Country Action Specialist ( Anglophone Africa)

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.

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 (SMS) 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 personnel, based in Geneva and in various regions globally. All parts of the Movement – member governments, the SUN Global Support System - the GSS, consisting of four SUN networks (Civil Society, United Nations, Business, Donors) and the SUN Movement Secretariat, together with the SUN Movement Coordinator, work together to align and focus efforts on priorities within countries. 

The SUN Movement Secretariat is hosted by UNOPS.

• Support SUN Countries to articulate their needs and expectations and seize opportunities to accelerate results at country level.
• Support Countries within the designated region to develop and document appropriate national nutrition policies, strategies, and action plans to scale-up nutrition interventions.
• Support Country Focal Points/or Country Coordinators and partners to cost scale-up and identify resource requirements.
• Track and analyse the challenges, opportunities and progress of the portfolio of SUN countries.
• Facilitate information-sharing of relevant evidence and successful practices from other partners and countries to inform strategic planning processes.
• Identify and facilitate linkages with other initiatives and processes to avoid duplication of activity.
• Support the SUN Country Focal Points and/or Country Coordinators to request technical assistance from the in-country multi-stakeholder team to finance, implement and monitor the country action plan.
• Support the Country Action Facilitator to facilitate requests through the global SUN networks or other global partners for technical assistance to support country action plans, when requests exceed locally available resources.

• Identify opportunities to enhance collaboration with network focal points locally to integrate for impact and take action as appropriate.
• Support process management and facilitation of multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms among the various Networks in the Movement.
• Assist SUN countries in the preparation of and implementation of Joint Annual Assessment (JAA) and support the timely reporting on JAA and other MEAL exercises.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen existing resources and infrastructure in regions and make recommendations as appropriate.
• Support analysis and advise on appropriate institutional arrangements for multi-sectoral coordination on nutrition utilising SUN case studies and experience.
• Strengthen process management and coordination skills of national counterparts. 

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in nutrition, public health, international development, public policy or  related field.
• 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 five (5) years of experience in international development, public health, nutrition or related field is required.
• Demonstrated professional work experience in an international setting, with at least three (3) years in a field setting is required.
• Experience in Resource Mobilisation for Nutrition is desirable.
• Experience working in Anglophone Africa is desirable.  

• Full working knowledge of English is essential.
• Knowledge of another official UN language, particularly French , is an asset.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• Nairobi, Kenya is a UN Family Duty Station

Terms and Conditions 

• 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 (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.