Senior Associate, Policy Engagement at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people. In particular, we aim to make healthier food choices more desirable, more available, and more affordable. GAIN’s mission is to advance nutrition outcomes by improving consumption of nutritious and safe food for all people, especially the most vulnerable to malnutrition.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Associate, Policy Engagement

Location: Abuja

About the role

• We are seeking to recruit a Senior Associate, Policy Engagement to coordinate stakeholder engagement, advocacy campaigns, and evidence-based policy dialogues to strengthen the enabling environment for youth and women in agrifood systems. By fostering institutional reforms and multi-sector collaboration, the coordinator ensures sustainability, scalability, and systemic impact of programme outcomes across Nigeria’s policy landscape.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate state-level policy engagement to advance nutrition and food systems priorities, working directly with State Ministries, State Houses of Assembly, and relevant agencies.
• Manage partnerships at state level, maintaining relationships with government, development partners, civil society, academia, and private sector actors.
• Represent GAIN in key technical and policy forums, identify collaboration opportunities, and support alignment between state actions and national or global commitments.
• Provide technical input into state policies, sector strategies, and planning frameworks to ensure alignment with national commitments and global frameworks, while identifying strategic entry points for reform and influencing policy processes through evidence-based advocacy.
• Support in strengthening multisectoral coordination by supporting state governance platforms such as the State Committee on Food and Nutrition and facilitating cross-sector collaboration across agriculture, health, planning, and social protection. This includes promoting policy coherence, institutionalizing coordination mechanisms, and reinforcing accountability structures for implementation.
• Contribute to drafting reports, policy papers and briefs, factsheets and other documents which synthesize GAIN learnings, values, and priorities.

About You

• The ideal candidate will demonstrate an understanding of food and nutrition security policy issues, with the ability to critically analyse policy debates and translate insights into well-structured papers.
• The candidate should also possess practical experience in conducting desk research, literature reviews, and broader research analysis, and be able to synthesize complex findings into clear, compelling narratives, including position papers and policy briefs.
• The candidate should demonstrate experience in policy research and communication within an advocacy or action-oriented environment, such as an NGO, government agency, or policy institution with a solid understanding of health and food systems.
• Strong experience leading stakeholder engagement at state level is mandatory to succeed in this role. You should be a self-driven individual who can operate autonomously with accountability.

Application Closing Date
10th April 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online