USAID-PATH Infant & Young Child Nutrition Project: Country Coordinator Consultant

PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. PATH's mission is to improve the health of people around the world by advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors.

The goal of PATH's Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Strategic Program is to apply effective, innovative approaches to broadening access to and use of key Maternal and Child Health & Nutrition interventions that address the most pressing causes of maternal and child deaths, poor health, and poor nutritional status. Although the technical areas in which Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition works are diverse, the approach includes common elements: an emphasis on community-level action; a focus on improving the quality of existing health services, as well as improving preventive and curative care provided at home; a commitment to reaching underserved communities; a focus on working to understand and remove existing barriers to high-quality care; and mobilization of social and political support at all levels to create and sustain an enabling environment for the delivery of key interventions. Where appropriate, Maternal and Child Health & Nutrition strives to establish public-private partnerships to advance our goals.

The Infant and Young Child Nutrition Project (IYCN) of PATH  is a 5 year, $46 million USAID funded project to improve infant and young child nutritional status, HIV-free survival of infants and young children, and maternal nutritional status worldwide. IYCN achieves these goals by identifying, promoting, scaling up, and institutionalizing cost-effective interventions and good infant and young child feeding and maternal nutrition practices; increasing the coverage of optimal breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and key caring practices; developing and implementing public/private sector partnerships, strategies, and interventions to increase the availability of high quality foods for infants and young children; and increasing national and donor commitment to improve infant and young child nutrition. IYCN is headquartered in Washington, DC with field offices throughout the world where USAID has requested assistance.

IYCN’s Technical Advisor in Nigeria will be responsible for ensuring the effective and timely implementation of IYCN’s Nigeria operations in infant and young child feeding and nutrition in the context of HIV in coordination with USAID, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH)/Government of Nigeria (GON), international and local NGOs, other USAID PEPFAR implementing partners, and IYCN headquarter’s staff and consultants from PATH and partners (CARE, Manoff and URC).  These responsibilities include providing technical and management oversight to all IYCN country operations, managing and supervising IYCN staff, managing donor relations, providing technical support in the areas of infant and young child feeding, ensuring all project reporting, and working with government counterparts and other PEPFAR implementing partners and site staff to improve quality and coordination of services. 

Under the direction of the IYCN Sr. Country Program Specialist at IYCN HQ (or her designee) in Washington, DC and in close collaboration with the USAID/Nigeria, and the FMOH/GON, and other PEPFAR implementing partners, the Country Coordinator/ Technical Advisor will have the following responsibilities:

• Provide in-country leadership, management, and coordination of the design/development, successful implementation, monitoring and taking to scale of IYCN’s activities, including both facility and community-based training, job aids development, introduction of quality improvement methodologies, advocacy and promotion.
• Provide overall strategic direction to the IYCN project in Nigeria, to project staff, and be fully accountable to USAID for project performance.
• Serve as primary liaison between the project and USAID/Nigeria, CDC/Nigeria, WHO, UNICEF and other development partners.
• Ensure that the IYCN/Nigeria annual work plans, semi-annual reports, results of monitoring and evaluation, and financial reports are submitted in a timely manner to IYCN HQ and to USAID/Nigeria as prescribed by USAID.
• Ensure the sound financial management of resources made available to the project by USAID, working with the Finance and Administrative Director at IYCN HQ to assure that systems are in place to maintain financial accountability and compliance with US Government and PATH requirements.
• Monitor and coordinate the work of subrecipients, subcontractors and collaborating institutions, and ensure that their capabilities are applied effectively in order to meet the objectives of the project and of USAID.
• Prepare and coordinate all Short Term Technical Assistance (STTA) requests and scopes of work (SOWs) in a timely fashion under the supervision of and in coordination with the Sr. Country Program Specialist (or her designee) at IYCN HQ.  
• Ensure day-to-day coordination, monitoring and supervision of local IYCN project staff and consultants.
• Provide direct technical support to the FMOH and its partners as well as other PEPFAR implementing partners in infant and young child feeding and nutrition in the context of HIV/AIDS.
• Represent the IYCN Project to project partners, donors and cooperating agencies in Nigeria, ensuring that project maintain effective and collaborative working relationships with all stakeholders and collaborating agencies.

• Medical Doctor with experience in HIV and nutrition or PhD level nutritionist with HIV expertise is preferred
• Masters degree in nutrition or other advanced degree in public health or a related field is required.
• At least 10 years of experience in the development, implementation, and management of infant and young child nutrition, MCH or HIV/AIDS programming.
• Proven knowledge of key USG regulations and previous experience with USAID or NGO programs preferred.
• Preference given to national candidates.