Health and Nutrition Officer at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Health and Nutrition Officer

Job ID: 14222
Location: Borno
Reports to: Health and Nutrition Coordinator
Contract Length: 6 Months
Grade: 4

Role Purpose

• The Health and Nutrition Officer will provide technical support and lead the implementation of health and nutrition interventions within the project, ensuring activities are in line with WHO and national guidelines, global best practices, and Save the Children’s clinical standards.
• The role will focus on strengthening facility and community-level systems for the early identification and management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), supporting IMAM, IMCI, MIYCN-E, and MAMI programming, outcomes.

Key Areas of Accountability
Technical Support and Service Delivery:

• Lead the establishment and implementation of IMAM and IMCI services across supported facilities in line with national guidelines.
• Provide regular on-the-job coaching and mentoring for health workers to strengthen capacity in IMCI, IMAM, disease surveillance, and case management of SAM with complications.
• Ensure children under five years old, including children with acute malnutrition, are properly assessed and treated according to updated National and WHO protocols.
• Facilitate operationalization of OTP, and MIYCN in target communities, ensuring integration into existing Stabilization Centre services.
• Support health facilities to maintain uninterrupted services by monitoring stock levels of drugs, nutrition commodities, and essential supplies.

Capacity Building and Supervision:

• Conduct capacity assessments of health workers and identify training and coaching needs.
• Support the organization and delivery of technical training (IMCI, IMAM, disease surveillance, MIYCN-E, MAMI).
• Facilitate supportive supervision and post-training follow-up to ensure transfer of skills into practice.
• Develop and share monthly supervision and monitoring plans, conduct regular site visits, and track progress of supervised staff.
• Ensure MoH and SCI staff use agreed quality assessment tools and supervision checklists during facility visits.

Monitoring, Reporting, and Data Management:

• Update and maintain 5W/4W mapping for nutrition and health services at LGA level and share monthly with the Nutrition and Health Coordinator.
• Track screening data for acute malnutrition and update facility-level morbidity and disease surveillance reporting tools.
• Support MoH staff in completing IDSR, DHIS2, IMCI/IMAM registers, and other reporting tools accurately.
• Work with the M&E team during assessments and ensure quality data collection, documentation, and analysis.
• Compile monthly health and nutrition reports highlighting progress, contextual changes, service quality, challenges, and proposed solutions.

Coordination and Partnership:

• Collaborate closely with the Ministry of Health and LGA teams in supportive supervision and joint planning.
• Organize and participate in LGA-level coordination meetings and quarterly review workshops with partners and government counterparts.
• Provide input into project planning and budget phasing, particularly for maternal, newborn, and child health components.
• Represent SCI at sector and technical working group meetings when required.

Logistics, Finance, and Administration:

• Identify facility-level supply, HR, and logistical needs and report them for timely action.
• Draft monthly supply requests and share with line manager.
• Track supervisee attendance and validate timesheets for payment processing.
• Liaise with HR to support performance reviews, appraisals, and orientation on SCI values, safeguarding, and code of conduct.
• Promote rational use of medical equipment, drugs, and supplies in supported health facilities.

Behaviours (Values in Practice):
Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

Qualifications

• Degree in nursing, Medicine (MBBS), or related field.

Experience and Skills:

• Recommended a minimum of 3 years’ experience in a humanitarian and development environment, including significant field operations experience and experience working with MOH.
• Extensive knowledge of nutrition and health interventions.
• Extensive experience in in stakeholders’ management, participation in TWGs, and other coordination meetings.
• Significant knowledge of humanitarian and development systems, institutions and donors and best practices in emergency management
• Ability to analyze information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English and at least one major Nigerian Language
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently, live and work in difficult physical conditions in an area of potential insecurity.
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s Vision, Mission, Values and Practices.

Application Closing Date
2nd October, 2025; 01:59 PM.