Senegal: Regional Technical Advisor-Community Health & Nutrition-Dakar/Senegal

Job Title: Regional Technical Advisor – Community Health & Nutrition

Department: West Africa Regional Office (WARO)

Position Type: Full-time

Job Location: Dakar, Senegal- WARO

Band: D

FLSA: Exempt

Reports To: WARO Deputy Regional Director/ Program Quality

About CRS:

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 93 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs.

Job Summary:

The Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) for Community Health and Nutrition will provide technical assistance in behavior change and community health activities – primarily those seeking to improve nutrition or maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) – for 12 countries (8 country programs) in the West Africa Region (WARO): Burkina Faso, Ghana (including outreach to Cote d’Ivoire), Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal (including outreach to Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and the Gambia) and Sierra Leone. The RTA for Community Health and Nutrition will work closely with the RTA for Health Systems Strengthening, and the STA for Malaria to jointly advance health programming in the region and maximize synergy between community and facility-based approaches.. The RTA will also engage with the larger CRS health, nutrition and social services technical community on agency wide initiatives

Background:

In Fiscal Year 2015, CRS implemented 16 projects focused on Community Health and Nutrition, with a total annual program value of over $32 million in the West Africa region. Key projects include:

· Large multi-sector programs that seek to prevent and reduce stunting and other forms of malnutrition during the first 1000 days;

· Ebola-related social mobilization and behavior change projects;

· Maternal, neonatal and child health projects;

· Education projects that include school feeding and nutrition elements; and,

· Nutrition-sensitive emergency food security programs.

Primary Function:

· Provide technical leadership and assistance to CRS West Africa country programs in community health and nutrition with a focus on community engagement and behavior change to ensure application of industry standards and best practices. Technical assistance will cover engaging communities with government and other stakeholders to address their own health needs; promoting effective behavior change approaches; and community health and nutrition interventions focused on MNCH, nutrition (particularly during the first 1,000 days) and other key needs (e.g. Ebola prevention).

· Mentor and build the capacity of country program staff in WARO in community health, emphasizing nutrition, MNCH, community engagement and behavior change.

· Support efforts to grow the region’s community health, MNCH and nutrition project portfolio through relationship building, intelligence gathering, positioning, and participating in project design, proposal writing and proposal review.

· Represent CRS’ regional community health and nutrition work to key stakeholders.

Specific Job responsibilities:

1. Technical Leadership and Assistance

· Serve as a member of the Global Health and Social Services team to contribute to and advance the agency strategy and Global Health and HIV strategy and report on achievements in WARO.

· Provide overall technical assistance in behavior change and community health approaches to country programs in the West Africa Region to ensure high program quality.

· Provide guidance in the use of relevant agency tools, approaches, and frameworks (especially the CRS Global Health & HIV strategy) and international best practices during project implementation.

· Conduct regular technical visits to country programs to support effective implementation, monitoring, evaluation and documentation of ongoing community health and nutrition projects.

· Assist programs to develop and implement qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools, methodologies, performance tracking and reporting as well as formative and operational research protocols.

· Contribute to the agency learning agendas for nutrition and child health and well-being.

· Identify and disseminate promising practices, including developing and/or identifying innovations in community health and nutrition programming and supporting their refinement and scale-up in the region, assisting with the testing of new tools developed by the field or headquarters, and documenting innovations.

· Liaise with CRS Regional Health Technical Advisors from other regions and Technical Advisors in PIQA through virtual and in-person meetings to ensure the sustenance of cross-regional learning for high impact programming in WARO.

· Identify technical assistance gaps: liaise closely with other Agency Technical Advisors and support country programs to identify and manage consultants to ensure countries receive the health technical support they need.

1. Mentorship and Capacity Building

· Participate in the recruitment of country program community health and nutrition staff.

· Mentor country program-based health and nutrition staff in the region, including facilitating community of practice exchanges; advising on staff development plans; and identifying, organizing, and/or facilitating relevant trainings.

· Identify and inform country programs of opportunities to share CRS experiences and contribute to the knowledge/evidence base.

1. New Project Development

· Be familiar with relevant donor strategies (e.g. UNICEF, World Bank, USAID and other US government agencies, Catholic Donors and other potential donors).

· Provide vision for community health and nutrition programming in WARO, aligned with the agency strategy.

· Contribute to strategic planning for country programs in the region in community health and nutrition.

· Collaborate with CRS/headquarters and country programs to identify and position for new funding opportunities.

· Develop and maintain strong linkages with international donors and partners.

· Provide technical direction and content to project proposals, including participating in design workshop and writing technical sections of proposals in community health, nutrition, and behavior change.

· Review all proposals for community health and nutrition projects/activities to ensure application of agency and international standards and best practices.

1. Representation, Influence, and External Engagement

· Network with appropriate organizations to build CRS’ profile particularly in nutrition, behavior change and community health and build alliances that further agency strategy.

· Facilitate and attend relevant workshops organized by headquarters, consortia and country programs.

· Share lessons learned from CRS evaluations of nutrition and community health projects, within and outside the region, including in formal settings.

· Attend international health conferences, preferably as a presenter of CRS work. Prepare abstracts for conferences and assist country programs in preparing their abstracts.

· Support country programs and staff in ensuring quality partnerships with key partners and donors.

· Represent CRS WARO and actively participate in donor-led and professional workshops, meetings, and working groups on nutrition and community health.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.

· Serves with Integrity

· Models Stewardship

· Cultivates Constructive Relationships

· Promotes Learning

Key Working relationships:

Internal: Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality, RTA for HSS and STA for Malaria, PIQA Health and Social Services Unit; Health RTAs from other regions. Collaborate with the CRS West Africa Regional Director, CRS Country Representatives, CRS Heads of Programming, country Health Program Managers and other country staff; and WARO and PIQA technical advisors for agriculture, WASH, and MEAL.

External: Collaborate with host country government health ministries, other national and international NGOs, UN Agencies especially UNICEF (regional and country levels), USAID and EU missions, local bilateral institutions, other funding agencies, WHO, local and US Catholic agencies.

Qualifications:

· Advanced degree in nutrition, public health or health-related field.

· Minimum of 5 years of experience in international health development either as a technical advisor or health program manager, preferably in Africa.

· Deep understanding of technical principles, theories, and concepts in one or more of the following: community engagement, behavior change, nutrition, or MNCH.

· Track record of designing and writing successful funding proposals in the area(s) of community health, maternal and child health, and nutrition.

· Experience collaborating with local NGOs and church partners preferred.

· Experience with program monitoring including development of indicators, data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.

Personal/Professional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

· Strong leadership, teamwork, coordination, interpersonal and negotiating skills.

· Strong analytical skills, sound judgment and the capacity to think and plan strategically.

· A good team player and ability to effectively work well in a multi-cultural environments.

· Training and facilitation skills.

· Excellent written and oral communication skills, including fluency in French and English.

· Representation, liaison and negotiation skills.

· Computer literacy and familiarity with Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets and budgeting.

· Willingness to travel extensively and at short notice

Supervision:

None

Travel Requirements:

The position will be based in Dakar, Senegal. The position will require extensive travel (50-65%) primarily within West Africa or to CRS headquarters in Baltimore.

Disclaimer:

This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation

EOE/M/F/D/V

Apply online at: https://www5.apply2jobs.com/CRS/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=2516&CurrentPage=1