Project Officer, Nutrition at Farming Systems Kenya

The organization works with and supports small-holder farmers to improve their productivity and incomes.

To this end, the organization wishes to recruit a competent, qualified and result oriented person to fill the position of Nutrition Officer who will be responsible for providing technical input and coordinating all functions related to Human Nutrition under the Boosting Resilience for Vulnerable Rural Households in Baringo County Project. Which FSK is implemented jointly with World Vision Kenya.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The position holder will be responsible for implementing Nutrition activities in the above named project in Kolowa, Tiaty Sub-county, Baringo County.

Responsibilities:

1. Effective Project Planning and Implementation (40%)
2. Provide field-level technical implementation leadership on maternal and nutrition
3. Ensure nutrition project implemented as per government and donor guidelines
4. Develop quality project Annual work plans with clear targets, budgets and implementation matrices
5. Mobilize communities for project implementation
6. Ensure proper and timely implementation of nutrition interventions in the project as per approved work plans, MoH standards and requirements
7. Track, in liaison with Project Accountant, project implementation expenditure levels and manage work plans and budgets;
8. Timely Mobilization and effective communication with communities and stakeholders
9. Ensure effective integration of gender, child protection, disability, Christian commitment, advocacy and environmental protection into Health interventions
10. Ensure participation in Sub-county and County level partnerships with NGOs and other actors working health and nutrition to influence the Maternal and Nutrition agenda
11. Plan and coordinate technical training for Ministry of health staff at County, Sub-County and
12. Community Level such as Community Health volunteers
13. Quality Assurance - Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation (25%)
14. Develop quality reports (Annual, Semi-annul and Monthly Management Reports) in-line with WVK and FSK reporting guidelines;
15. Ensure monthly monitoring of indicators as per schedule developed together with communities and partners;
16. Analyze and utilize Maternal, Newborn and Child Health data and take appropriate programming measures as may apply;
17. Ensure participatory monthly data collection (involving community groups and partners);
18. Support the utilization of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health DME softwares for accurate data entry and analysis using the standardized tools;
19. Facilitate regular reflections on monitoring practice to make improvements as needed
20. Contextualize and utilize reporting guidelines;
21. Monthly monitor project expenditure and level of implementation and report on any variances to
22. Project Manager and NO Health & Nutrition TP managers for decision making;
23. Identify best practices on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health within the ADP/Project for documentation;
24. Liaise for guidance in documentation of best practices from the regional office and national office
25. Enhanced Empowerment & Capacity building (10%)
26. Capacity Building of CBOs and Committees to be able to effectively manage and sustain
27. Maternal, Newborn and Child Health interventions
28. Capacity building of communities’ members in programming and implementation of
29. Maternal, Newborn and Child Health projects, empowerment and sustainability issues including empowered World View.
30. Support preparation and conducting Maternal, Newborn and Child Health projects, empowerment and sustainability training sessions.
31. Mobilize and empower the Church and other faith groups to implement Channels of Hope MNCH & Other health related interventions.
32. Advocacy, Engagement, Networking and Partnerships (10%)
33. Gather and provide quality feedback and data to be used to develop technical papersand recommendations on key issues for external engagement with decision makers
34. Establish and sustain working relationships with Government Health Departments and Agencies relevant to the programme’s focus area at the Ward, Sub County and County levels
35. Participate in the Annual County Government’s Health Planning and Budgeting process and influence resource allocation to the priority needs of the most vulnerable groups within the Programme Area
36. Ensure that Program participants and partners are kept informed of all the Government laws and policies in respect to the Technical Program being implemented and any changes to government laws, policies and budgets
37. Work with partners and coalitions to engage in advocacy activities with the government structures at the County level, to address the needs of local communities and inform national level advocacy initiatives
38. With support from World Vision Kenya Work with community groups to utilize advocacy approaches such as Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) and Child Protection Advocacy (CPA) to enable service users and local partners to engage directly with local government service providers to improve the quality of government services for children and to generate information and evidence for use in national level advocacy work.
39. Ensure effective mobilization of community groups, youth and children, empowering them to hold their governments to account
40. Support communities’ groups, youth and children to engage constructively with duty bearers and service providers to improve access to, and quality of, essential services
41. Resource Acquisition (10%)
42. Provide information to inform fund raising initiatives for Health & Nutrition at all levels
43. Develop timely and accurate funding proposals in line with donor requirements and FSK standards in collaboration with Programs Manager and other sector specialists.
44. Mobilize the community for community contribution for project intervention
45. Project integration (5%)
46. Ensure project is integrated to existing WVK and FSK projects
47. Others
48. Perform any other duty as may be assigned by supervisor or designee from time to time
49. Participate and contribute in committees and task forces at the County and Sub County level

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

1. A degree in Nutrition or its equivalent
2. Minimum three years working experience in a Maternal and Nutrition interventions
3. Good understanding of Ministry of health systems, programming models, standards and guidelines Ministries of Health structures at county and national levels
4. Excellent communication and presentation skills in English and Swahili.
5. Experience of working with National and County government structures
6. Experience in dealing with international donors, international organizations, the corporate sector and/or large multi-mandate development NGOs
7. Computer proficiency in use of MS Office ((Excel, word, PowerPoint etc)
8. Training, facilitation, mobilization skills and Good relational, analytical and problem solving skills The holder of this position must be a results orientated who can handle a heavy work load as well as manage and satisfy multiple and at times conflicting organizational, donor and other stakeholder demands

Work Environment:

The position is field based with frequent domestic travel