Chief Nutrition, P-4, Fixed Term Position, Lilongwe, Malawi, #00052247

Organizational Context

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. We are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

Job Purpose

UNICEF seeks an experienced Chief of Nutrition to lead UNICEF Malawi’s comprehensive nutrition portfolio, providing strategic direction, technical leadership, and partnership coordination to strengthen nutrition systems and deliver sustainable results for children, adolescents, and women across development and humanitarian contexts. In this role, you will provide strategic leadership for the nutrition programme and guide a multidisciplinary team in planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of results. Drawing on your technical expertise, you will oversee the development and delivery of evidence-based nutrition programmes, strengthen national nutrition systems, and ensure sustainable improvements in maternal, infant, young child, and adolescent nutrition (MIYCAN), with a focus on the most vulnerable populations.

Responsibilities

Engage with internal and external partners, including government counterparts, development partners, civil society, academia, and donors, to coordinate and strengthen programme implementation, leverage investments, and mobilize resources for nutrition priorities. Lead high-level policy dialogue and champion evidence-based advocacy to advance nutrition as a national development priority. Promote innovation, knowledge management, evidence generation, and capacity development to strengthen programme effectiveness and sustainability. Through strong leadership, strategic coordination, and a focus on results, enhance programme quality, scale successful interventions, strengthen accountability, and ensure that UNICEF delivers meaningful and lasting improvements in nutrition outcomes for children, adolescents, and women across both development and humanitarian contexts. Lead the design, implementation, and management of large-scale nutrition programmes using a risk-informed lens, with a focus on maternal, infant, young child, and adolescent nutrition at an international level. Lead nutrition policy development, strategy formulation, and national coordination mechanisms. Strengthen national nutrition systems and engage with senior government counterparts, development partners, donors, and civil society organizations. Effectively lead and manage a team to deliver results and lead nutrition responses in humanitarian and emergency contexts, including preparedness planning, coordination, and resilience-building initiatives.

Work Experience

At least 8 years of relevant work experience in Nutrition, Public Health, Nutrition Program Management, Maternal and Child Health, Monitoring and Evaluation, Policy Development, Partnership Building, Capacity Building, Emergency Preparedness, Strategic Planning, and Advocacy. Experience in leading large-scale nutrition programmes, policy development, strategy formulation, national coordination, strengthening national nutrition systems, engaging with senior counterparts, and leading teams is essential. Demonstrated experience in humanitarian and emergency contexts is also required.

Skills

Evidence generation and utilization, Nutrition assessments and surveys, Programme evaluations and research, Situation analyses, Policy dialogue and decision-making, Advocacy for increased nutrition investment, Integrating nutrition into development agendas, Strengthening national nutrition information systems, Data and evidence utilization for planning, Programme management, Team leadership, Humanitarian and emergency response

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