Coordinator of the cash for Nutrition ARCC project

BACKGROUND In order to improve the performance of the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), UNICEF with financial support from DFID and in collaboration with Save the Children is planning to pilot SAM treatment associated with Cash and Vouchers in the Kasai Oriental province in the central part of DRC. The initial design of the pilot proposes a trial with three groups. In the first group patient will receive SAM treatment associated with counseling on infant and young child feeding (IYCF). In the second group patients will receive SAM treatment with IYCF counseling and their families will receive cash on a monthly basis. In the third group patients will receive SAM treatment with IYCF counseling and their families will receive vouchers for foods on a monthly basis. This initial design will however be finalized and fine-tuned with the collaboration of the project coordinator, implementing partner, and the pilot ad hoc advisory committee, etc. The aim to improve performance of the programme through a better adherence of patient and to reduce the incidence of SAM through the improvement of household dietary diversity expected to be induced by cash and vouchers. The intervention is expected to generate solid evidence on the above-mentioned expected results and will therefore require rigorous monitoring and supervision. The project will be implemented in the Kasai Oriental province in central DRC by an international NGO (Save the Children UK). The pilot is part of a larger project entitled Alternative Responses for Communities in Crisis (ARCC ) which comprises education, protection and humanitarian non-food assistance to populations affected by crises—all using different cash-based approaches. The project will have a common monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. An overall M&E officer will be hired to coordinate the overall M&E activities in collaboration with the different coordinators of the various components.

PURPOSE OF THE POST Under the supervision of the head of provincial office and in close collaboration with the nutrition team, the staff member will ensure the overall coordination all aspects of the project–development, design, partner relationships, financial administration, monitoring and evaluation. In addition to the direct supervisor mentioned above the project coordinator will report to the larger ARCC programme coordinator.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Taking overall responsibility for management and coordination of all tasks related to the formative research in the field. 2. Coordinate project activities with the implementing partner, the senior health staff of the three target health zones and the government provincial authorities in charge of nutrition (PRONANUT) 3. Undertake frequent field visits to the target health zones and health centers within each target health zone to ensure adequate and timely implementation of the intervention and provide technical assistance where needed 4. Work in close collaboration with Save the Children ’s counterpart to design the formative research protocol and ensure it is approved by the Ethical Committee
5. Contribute to elaborate the protocols of the quantitative surveys (baseline and end-line) and the qualitative survey on causes de malnutrition in collaboration with the implementing partners 6. Ensure that all protocols designed and used ( intervention protocol, protocol of the qualitative study on the causes of malnutrition, and protocols of the baseline and final surveys ) receive inputs from and are approved by the technical advisory committee
7. Ensure that all surveys implemented by the partner are in line with the approved protocols 8. Lead the design of the project monitoring and evaluation frameworks and tools, 9. Ensure quality data collection compilation and reporting in close collaboration with the implementing NGOs and the ad-hoc advisory committee.
10. Ensure the timely delivery of therapeutic food, essential drugs materials and supplies, cash assistance, other services for programme/project implementation and manage the budget of the project 11. Draft donors reports and funding proposal for the scale up phase 12. Perform any other task assigned by the supervisor especially related to the implementation of the overall nutrition program in the Southern zone
13. Design ToRs and manage consultants who would be working on the project (evaluation, documentation etc.) 14. Manage the collaborative agreement with the implementing partner from administrative and financial standpoint. 15. Develop strong relationships with the head of Health District, the heads of health zones and their teams, as well as with the teams of health centers and community leaders to ensure successful implementation of the intervention.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES  Advanced university degree on nutrition or public health  Five (5) years of experience in nutrition programme planning, management and evaluation.  Solid experience in research especially in the programming, monitoring and evaluation of randomized trials
 Strong skills in the development and implementation of project monitoring system,- development of data collection tools, rigorous data collection and analysis
 Experience and skills in cash based project is desirable
 Good knowledge of computer management and applications including the main statistical software (SPSS, STAT etc.).  Fluency in French and highly functional in English
 Ability to work in a team, cope under stressful and difficult conditions  Flexible team player able to forge consensus  Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work cross-culturally with diverse teams  Ability to take initiatives and to innovate  Effective networking and interaction with partners  Experience with DFID funded projects/programmes is an asset

MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION AND TIME FRAME

• Reporting UNICEF has 11 provincial offices and 2 sub offices. The provincial offices are grouped by zone (Southern zone, eastern zone and western zone). Zone offices are established in Goma for the eastern zone and Lubumbashi for the southern zone). There is one nutrition specialist in each zone office in charge of providing technical assistance to nutrition officers in provincial offices. The Kasai Oriental office is under the supervision in the southern
The coordinator will report to head of provincial office on weekly and monthly basis through the weekly meeting and monthly zonal management team (ZMT) meeting. On a monthly basis he will also report to the Nutrition manager in Kinshasa with copy to the nutrition specialist in Lubumbashi. In addition the coordinator will report as required to the overall ARCC M&E coordinator who is in charge of ensuring that sections are on track with design, data collection, and analysis • Duty station Duty Station will be in Mbuji Mayi with frequent travel to the health zones target by the project and to the one office in Lubumbashi to interact with the zone management team. When required the coordinator with travel to Kinshasa to interact with the overall project M&E coordinator.

• Work condition Full support from UNICEF including basic office support in Mbuji Mayi

How to apply:

Application procedure

• Interested and qualified candidates should send their applications by E-mail to : tbansimba@unicef.org andvmbombo@unicef.org • The applications should contain an updated UN Personal History Form (P.11), CV, copies of academic certificates, diplomas, degrees etc….. The UN P11 from could be downloaded from:http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_apply.html
• UN staff members are requested to provide last two Performance Evaluation Reports (EPAS/PERs).

QUALIFIED FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE ESPECIALLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY Only short-listed applicants will be acknowledged.