Knowledge Management Specialist

The Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement is a global effort to eliminate malnutrition, based on the principle that everyone has a right to food and good nutrition. The Movement’s vision is to, by 2030, ensure a world free from malnutrition in all its forms. 

Led by governments and supported by organisations and individuals – collective action ensures every child, adolescent, mother and family can realise their right to food and nutrition, reach their full potential and shape sustainable and prosperous societies.  The ‘SUN approach’ encourages all supporters of the Movement to leave ‘egos and logos’ behind, to align efforts and work together to support SUN countries’ national plans to scale up nutrition, during the first 1,000 days – from a mother’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday. 

The Movement is unique by bringing different groups of people together – governments, civil society, the United Nations, donors, businesses and scientists. It is transforming the way in which people work together by empowering people to put in place effective systems and to increase investments. SUN member countries and their supporters are working towards the World Health Assembly targets on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition by 2030, in addition to relevant targets for preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases.

Our collective efforts are led by the 61 SUN countries that have made their commitments to end malnutrition in all its forms.  These countries have built – or in the process of building – national nutrition plans that bring together sectors and stakeholders in a whole-of-government approach to address malnutrition.   These plans are the authoritative guidance to all those supporting the Movement to make their most effective contributions to scaling up nutrition.  

Sharing and learning – a unique added value of the SUN Movement

Specific to the SUN Movement’s approach is its commitment to champion country leadership not only through promotion of national nutrition plans but also through support for sharing and learning across SUN countries.  The Movement seeks to help build a worldwide community of action based on the lessons being learnt and knowledge acquired in SUN countries.  One of the most unique added values of the Movement is this commitment to:  1.) help capture the knowledge and experience of SUN countries in order to support other countries to pave their own paths towards the elimination of all forms of malnutrition and;  2.) to work with partners to build consensus that will enable SUN countries to advance their national nutrition priorities where there is a knowledge gap (e.g. nutrition-sensitive financing, promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, humanitarian-development nexus, cost-effectiveness of multi-sectoral interventions, etc.)  

For this reason, numerous efforts have been initiated, reinforced or called upon to support SUN countries to learn, to teach, to inspire, to engage and to explore with one another the best approaches to scale up nutrition.  

The SUN Movement Secretariat works with the four SUN Networks (civil society, United Nations, donors and business) alongside partners to capture, manage and exchange information, experience and knowledge from all SUN countries.  Whist these efforts have been integral to the Movement’s success to date, SUN countries are not always clear how to tap into the wealth of information and knowledge held by other countries, the Secretariat, SUN Networks and partners. 

SUN countries also often lack the time and technology to spontaneously access virtual platforms or initiate exchanges without support.  Follow-up to past learning opportunities is often challenging and sometimes the breadth and multiplicity of sources is overwhelming.  Further, as people move on to new positions critical institutional knowledge and understanding of the ‘SUN approach’ is too often lost.  

Building an effective knowledge management strategy to inform the development of a SUN Academy

2020 marks the last year of the SUN Movement’s Strategy and Roadmap (2016-2020).  In late 2019, a team of independent consultants began the process of a strategic review of the SUN Movement, to help chart the course of the next phase of the SUN Movement (2021-2025). 

The SUN Movement Coordinator, a UN Assistant Secretary General, oversees implementation of the Strategy and Roadmap, leads the SUN Movement Secretariat and represents the SUN Movement globally. 

The purpose of this assignment is to support the SUN Movement Secretariat to define knowledge management (KM) at an organisational level and identify the core components of a robust KM system, including knowledge and information-sharing. As a result, the Knowledge Management Specialist will also be responsible for activating, coordinating and fostering the exchange of knowledge, and encourage learning among the SUN Movement Networks and 61 countries and four Indian States of the SUN Movement.

As the Movement now looks to its third and penultimate phase, it is the moment to define and strengthen the SUN Movement’s approach to knowledge management – which will allow us to harness the immense amount of information we collect, analyse and share in order to progress SUN countries’ national nutrition goals.

The ambition of the SUN Movement is to establish an effective Movement-wide approach to knowledge management that will lead to the development of a ‘SUN Academy’ which will ensure we are doing our best to: 

1. Respond to the quickly maturing ownership of the nutrition agenda by SUN countries, by providing one umbrella under which all capacity-strengthening efforts and opportunities across SUN countries can be coordinated, promoted and optimised. 

2. Build and maintain an effective ‘onboarding’ process that supports individuals to smoothly integrate into the SUN Movement and fully embrace the unique ‘SUN approach’. 

3. Support countries in achieving systemic change that is embedded in national institutions and systems

4. Offer a space for all stakeholders across the Movement to strategically discuss and share experience that is relevant for ALL countries including, but not limited to, the establishment of nutritious, sustainable and inclusive food systems as well as strengthening community nutrition outreach to all population groups, vulnerable households and communities as part of universal health care coverage programmes.  

Guided by the SUN Movement Principles of Engagement, the SUN Movement Academy should act as a knowledge hub, based on the SUN Movement principles and multi-stakeholder approach that brings together demand and supply in the most effective way combined with a smart documentation system to catalyse sharing, learning and cross inspiration.  It will likely evolve over time and encompass various elements and channels including virtual and physical exchanges.  Ultimately the SUN Academy will be the broad knowledge management tent under which the Movement’s efforts to share and learn take place.  It will allow us to ensure that the incredible amount of data, facts, and experience amassed across the Movement can be effectively translated into the understanding, insight and capabilities required by SUN Countries to advance their national nutrition priorities and plans.  

The incumbent will be part of the Country Results and Finance Team (CRAFT) at the SUN Movement Secretariat. 

Under the guidance and supervision of the Senior Nutrition and Strategy Adviser, the Knowledge Management (KM) Specialist will co-ordinate, implement and monitor the Knowledge Management at the SUN Movement Secretariat. The KM Specialist will be responsible for a wide variety of activities related to identifying, managing, packaging, and developing knowledge management tools to better scale up nutrition. Furthermore, the KM Specialist will co-lead and /or support learning events, conduct research, produce resources and guidance, and facilitate ongoing content development and engagement.

This work will include but not be limited to: 

• Drive and monitor the implementation of knowledge management activities within allocated work package; and guide the SUN Movement Secretariat through an in-depth assessment of KM needs, audiences, and existing efforts, including identification of critical gaps. This will involve: 

• Act as the KM focal point and coordinate a SUN Movement-wide definition of what KM is and what it does, to further work toward the SUN Movement’s vision and overarching goals;

• Developing a comprehensive mapping of what is already being offered, can be improved and/or better coordinated and presented by the SUN Movement Secretariat, networks and partners in terms of knowledge sharing and learning;

• Analysing and presenting existing approaches to knowledge management that could be relevant to the SUN Movement, including innovative, creative, and effective ways to strategically capture and share technical knowledge, leverage good practices, and improve the effectiveness of the SUN Movement;

• Reflecting and incorporating the findings of the Strategic Review of the SUN Movement which is currently underway. 

• Coordinate the development and optimal use of a fully operational knowledge management system in which relevant data information and knowledge from and for SUN Countries are systematically acquired, continuously upgraded and disseminated internally and externally to SUN countries and other stakeholders as appropriate.

• Develop (and monitor) effective benchmarks and indicators for measuring the growth and health of the knowledge management system using quantitative and qualitative measures. Provide regular feedback and insights gained from community monitoring to the project leads across the knowledge management system, to help them evolve their strategies in a timely fashion. 

• Develop and manage strong relationships with key external partners and stakeholders and sustain dialogue, mutual learning and engagement to maximise the learning from one another’s experiences.

• Based on the established strategy, coordinate a wide range of knowledge-sharing activities that foster and advance collaboration, learning, capture, use and adaptation of both evidence-based and experiential knowledge. The Knowledge Management Specialist will be instrumental in facilitating an online Community of Practice (CoP) or similar platform to support peer-to-peer learning within and among all SUN Movement members. 

• Be a key driving force for this project and will (a) provide expertise in knowledge facilitation and capture techniques, (b) establish and refine knowledge exchange mechanisms, development and facilitation of the CoP, and knowledge dissemination, and (c) introduce and promote the adoption of new tools and platforms that can enhance the work to this end. 

• Plan and implement an online CoP engagement strategy and provide high quality facilitation with the help of various information management tools and techniques. Facilitate an environment where members work together to build shared outcomes, driven by a common vision, and point to specific outputs. 

• Develop and disseminate e-discussion syntheses and briefs and keep abreast of requests for additional peer learning from countries. Produce and disseminate a regular community newsletter and editorial. Ensure editorial and content management of online/web spaces (intranet, internet etc.);

General Responsibilities:

• Work with different teams in the SUN Movement Secretariat, particularly Country Liaison Team (CLT) and the Communication and Advocacy Team (CAT), the Pooled Fund Team and SUN Networks. Critical to a successful engagement will be collaborating with SUN countries as well as stakeholders across the Movement – particularly the four SUN Networks and key partners - to ensure that each deliverable is informed by their perspectives and insights.

• Coordinate with teams to refine an interactive community platform that is integrated into existing online tools, e.g. SharePoint, and is customizable in the Cloud; organize the virtual platform and actively contribute content to the platform and provide training and support to users. Ensure the platform is kept up to date and functional, as well as foster its evolution by collating and acting promptly on user feedback;

• Actively promote a culture of innovative knowledge management across the SUN Movement, using innovative tools as instruments through which members engage and exchange knowledge and practices with one another; mobilize existing CoP champions to ensure the adoption of the platform for effective collaboration;

• Conduct a series of face-to-face and online meetings for training and experience-sharing among SUN members; plan and implement peer learning events at regional and country levels, many of which will be organized virtually through a series of scheduled webinars/video conferences. Facilitate peer responses to country initiated practical queries; 

• Organize regular peer learning events to foster country-to-country knowledge exchange, including cross-practice knowledge sharing. This includes facilitating and sustaining learning partnerships between two or more SUN countries to learn from one another and help solve specific challenges;

Education 

• Masters or equivalent preferably in information and development related fields or postgraduate studies in communication with development fields with knowledge management experience. A Bachelor’s degree with two additional years of relevant experience may be acceptable in lieu of an advanced degree.

Work Experience

Required Experience:

• A minimum five years of progressively responsible professional work experience at national and/or international levels in information, communication and knowledge management;

• Proven experience in developing and implementing knowledge management system design and roll-out for the UN, non-profit organizations and/or private sector companies, tracking their success and analyzing results;

• Proven writing skills, with an ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, direct, and lively style;

• Excellent knowledge of online collaborative tools with the ability to adapt quickly to technological changes 

Desirable Experience: 

• Exposure to and understanding of the SUN Movement is an asset;

• Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas as well as transfer knowledge and skills;

• Ability to link KM to key principles of the SUN Movement as well as to the main elements of national nutrition policy planning cycles including programming, budgeting, results-based management, monitoring, reporting and evaluation; 

• Working experience in project/programme management is an asset.

• Applications received from SUN Country (https://scalingupnutrition.org/sun-countries/about-suncountries/) are highly desirable

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required. 

• Fluency in written and spoken French and or Spanish is highly desirable. 

• Fluency in another UN language is desirable.

Contract type: ICA

• 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
• 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.


This position is based in Switzerland and the contract fee is not exempt from Swiss laws, including but not limited to laws regarding taxation, social security, accident and health insurance.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.