Public Health Nutritionist

TITLE: Public Health Nutritionist
PROJECT: NutriSave
REPORTS TO: Program Director
LOCATION: Kenya
GRADE: 9
TRAVEL: Within Kenya

TECHNOSERVE BACKGROUND:
Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe’s work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of businesses and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.
The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics, and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing...when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they are able to access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
TechnoServe, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is implementing the NutriSave project with a dual-impact action to address food loss and waste and improve access to nutritious fruits & vegetables in low-income communities. NutriSave aims to identify, validate, design, and rapidly pilot innovative solutions that redirect excess fruits and vegetables to markets serving low-income consumers in Kenya. By employing Research and Human-Centered design (HCD) processes and engaging stakeholders across the horticultural market system, TechnoServe and its partners aim to develop a sustainable model to reduce food loss and waste and improve nutrition among low income consumers. Our collective goal is to scale the most effective concepts with the intended outcome of improved access to affordable and nutritious fruits and vegetables for low-income consumers, particularly women.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The public health nutritionist will play a crucial role in formative research and programming for developing solutions that decrease food loss and waste and improve nutrition by redirecting surplus fruits and vegetables to low-income consumers in Kenya, where less than 2% of the population consumes less than the WHO recommended 400g of fruit and vegetables. S/He will collaborate with the project team and stakeholders to identify barriers and enablers to accessing fruits and vegetables, develop innovative solutions that address food loss and waste, improve nutrition and evaluate the impact of interventions.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Technical support to program and research planning and management: work closely with relevant teams to plan and deliver technical advisory inputs, and/or quality assurance of program and research planning documentation. Provide guidance and feedback to work tteam members and project partners on project plans, measurement tools, data analysis, and deliverables as they relate to nutrition.
• Design, implement, and evaluate the nutrition-related impact of interventions that aim to increase access to fruits and vegetables by reducing FLW.
• Research execution: Conduct research studies and analyze data related to nutrition and public health issues to inform evidence-based practices and policies
• Program analysis and documentation: Work closely with relevant peers to analyze evidence to best inform the project’s strategy and, ultimately, the project’s approach and objectives.
• Design and test solutions: Support in designing and testing evidence-based solutions to ascertain which interventions are more effective in addressing food loss waste and increasing access to fruits and vegetables.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: monitor the effectiveness of interventions, and make recommendations for improvements based on evaluation findings.
• Participate in the selection of measurement tools by engaging in planning sessions, reviewing tools, and providing final recommendations.
• Project reporting: Support the preparation of reports, briefs, presentations, and other knowledge products for dissemination of research, program findings, and learnings.
• Dissemination: Lead dissemination of research findings through publications in journals to contribute to the evidence base on food loss and waste pathways to nutrition.

REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, AND ABILITIES:

• Postgraduate-level degree in public health, nutrition, or other related fields
• Seven years of professional work experience in research and implementation of public health nutrition programs. Professional work experience in a managerial/leadership position, or a technical expert position in public health nutrition.
• Skilled in program evaluation; experience evaluating nutrition-related programs.
• Proficiency in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and data analysis. Emphasis on proficiency in food environment assessments and an understanding of widely-used dietary metrics
• Ability to communicate methods and research results into publishable manuscripts with “History of scientific presentations and peer-reviewed publications.
• Successful implementation of work assignments in one or more developing countries
• Superior communication skills (verbal and written)
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Ability to work in cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural teams

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.