Nutrition Officer at International Rescue Committee

Job Description

Working under the mentorship and supervision of the Nutrition Manager, the Nutrition Officer will be directly responsible for implementation of the IMAM program, nutrition surveillance, hospital feeding, nutrition education & counseling and encouraging Maternal, Infant and Young Child nutrition in the camp.

Key Responsibilities

• Carry through and govern the inpatient and outpatient therapeutic feeding of severely malnourished under-fives while following the stipulated protocol.
• Implement and supervise the supplementary feeding of the moderately malnourished under-fives, pregnant/lactating mothers, individuals with medical conditions (HIV/AIDS and TB).
• Ensure the Blanket Supplementary Feeding Program activities are implemented effectively.
• Implement comprehensive Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition program (MIYCN) with strong Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) approach.
• Supervise and monitor the hospital inpatients diet including the special diets for medical cases like diabetes, TB, HIV/AIDS, Hypertensive among others.
• Train and mentor the nutrition program staff and the coordinated community healthcare teams through identification of capacity gaps and carrying out refresher trainings and on-the-job trainings.
• Design and conduct trainings on Growth Monitoring Promotion (GMP), Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) and MIYCN to other mainstream health professionals.
• Develop key messages in nutrition to the targeted beneficiaries, and ensure it is delivered appropriately.
• Offer nutrition support through counseling to persons with medical conditions including Comprehensive Care Clinic clients.
• Outline and conduct the annual health and nutrition surveys together with other partners in the locality.
• Plan and conduct mass MUAC screening of the under fives on a quarterly basis reciprocally with the Community Healthcare Promoters.
• Work closely with other nutrition related programs such as HIV/AIDS, Environmental Health, Clinical Services and Community Health Program in order to improve the nutrition situation of the locality.
• Compile and submit weekly, biweekly and monthly reports of all the activities implemented.
• In collaboration with the Nutrition Manager and the Supply Chain department, follow-up on requisition and movement of food commodities from WFP to the field sites.
• Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Key Result Areas

• Implementation of the IMAM and hospital feeding program.
• Promotion of efficient MIYCN practices in the locality.
• Timely submission of monthly reports and food requisitions.
• On the job trainings and refresher trainings conducted to the nutrition staff and community healthcare promoters.
• Key nutrition indicators supervised, and maintained within the recommended benchmarks.
• Nutrition education and counseling of beneficiaries.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in food, Nutrition and Dietetics from a recognized University.
• Minimum 2 years work experience in community nutrition and implementation.
• Experience in Infant and young child feeding practices (BFHI approach).
• Experience in Nutrition and HIV/AIDS programming.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong report writing and team working skills.
• Knowledge in computer packages and basic analysis skills.
• Experience in health and nutrition survey added advantage
• Ability to work in hardship areas (previous experience in a camp setting will be an added advantage).
• Proficiency in Turkana/Somali is a bonus.