Nutrition Program Manager

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Resolve to Save Lives

Vital Strategies is a US-based international public health organization working in more than 70 countries to strengthen public health systems and address leading causes of morbidity and mortality. For more information: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/

  Resolve to Save Lives is a global health initiative of Vital Strategies that since 2017 has worked closely with low- and middle-income country governments, the World Health Organization, academic and other civil society partners to strengthen national capacity to prevent, detect and respond to epidemic threats and build capacity for and implement a core package of interventions to reduce cardiovascular disease. For more information about our work visit: https://www.resolvetosavelives.org/ and https://linkscommunity.org/.

 In May 2019, Resolve to Save Lives in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia and the World Health Organization launched a Hypertension Prevention and Control Project in six regions and Addis Ababa city administration. The project includes hypertension prevention through screening, treatment, and health education at point of care as well as salt reduction campaigns at community-level and in schools.

Overall Role:

Reporting to the Ethiopia Country Director, the Nutrition Program Manager is responsible for implementing and supervising the nutrition program based on national protocols and guidelines of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH). Key elements of the nutrition program include: national proclamation development and implementation; capacity building of Regional Health Bureaus (RHB) and health care workers; community mobilization; and research projects.

Key responsibilities:

• With the Country Director, coordinate program efforts to support the Ministry of Health in its development, passage, and implementation of a healthy food proclamation to support key nutrition policies. Specific activities include:

o  Develop presentations on the evidence and need for a proclamation

o  Support documentation relating to the proclamation ratification process

o  Coordinate advocacy activities for the ratification of the healthy diet proclamation

o  Coordinate with key government and civil society stakeholders also working on the healthy food proclamation

o  Identify additional allies

o  Develop and implement strategies to ensure public support for nutrition policies

• Develop nutrition activity work plans based on the program annual work plan and implement activities in a timely manner
• Ensure quality and timely field level implementation of the Nutrition program, against set objectives, targets, work plans and budget
• Collaborate with the Vital Strategies Policy Advocacy and Communications team on salt reduction campaigns
• Provide continuous guidance, mentoring and technical support to regional coordinators on sodium reduction
• Conduct field assessments to monitor progress, identify potential needs, design and implement response plans
• Support integration of nutrition activities with the health communications to establish strong communication for behavioral impact (COMBI) and outreach activities
• Draft supervision guidelines to ensure quality healthy diet counseling is provided for Outpatient treatment of hypertension patients
• Develop mechanisms to monitor and evaluate program elements for effectiveness and develop strategies for continuous quality improvement
• Support programmatic reporting
• Participate in relevant coordination meetings, collaborate, and build strong relationships with other implementing partners

Job Requirements

Required qualifications, experience and competencies:

• Master’s degree or higher in public health, nutrition, or related discipline
• At least 10 years’ work experience in public health program management and implementation,with some experience specifically in nutrition programming
• Experience with public health advocacy or behavior change communications is an added bonus
• Excellent analytical, organizational and documentation skills
• Familiarity with government of Ethiopia structure, legislative frameworks, and processes
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to work well with others and manage relationships with different stakeholders
• Understanding of the technical and programmatic aspects of nutrition interventions
• Proficiency in use of computers, including MS Office applications, especially MS Excel
• Fluency in spoken and written English and Amharic
• Willingness and ability to travel to regions 

How to Apply

How to Apply: Send your resume and a cover letter describing your experience and suitability for this role the following link: Nutrition Program Manager.

The closing date is 30 September 2020