COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale, is a humanitarian, non-confessional and independent organization founded in 1965 in Milan, Italy. For more than 50 years we have been dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and to supporting populations affected by wars, socio-economic crises or natural disasters in their path to recovery and sustainable development, by making use of the professionalism of local and international operators, and through our partnerships with public and private bodies and civil society organizations.

Context and background

Since the declaration of state of emergency in the Nigerian federal States of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency has led to multiple displacement crises, with communities fleeing their area of origin to take refuge in camps or host communities. In 2014 there was a substantial increase in violence related to Boko Haram and the counter insurgency operations, consequently creating acute and largely unmet humanitarian needs, as IDPs are cut off from their homes and livelihoods, basic services, kinship and social ties. In September 2014, COOPI began operating in north eastern Nigeria in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the insurgency, established its operation in Bauchi State and later expanded to Yobe State considering the heightened presence of IDPs in the LGAs of Fika, Damaturu, Potiskum, Geidam and Yunusari. Recently, COOPI initiated an assessment mission in Borno State and establishes a presence in Maiduguri to launch operations in the most affected area of the Lake Chad crisis. COOPI is currently operating in 5 LGAs in Yobe State, reaching about 25,000 individuals among IDPs and host communities with a multi-sectoral intervention covering nutrition, food security and child protection. COOPI has recently developed a cash & voucher based response system in Nigeria to address the food insecure communities while integrating this approach with a nutrition component – community outreach, referral system, IYCF campaign and appropriate therapeutic services addressed to malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Given the unfolding large scale emergency in the north eastern Nigeria, COOPI plans to scale up its current operations in Yobe state and reach newly accessible areas, in addition to areas receiving Nigerian returnees from Niger, with its multi-sectoral services including food security, cash transfer programming, nutrition and protection. Furthermore, COOPI plans to set-up operations to extend its humanitarian services to affected populations in Borno state, including the capital Maiduguri and newly accessible areas in the state, where the most vulnerable populations are stuck with insufficient basic services to respond to their immediate needs in a dignified manner.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The goal of this programme is to support the set up and improve CMAM and IYCF services to safeguard the nutritional and health status of infants and children in northern Nigeria. The Nutrition Manager will be responsible for overseeing the overall implementation of the programme activities and the management of nutrition programme staff. The Nutrition Manager will provide input into the strategic vision and direction to the COOPI nutrition programme in northern Nigeria, including allocation of resources and ensuring that appropriate monitoring are maintained at all levels, that programme implementation is on track and that outputs are being delivered. The nutrition manager is responsible for designing, overseeing and coordinating the nutrition programs, as well as liaising with various external partners. S/he reports to head of mission. The set of activities in a nutrition programs includes:

• Community based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) approach
• IYCF promotion activities
• Assessments and surveillance interventions (nutrition surveys using ENA for SMART, coverage surveys using SQUEAC methodology, KAP surveys)
• Capacity building of local staff and local partners
• Community mobilization

RESPONSIBILITIES

MANAGEMENT OF THE NUTRITION PROGRAM

• Follow up and ongoing analysis of the context.
• Definition, supervision and monitoring of COOPI Nutrition programs, in compliance with COOPI nutrition security policy and standard operating procedures
• Ensure the integration of nutrition components in the food security programmes
• Provision of continuous guidance and technical support to the programmes
• Identify and troubleshoot challenges to remove any obstacle that might arise during project implementation.
• Design and ensure the use of monitoring tools. Ensure that the M&E systems are effective, of high quality, and provide regular impact and process data and that the baseline and evaluation assessments are conducted
• Ensure compliance of programs in terms of achieving objectives in current grants.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Management of nutrition program staff and elaboration their Job description.;
• Ensure that staff have clearly defined objectives and understand their responsibilities.
• Conduct evaluation and appraisal of staff
• Provision of technical and organizational support and trainings to the nutrition project staff
• Ensure all staff understand and implement programme guidelines and protocols

REPORTING

• Compilation, analysis and feedback on monthly reports for the nutrition programmes and assist with stock consumption/distribution plans as required
• Ongoing communication with food security programme teams and nutrition focal point at HQ level.
• Donor reporting.

REPRESENTATION AND INTERNAL/ EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

• Coordination with other technical departments at coordination level (Food Security and Livelihood, Logistics and Administration).
• Provide technical guidance to support COOPI to promote consistent good practices
• Represent COOPI at national and regional level in nutrition technical meetings.
• Participate in the external coordination with nutrition partners and governmental bodies and provide technical support and guidance in the nutrition sub-committee and cluster, where relevant.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE AND ATTRIBUTES

Essential

• Qualified doctor, nutritionist, nurse with primary health care and nutrition experience
• Health / Public Health / Nutrition / BSc or equivalent
• Demonstrable management experience, including budget holding responsibility
• Minimum of 3 years of previous experience working with NGOs specifically on CMAM and infant and young child feeding programmes
• Experience of designing and implementation programmes, including monitoring and evaluation methodologies (SQUEAC, LQAs)
• Experience in conducting nutrition assessments (SMART, KAP surveys) and an understanding of nutritional data and information systems
• Proven capacity to supervise, train, motivate and coach staff
• Willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating when faced with difficult and frustrating working conditions
• Prepared to work in an uncertain security environment
• Ability and willingness to frequently travel and stay in the field
• Commitment to and understanding of COOP mission, values and principles
• Experience and ability to represent COOPI nutrition work in external meetings
• Demonstrable ability at report writing and excellent communication skills
• Computer literacy in Microsoft Office software including Word and Excel as well as email/internet
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Desired

• Prior experience working for humanitarian agencies
• Knowledge of the operational area

Location : Yobe and Borno State (this is not a family duty station)