How can you make a difference?

• The Global Programme Division (GPD) plays a central role in driving programme excellence across UNICEF by providing global strategic leadership, policy direction, and technical guidance. It ensures coherence across sectors, regions, and partners while supporting country-level implementation through integrated technical assistance.
• As part of this structure, UNICEF has established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to deliver high-quality, demand-driven support to Country and Regional Offices and their partners. These centres provide cross-cutting expertise to strengthen policy reform, programme design, institutional capacity, and humanitarian response.
• Improving maternal nutrition is essential to achieving UNICEF’s goals for child survival and development. A woman’s nutritional status before, during, and after pregnancy directly affects maternal and child health outcomes. Despite growing momentum, challenges such as undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and anemia remain significant.
• In response, UNICEF is implementing the Improving Maternal Nutrition Acceleration Plan (2024), which focuses on scaling up essential nutrition services, particularly through antenatal care platforms in priority countries. This role contributes to advancing UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029 and strengthening delivery of technical assistance for maternal nutrition globally.
• Under the supervision of the Senior Adviser, Nutrition, the position supports country offices and partners in operationalizing global strategies to prevent anemia and other forms of malnutrition in women. This includes providing technical assistance on policy development, programme implementation, and strengthening maternal nutrition services across both humanitarian and development settings.
• The role contributes to implementation research, advocacy, and scale-up of key interventions such as multiple micronutrient supplementation, while supporting multi-country grant management, donor reporting, and results monitoring.
• In addition, the position strengthens knowledge management, partnerships, and coordination across global and regional stakeholders, contributing to UNICEF’s leadership in maternal nutrition and supporting sustainable, country-owned results for women and children.
• The position is established to provide technical, operational and/or programmatic support in advancing the unit’s priorities and delivering on organizational commitments. The incumbent contributes to the design, implementation, monitoring and reporting of key initiatives, ensuring alignment with UNICEF policies, standards and strategic frameworks.
• Key responsibilities include supporting programme planning and execution; conducting analysis and preparing technical inputs to inform decision-making; coordinating with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate effective collaboration; and contributing to knowledge management, reporting and documentation of results. The role also supports quality assurance, compliance and timely delivery of outputs, while identifying risks and proposing mitigation measures.
• Under the guidance of the supervisor, the incumbent is expected to demonstrate initiative, manage competing priorities, and contribute to continuous improvement of processes and programme effectiveness.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Public Health, International Development, Medical Sciences, Social Science, Nutrition and any other related fields.
• Work Experience: At least 5 years of relevant work experience in Nutrition, Partnerships, Emergency, Maternal Nutrition, Public Health, Health Systems Strengthening, humanitarian response and any other related fields.
• Skills: Experience in maternal nutrition policy and programming, knowledge of UNICEF programs in the field of maternal nutrition. Experience with key partners such as WHO, Child Nutrition Fund and key donors. Proven communication skills. Computer skills, including Sharepoint navigation and various office applications, Experience in planning and financial management
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language
• Public Health Nutrition, Maternal Nutrition, Child Nutrition, humanitarian assistance and development, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, partnership management, Proficiency with VISION software, analytical writing
• Relevant experience at country level in designing and scaling up maternal nutrition programmes.
• Relevant experience at country particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Deadline: 30 Jun 2026 E. Africa Standard Time