Nutrition Advisor

Since 2010, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement has inspired a new way of working collaboratively to end malnutrition, in all its forms. With the governments of SUN Countries in the lead, it unites people—from civil society, the United Nations, donors, businesses and researchers—in a collective effort to improve nutrition. The SUN Strategy 2021–2025 (SUN 3.0) prioritises country leadership and focuses on supporting systemic change at the country level. It seeks to capture the ambition of SUN countries and guide the work of all actors at all levels aligning concerted action behind and responding to commonly agreed national priorities set out by governments in SUN countries. 

SUN 3.0 is committed to fundamental, non-negotiable aspects of effective nutrition action, including equity and the principle of leaving no one behind. For its third phase, the SUN Movement will drive forward gender equality and enshrine youth leadership across the Movement.  SUN 3.0 will strengthen partnerships to achieve greater impact on nutrition through food systems, health systems, social protection systems, actions by the private sector and humanitarian and development actors, and through education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and climate change adaptation.

The SUN Movement Secretariat plays a central role in enabling the multiple members and structures of the Movement to work together to advance progress on country-level priorities and the global positioning of nutrition.  

The SUN Movement Secretariat comprises approximately 35 personnel, based in Geneva and in various regions globally.  All parts of the Movement – member governments, the four SUN networks (Civil Society, United Nations, Business, Donors), the SUN Movement Coordinator and the SUN Movement Secretariat work together to align and focus efforts on priorities within countries.

The SUN Movement Secretariat is hosted by UNOPS.

Role of the Nutrition Advisor

The Nutrition Advisor reports to the SUN Movement Coordinator, UN Assistant Secretary General, who is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day implementation of the SUN Movement Strategy and Roadmap, leads the SUN Movement Global support System and represents the SUN Movement globally.

The role is part of a small global strategic advisory team, to support coordination, representation, advocacy, and liaison tasks with Movement members and stakeholders, and leading engagement with the Lead Group members. 

The role works in close collaboration with the Director, SUN Movement Secretariat and the  Senior Management Team of the Secretariat to ensure political positioning of nutrition becomes increasingly institutionalised in member countries and stakeholder organisations.

The purpose of the Nutrition Advisor role is to support the Coordinator and the Secretariat in positioning nutrition outcomes as a key maker and marker of sustainable development, generating additional resources and political capital to accelerate nutrition improvement.

The role will support the Coordinator’s function by contributing in shaping the Secretariat’s thinking and execution of new concepts, approaches and priorities for the future direction of the SUN Movement, including its Global Support System.

• Support the Country Action Team in quality and effectiveness of coordination in response to nutrition issues raised by SUN stakeholders at country and regional levels including, governments, UN agencies and others.

• In collaboration with various stakeholders across the SUN Movement (including MEAL/KM and communication and advocacy functions) lead the development and dissemination of key nutrition-related lessons for key stakeholders.

• Provide advice and support to the Country Action Team, to integrate nutrition into monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning plans.

• Contribute to the development, implementation, and/or review of SUN-supported research on nutrition innovation.

• Support the capacity strengthening of staff across the Secretariat in terms of nutrition, including advice and training as required

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in nutrition or other relevant field is required.
• A bachelor's degree with a combination of two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted  in lieu of the master's degree.

• A minimum of seven (7) years professional experience in nutrition, public health, related research or planning or management in relevant areas of maternal, infant and child nutrition at the international level, some of which preferably in a developing country is required.

• Proven track record of producing high quality written reports and other materials pertaining to nutrition-related activities is required.

• Experience in health/nutrition/food security programme/project development and management in an international organisation is preferred.

• Experience in nutrition and/or food security policy analysis and engagement is preferred.

• Experience working with government partners, donor agencies and local partners is preferred.

•  Fluency in English Language ( Writing, Reading and Speaking) is required.
• Knowledge of another official UNOPS language, particularly French is an asset.

Contract type: Fixed-term Staff Contract
Contract level: ICS 11/ P4
Contract duration: One year initially, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

Based in Geneva, the Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECR) supports UNOPS offices throughout the region through: management, financial and programmatic oversight of global and country-specific portfolios, clusters and operations centres, including hosting services; fund and management advisory services; project implementation; procuring goods and services; and managing human resources.

ECR ensures that projects are executed to the highest standards, providing a shared knowledge base and ensuring that best practices and lessons learned are disseminated between business units and projects across the entire region.

 ECR strategy is to:

• Strengthen UNOPS role in operationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals with particular emphasis on health, environment and economic development.
• Position UNOPS in the Balkan sub-region, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
• Strengthen the implementation of ECR global and regional programmes, with revitalized partnerships in infrastructure, procurement and project management.

ECR operates global portfolios from offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York, and country-specific programmes from its operations and project centres located in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries.