Mozambique: SENIOR NUTRITIONIST (16-21)

Job Description: The International Potato Center (CIP) seeks a talented and motivated Nutritionist to support the design and implementation of the Nutrition program under the Project on Viable Sweetpotato Technologies in Africa (VISTA).

Location: Nampula, Mozambique

The Center: CIP (www.cipotato.org ) is a not-for-profit international agricultural research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato, and Andean roots and tubers. Its vision is of roots and tubers improving the lives of the poor. CIP is dedicated to achieving food security, improved well-being, and gender equity for poor people in root and tuber farming and food systems of the developing world. CIP works with partners to contribute high-quality science, technology, and capacity strengthening for sustainable science-based solutions.

The Project: The overall goal of VISTA Mozambique is to contribute to improved nutrition, food security and incomes of 100,000 smallholder farming families through increased production and better utilization of the biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties. The group will include those most at risk of vitamin A deficiency - children under five years of age and pregnant and lactating women. With continued support from USAID / Feed the Future, the project is expanding its current activities to 16 districts in Nampula and Zambezia Provinces for the next 5 years. VISTA is a research and development collaboration between CIP and national and local partners and emphasizes the importance of technical excellence, rigorous evidence base, and capacity development of Mozambican stakeholders.

The Position: The Nutritionist will directly report to the Project Leader, and support the Communications & Extension Specialist with the integration of nutrition into their activities. He/she will support the development of an appropriate nutrition intervention plan and monitoring and evaluation tool that responds to the project targets and ensure the smooth implementation. The Nutritionist will provide guidance to the project partners, beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders in the participatory design and implementation of the nutrition-related activity. This includes an active contribution to capacity development and training of the stakeholders and implementing partners involved in the implementation of the project. The Nutritionist will also support the Project Manager in documentation and reporting of all nutrition-related activities.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Specifically, the Senior Nutritionist will:

• Assist in the management, supervision and monitoring of the nutrition-related intervention of the project;

• Actively participate in training workshops for implementing partners and develop and adapt existing training materials in local language context for use in the field;

• Ensure that monitoring of project indicators related to nutrition output is timely and of excellent quality to support reporting;

• Support partners and community units with technical assistance to implement a sustainable, Social and Behavior Change (SBC) campaign using key principles of MIYCN aimed at key decision makers, health care workers, community health volunteers and community social groups;

• Contribute to project quality through implementation of project requirements and use of program M&E systems;

• Mainstreaming gender into nutrition-related project interventions, through support and promotion and involvement of other community stakeholders throughout all areas of the project related to nutrition.

  Selection Criteria:

• Masters’ degree in nutrition or relevant biological or social science degree with significant nutrition programming experience. Specific training related to community-based nutrition activities is required;

• Strong experience of at least 4years as a nutritionist, managing or supporting community-based nutrition projects;

• Experience related to agricultural-nutrition pathway and market linkages;

• Direct experience working on large USAID-funded interventions particularly Feed the Future will be an added advantage;

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and experience in social and behavior change communication;

• Proven experience and understanding of data requirements for nutrition and agriculture interventions;

• Direct experience of using ICT tools for nutrition data collection and analysis. Familiarity with data storage and processing tool is a plus;

• Proven ability to work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams;

• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in Portuguese and English. Knowledgeable and familiarity with local languages such as Emacua and Lomue is an added advantage;

• Mozambican national;

• Willingness to frequently travel to the field and work under field conditions;

• Demonstrated awareness and responsiveness to local context. Conditions: The employment contract will be for a three-year term (with a three-month probation period) with the possibility of renewal, subject to performance and availability of funding. The salary will be very competitive, paid in Meticais, and commensurate with experience. CIP prides itself on it's collegial and supportive working environment, which allows space for personal and professional growth

Applications: Applicants should apply online through our CIP’s Job Opportunities website (http://cipotato.org/open-vacancies/ ), including a letter of motivation, a full C.V with the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable of the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. Screening of applications will begin on 1^st October 2016 and will continue until the post is filled. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Learn more about CIP by accessing our website at http://www.cipotato.org