisor

Background

The Global Health Fellows Program II (GHFP-II) seeks a nutritional technical advisor (GHFP II-P1-014) to work within the technical assistance group of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance. Assignment: Two year fellowship. GHFP-II is a five year cooperative agreement implemented and managed by the Public Health Institute in partnership with CDC Development Solutions and Management Systems International. GHFP-II is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The nutrition technical advisor will serve as part of the technical assistance group public health and nutrition team. The nutrition technical advisor will work with other members of this multidisciplinary team, which includes experts in agriculture, health, vulnerable populations, and shelter and settlements, and provides a multidisciplinary approach to disaster response and risk reduction.

Duties and responsibilities

• Provide expert advice to USAID and OFDA staff based in Washington, DC or in field offices for nutrition interventions during a disaster response
• Accurately convey the technical and policy positions of USAID/OFDA through interactions with NGO partners, other donor agencies, the international humanitarian community, and other USAID staff working in the nutrition sectors, attending pertinent meetings and other events as appropriate; In collaboration with USAID/Washington and regional field office staff, co-lead the development of regional and country programmatic strategies and guidance related to humanitarian programming in the nutrition sector
• Conduct emergency nutrition, and related public health assessments of the vulnerable population and recommend appropriate relief activities
• Facilitate and coordinate US Government emergency technical response activities with USAID Missions, other donor agencies, and the US Embassy
• Provide coordination within the global nutrition cluster and monitor OFDA-funded activities to ensure the proper use of OFDA program funds
• Review and comment on proposals submitted by NGO and United Nations’ partners for humanitarian response and disaster risk reduction in the nutrition sector
• Identify emergency nutrition mitigation and prevention measures that could be linked to disaster response activities
• Review mitigation principals and recommend course(s) of action to OFDA-Washington staff
• Participate in assessment teams, disaster assistance response teams, response management teams, and other office duties as requested
• Provide “in-service” brownbag presentations to USAID and OFDA staff on current livestock related topics
• Position requires 20-35% international travel.

Required skills and experiences

The nutrition technical advisor should have the following qualifications, skills and knowledge:

Education:

• Master’s degree in nutrition and/or public health or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum five to twelve years’ experience working with a nongovernmental organization, international organization or the US Government in humanitarian relief and response in emergency nutrition, with at least two years’ experience in international or resource challenged settings, preferably in the emergency nutrition field
• US Citizenship required

Skills:

• Comprehension of guiding concepts of emergency nutrition interventions in developing countries and ability to represent the humanitarian perspective
• High degree of judgment, maturity, ingenuity and originality to interpret strategy, to analyze, develop and present work results, and to monitor and evaluate implementation of programs
• Demonstrated flexibility and openness in responding to changing work priorities and environments
• Strong written and oral communications skills, including the ability to write technical documents and give high level presentations to colleagues in and outside of USAID
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in an independent capacity and as a member of a team; Good computer skills