Programme Officer – Health and Nutrition (Maternity Cover)

Job Title: Programme Officer – Health and Nutrition (Maternity Cover)

Reports to: Technically: Programme Manager – Health and Nutrition

Administratively: Area Coordinator

Direct Reports: None

Closely Work With: Other Concern program team and relevant county departments

Job Location: Turkana – Loima (Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Kenya at the time of application – National Position)

Contract Details: Fixed Term, Six (6) Months Contract

Job Summary:

The job holder is responsible for quality programme delivery at the Sub County level by providing technical leadership, guidance and support to the Sub County Health Management Team to strengthen their capacity and skills in the implementation of High Impact Nutrition Interventions (HINI) through an integrated health systems strengthening approach; and to work with community groups building the community resilience and strengthening their knowledge and capacity on health and nutrition services and appropriate care taking.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to MoH on delivery of High Impact Nutrition Intervention components at health facilities and when need be outreach sites.
• Assist the Project Manager to provide technical support to partners in the implementation of the project.
• Work with partners to implement work plans as agreed.
• In partnership with the Sub-County Health Management Team (SCHMT) including the Sub County Medical Officer in charge of health (SCMOH), Sub County Public Health Nurse, Sub-County Nutrition Coordinator, Public Health Officers and the hospital nutritionist develop and implement monthly work plans for the Sub-county.
• Liaise closely with MoH at County and Sub-County level to promote ownership and integration of nutrition services into existing medical systems including the development of a concrete plan of action for the programme at the health facilities.
• Ensure programme quality control through implementation of monthly and quarterly M&E.
• Work closely with the Project Manager in monitoring the nutrition situation in Concern areas of work.
• While working with the hospital nutritionist and the SCNO, support the rural health facilities to establish referral systems and create referral links for access to in-patient and other services beneficial to the beneficiaries not provided by the rural health facilities.
• Support with operationalizing of community Units and community mobilization activities, plan trainings, routinely engage Community Health Volunteers and Community Health Assistants.
• Support with documentation of the programme implementation process to generate lesson learning as well as case studies.
• Participate in coordination of and data collection for, KPC, SMART and coverage surveys to assess the nutrition situation of the target population.
• Writing of monthly reports and briefs as well as quarterly reports.
• Contribute significantly to the development of regular donor reports.
• Attend and adequately represent Concern in Sub-county meetings/fora e.g. Sub-county Steering Group(SCSG), Sub-county Nutrition Coordination meeting among others as may be required;
• Together with MOH and other partners involved in delivery of nutrition services in the Sub-County, conduct joint support supervision visits.
• Oversee and coordinate the implementation of MIYCN activities at the health facilities and at the community.
• Work closely with the UNICEF and WFP contact staff to ensure that all health facilities have adequate supplies of therapeutic commodities at all time.
• Liaising with Logistics, IT, Transport, Finance and HR departments in Nairobi to provide logistical and administrative support to the program.

Other Duties

• Adhere to and promote the standards outlined in the Concern Code of Conduct and associated policies to their team, beneficiaries, and be committed to providing a safe working environment
• Participating and contributing towards Concern’s emergency response, as and when necessary
• Comply with Concern’s health, safety and security guidelines during emergencies
• Take all possible measure to meet Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS)
• Any other duties as assigned by the Line Manager

Minimum Education, Qualifications & Experience Required

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics with solid experience/background in Nutrition. Strong clinical competence and knowledge of maternal and child health will be added advantage.
• At least three (3) years’ experience in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition programming in both a development and emergency context.
• An understanding of the context, prior experience working and/or living in Turkana County is highly desirable.
• Experience and knowledge of MoH systems, particularly at County level.
• Good understanding of cross cutting issues- gender, HIV and AIDS, DRR, etc. and how to integrate them into public health and nutrition programmes.

Preference will be given to candidates who possess the following:

• Good computing and report writing skills
• Ability to work independently, as well as in a team
• Willingness to accept responsibility and to show good judgment, initiative, and resourcefulness
• High integrity and demonstrated ability to follow standards and policies
• Ability to work in a systematic and organized manner and to tight deadlines
• Energy to work and sometimes long hours
• Positive attitude and willingness to learn
• Fluency in both spoken and written English and Kiswahili. Fluency in local language/s skills is an added advantage.

Competencies required:

• Communicating and working with others
• Planning and decision-making
• Delivering results
• Influence, advocacy and networking

Concern Code of Conduct and associated policies

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies.

Concern’ is the trading name of ‘Concern Worldwide’, a company limited by guarantee, registered number 39647; registered charity number CHY 5745, registered in Ireland, registered address