Nutritionist

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian agency, fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to end global hunger. Every day, WFP works around the globe to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

We are building a Nutritionist Talent Pool that will be comprised of highly competent professionals who can play a key role in helping achieve zero hunger. All applicants will go through a comprehensive selection and assessment process to demonstrate their technical and organisational capabilities and the potential to grow and work across different field locations. Successful applicants will remain in the Talent Pool for 12 months, and can be considered for short or long-term international professional employment opportunities at entry and mid-management levels (P2, P3 and P4), in Country Offices, Regional Bureaux and Headquarters.

Strategic Purpose of the Function

For every operation that WFP undertakes, it is not just a question of providing food, but also making sure what arrives is nutritionally appropriate to address the problem at hand. Using international standards and guidance, WFP's nutrition experts advise on appropriate food baskets for people facing hunger and the risk of malnutrition whilst building local communities' capacity to meet their own food and nutrition needs.

Job Purpose

·      P2 level: Nutritionists at the P2 level support to nutrition programmes and activities to contribute to meeting the nutritional needs of WFP beneficiaries.

·      P3 level: Nutritionists at the P3 level are involved in more straight forward nutrition programmes and/or focus on a specific theme(s).

·      P4 level: Nutritionists at P4 level are operating in an environment where the complexity of meeting nutritional needs is high. As such they are expected to have a greater breadth of knowledge of nutrition and ability to manage a team. They will need a greater level of experience and knowledge to credibly influence at senior levels in more complex situations. They design and manage large-scale nutrition programmes in complex environments to contribute to meeting the nutritional needs of beneficiaries within the country and/or provide technical advice and guidance on nutrition strategies, programme design and implementation.

Qualification Requirements

Education:

·      Advanced University degree in Public Health Nutrition, Nutrition, Food Technology, Medicine or other relevant field.

Experience:

·      P2 level: At least three years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

·      P3 level: At least five years of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

·      P4 level: At least eight years (of which three international) of postgraduate progressively responsible professional experience in the relevant field.

Functional Capabilities (scope of capabilities will vary by grade level):

·      Knowledge of Nutrients - Has strong understanding of key nutrients requirements, food sources, food science and food technology related to vitamins and minerals to present evidence on nutrition effectively to WFP staff and partners.

·      Situation Analysis and Evidence Assessment - Leverages new evidence and applies that to provide technical advice, identify and prioritise country nutrition gaps, design programmes and train staff and partners on the new evidence.

·      Knowledge of Public Health - Ability to analyse data to determine overall health status, determining factors relating to nutrition, and possible areas of intervention for health and nutrition.

·      Knowledge of Food System - Expert knowledge of emerging trends and developments in food systems and value chain transformations, as well as innovative programming, policies and interventions achieving good nutrition-promoting food systems.

·      Applying Programme & Policy Standards - Leverages nutrition knowledge to provide technical advice to governments to design and implement country nutrition programmes that follow international and WFP agency standards and guidance.

Organisational Capabilities:

·      Purpose – ability to align individual purpose to WFP's mission.

·      People - support our people to be the best equipped to serve our beneficiaries.

·      Partnership – lead across boundaries to deliver the best for our beneficiaries.

·      Performance – deliver practical, sustainable, solutions to achieve WFP's mission.

Language:

·      Fluency in oral and written English.

·      Although intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) or Portuguese (one of WFP's working languages) is mandatory for fixed-term posts, for some roles exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Desirable Requirements (scope of requirements will vary by grade level):

·      Experience working with governments on developing nutrition policies and/or implementing a nutrition programme (within food security or health).

·      Experience in conducting nutritional assessments, analysed data and drafted recommendations for programme.

·      Experience working in multiple countries.

·      Experience working in both emergencies and development context.

Terms and Conditions

For fixed-term appointment, WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel and shipment allowances, 30 days' annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, pension plan and medical insurance. For more details about the UN grading system and the compensation package, please visit icsc.un.org

Application Procedures:

Go to: http://bit.ly/13vEtou

Step 1: Click on "Description" to better understand the actual accountabilities and requirements at different levels.

Step 2: Click on "Apply" to create an online CV and answer application questions to submit your application.

Deadline for applications: 31 January 2015