Nutrition Specialist, Monitoring & Evaluation (NO-3), Antananarivo, Madagascar

Contract

This is a NO-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-3 contracts.

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, a hope

To ensure that the UNICEF Nutrition section has useful, valid and reliable information on

• the nutrition situation of children’s and women’s rights;
• the performance of Nutrition section-supported programmes including their relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability, and in emergency contexts, their coverage, coordination and coherence.

To assist in the establishment of a monitoring an evaluation tools which enhance partnership between the Nutrition section, other sections within UNICEF, government and other key players to collectively track progress on nutrition interventions, SDGs and other international nutrition commitment for children. The incumbent is responsible for the achievement of the nutrition section key end results by providing professional expertise and assistance in information / data collection, statistics and data analysis, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, communication and partnership. In line with the decentralization Government policy, he is also responsible of the implementation of capacity building programs at national and regional levels for data collection, monitoring, evaluation and research, paying particular attention to the interests, concerns and the active participation/engagement of key stakeholders, including primarily the Government.

How can you make a difference?

Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primarily, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results.

1. Integrated Monitoring, Evaluation & Research Plan (IMERP)

Ensure that the Nutrition section and national partners use a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research, monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the Country Programme, including tracking and assessing UNICEF’s distinct contribution.

Duties & Tasks

• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing the major research, monitoring and evaluation objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual IMERPs, in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners.
• Likewise, support the development of UNDAF M&E Plans from a sound results-based programming process.
• Identify the M&E objectives, priorities, and activities required for effective Nutrition section and partner Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans,
• In humanitarian response situations, within the first month, draft and recommend a simple one-month data-collection plan to cover key data gaps as required for the initial emergency response, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners.

• After the initial humanitarian response, support management of the medium-term response with a revised IMERP

  2. Situation Monitoring and Assessment

Ensure that the Nutrition section and national partners have timely and accurate measurement of change in conditions in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country’s wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies.

Duties & Tasks

• In coordination with other stakeholders, support the collection of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and other key social development indicators (through MICS or other surveys) to improve national nutrition planning.
• Support partners in the establishment and management of national statistical databases (e.g., DHIS2), ensuring that key indicators are readily accessible by key stakeholders. Potential uses include the Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, and Mid-Term Reviews.
• Develop a collectively Situation Monitoring and Assessment system owned by all key partners which supports the preparation of country level statistical and analytic reports on the status of children’s and women’s rights issues; and which allow, when opportunities emerge to influence developmental and social policies. To include technical support to global reporting obligations including national reports on progress toward the SDGs, and toward CRC and CEDAW fulfilment.
• In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support for one or more rapid assessments (inter-agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners, as well as for nutrition surveillance and integrated phase classification of acute malnutrition.

3. Programme Performance Monitoring

Ensure that the Nutrition section has quality information to assess progress towards expected results established in annual work plans.

Duties & Tasks

• Provide technical support to ensure that a set of programme performance indicators is identified and adjusted as necessary, with inputs of all concerned partners in the context of the multi-year and annual IMERPs, the Annual Management Plan and Annual Work Plans, as outlined in the Programme Policy and Procedures Manual).
  • Coordinate with partners to ensure that monitoring systems are properly designed, and that data collection and analysis from field visits are coordinated and standardised across programmes to feed into to programme performance monitoring, with special attention to humanitarian response.
  • Drawing on monitoring and analysis of key program performance and management indicators, provide professional input to management reports, including relevant sections of the annual reports.

4. Evaluation

Ensure that Nutrition section -supported evaluations are designed and implemented to established UN quality standards, and the results are disseminated in a timely fashion to stakeholders in order to improve section performance and contribute to wider learning.

Duties & Tasks

• Technically support section partners to formulate Terms of Reference and evaluation designs of high quality, when relevant drawing on the know-how of knowledge institutions, in compliance with the organization’s programme evaluation policies and guidelines.
• Monitor and ensure the quality of the field work and data management during the implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase.
• Disseminate evaluation findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods. In particular, to ensure that effective participatory feedback is provided to community and civil society stakeholders.
• Assist in the monitoring of the management response to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation is completed, recorded, and followed up for implementation. Most specifically, assist the chief of section to ensure that evaluation recommendations are submitted to the Country Management Team and follow-up actions recorded in CMT minutes.

5. M&E Capacity Building

Ensure that the monitoring and evaluation capacities of Nutrition section staff and national partners – government and civil society – are strengthened enabling them to increasingly engage in and lead monitoring and evaluation processes.

Duties & Tasks

• Promote the awareness and understanding of the shared responsibility of M&E function among nutrition section staff through communication, training, learning and development activities.

• In close collaboration with partners, ensure that an M&E capacity building strategy for Nutrition section staff, national partners and institutions exists in the context of the IMERP, or UNSDCF M&E plan. Pay particular attention so the capacity needs of national partners such as M&E staff at national and decentralized of nutrition related government counterparts will be strengthened by involvement in evaluation processes and possibly through specific capacity building initiatives.

• Collaborate to implement capacity building strategies as a joint commitment with other developmental partners. Utilize a range of appropriate skills building strategies including self-learning, seminars and workshops and practical experience in order that Nutrition section staff have the basic knowledge and skills in understanding and applying new M&E nutrition-related policies, tools, methods to fulfil their responsibilities. Similarly, design and implement strategies suited to the skills needs of national partners.

• Actively seek partnerships with knowledge institutions for the identification of capacity gaps and development of strategies to address them.

6. Coordination and Networking

Ensure that the Nutrition section is effectively linked to wider UNICEF M&E developments in a way that both contributes to and benefits from organizational learning on effective M&E management.

Duties & Tasks

• Collaborate with Regional Nutrition and other M&E Advisers for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.
• Partner with the Regional Nutrition Programme team to ensure that current and accurate M&E data and results are included in regional reports, multi-country studies, and knowledge sharing networks.
• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on successful and unsuccessful M&E practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate. Similarly, pay attention to M&E knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the Nutrition section and partners to improve their M&E function.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in epidemiology, statistics, demography, planning development, planning.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional work experience and field work experience.
• Professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities as follows:
  • • Relevant professional experience in data management and statistical research, analyzing data from various sources, implementing household surveys (quantitative and qualitative) (mandatory)
  • Expertise in the use of data analysis software (SPSS, STATA, ENA-for-SMART) and their application in the analysis of data from household surveys (mandatory)

- Experience in carrying out SMART-type and SLEAC type nutritional surveys

• At least one instance of exposure to emergency programming, including preparedness planning. Active involvement in a humanitarian crisis response programme preferred
• Fluency in French and Malagasy mandatory. Fluency in English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The functional competencies required for this post are:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (II)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise (III)

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates are requested to apply only online by clicking the APPLY button, and attach a cover letter, detailed CV, and a copy of the highest accredited diploma.

Incomplete or late submission after the deadline (22 December 2021) will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and will receive an official response to their application. Our job applications are also available on the site http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

* See the list of accredited institutions on the link: www.whed.net

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.

Remarks:

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