NUTRITION PROGRAM MANAGER ETHIOPIA

Job Location: Dollo Odo
Reporting to: Nutrition Programme Coordinator
Contract Length: 1 - 3 months
Start Date: Immediate



General Description of the Programme:

GOAL has been operational in Ethiopia since 1984, implementing emergency and rehabilitation/development projects. The impact of the current drought has been evident in Ethiopia since late 2010; many areas of the country are manifesting serious nutritional problems. The revised Humanitarian Requirements Document launched on 11 July 2011 calls for an additional US$ 398.4 million in humanitarian funding to meet food and non-food needs in Ethiopia between July and December 2011. The total number of relief food beneficiaries has been increased to 4,567,256. The dire situation in Somalia continues to push an increasing number of refugees into Ethiopia with an average of 1,400 to 2,000 refugees per day reported to arrive at refugee camps in Dolo Odo, Liben zone. Many refugees are arriving in a very weak state, with up to 45% of children suffering from malnutrition. In response, the Government has recently given permission for organizations to begin nutrition screening and other services at the reception and transit sites in Dolo Ado. Currently there are four Somalia refugee camps near to Dollo Odo sheltering 101,315 refugees. GOAL is supporting International Medical Corps with in kind donations of therapeutic food for one camp. Two more camps will be opened shortly to cater for the new arrivals and GOAL plans to support these camps directly. The main support will be nutrition, non-food items and shelter.

GOAL’s Humanitarian Response Program (HRP) main funders are USAID/OFDA/ ECHO, Irish Aid, UNOCHA and GOAL. GOAL’s nutrition interventions utilize the Community-Management of Acute Malnutrition model of care in line with the country protocols.


General description of the role:

The Nutrition Program Manager is responsible for providing technical support and strategic direction to GOALs emergency nutrition program in Ethiopia in collaboration with the HRP team. Due to the short nature of the contract, the Nutrition Program Manager will be primarily involved in helping to establish a nutrition team, conduct staff training, organising and pre-positioning appropriate materials and ensures the establishment and subsequent maintenance of a comprehensive Nutrition Information System (NIS system) in order to monitor progress and meet all requisite SPHERE standards and reporting needs.
S/he will represent GOAL at nutrition sector and/or camp management meetings in the locality.


Key duties:
• Assume overall management for all nutrition activities, ensuring they are implemented in line with donor proposals and verify that the GOAL nutrition response remains closely aligned to the needs in this rapidly evolving emergency.
• Work in close coordination with the Nutrition Coordinator, HRP management team and ACD Programs in order to;

o Help develop any nutrition related proposals and program strategies (as necessary)
o Ensure a tightly integrated programme approach with any other GOAL support activities;
o Ensure close coordination with local partners and ensure that community leaders are involved in the decision making process.
o Work in close coordination with any other operational sectors either implemented by GOAL or other partners (such as WASH, Health etc) ensuring a tight integrated response is developed across all sectors and natural cross-cutting themes are embedded into each other’s programs.

• Provide technical support to GOAL staff, in consultation with the Nutrition Coordinator, HRP management team and ACD Programs. This support will include:

o Helping to recruit a newly operational nutrition team to be located in a Dollo Odo refugee camp
o Training of all new nutrition staff working in Dollo Odo refugee camp and assessing their ability to provide key nutritional services to a requisite level
o Overseeing the procurement and pre-positioning of all appropriate materials for the full complement of nutrition activities to be implemented by GOAL (including information education communication (IEC) materials)
o Building capacity of key staff who will ultimately responsible for delivering programs
o Nurture and capacity build national Nutrition Program Manager who will take over responsibility for the management of the operation within 1-3 months
o Regular visits to oversee service delivery, conduct on the job training (in conjunction with national Program Manager), identify potential issues and problem solve
o Ensure the establishment and subsequent maintenance of a comprehensive Nutrition Information System (NIS system) in order to provide accurate, consistent monitoring and evaluation systems, to meet all requisite SPHERE standards and reporting needs
o Conduct regular analysis of data with feedback to field based health staff and Addis Ababa
o Responsible for submission of timely donor reports, in coordination with Nutrition Coordinator and HRP Management

• Representation of GOAL at regional meetings, cultivating close relationships with donors, ministries and other key national stakeholders.
• To be fully conversant with GOAL policies and guidelines, including HR, finance, administration and security protocols
• Any other related tasks at the request of the HRP Senior Management team



Requirements:

• Nutrition / Public Health Nutrition qualification with at least 3 years post-graduation experience
• Practical experience working in emergency nutrition programmes for an international NGO with management responsibilities.
• A clear and proven understanding of CMAM methodologies (including in-patient care, outpatient care and supplementary feeding programs) with training experience and competence (essential)
• Experience of working in clinical settings on the treatment of severe acute malnutrition either in Ethiopia or overseas
• Excellent communication and training skills with track record of building/developing cohesive teams
• Experience of writing donor proposals, budgets, log-frames and gannt charts with subsequent management of projects thereafter.
• Demonstrated analytical and conceptual skills to plan projects, timetable agreed activities and oversee staff activities.
• Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multi-national country team
• Ability and willingness to travel to remote locations and live in basic conditions
• Good computer skills, including Word, Excel.

Desirable:
• Masters degree in Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition, or medical background with nutrition experience
• Postgraduate study or relevant work experience in Public Health Nutrition
• Experience of working with Government health system in Ethiopia (an advantage).




This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document.
Note: GOAL is an equal opportunities employer.


If you would like to apply for the above position, please send your CV and covering letter to applications@goal.ie, ensuring that the job title and location of the role are clearly stated in the subject line of your email. Thank you.