Health and Nutrition Officer - Yobenew

LOCATION: Yobe State, Nigeria

CONTRACT LENGTH: 11 months

GRADE:  4

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: 

The post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE The Program Officer will provide technical support and lead the implementation of health and nutrition interventions within the project, ensuring that activities align with WHO and national guidelines, global best practices, and Save the Children’s clinical standards.

The role will focus on strengthening facility- and community-level systems for the early identification and management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), supporting Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM), Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition in Emergencies (MIYCN-E), and Maternal and Infant Nutrition Assessment (MAMI) programming to achieve improved health and nutrition outcomes.

SCOPE OF ROLE: The post holder will work under the direct supervision of the Health and Nutrition Coordinator and collaborate with relevant Ministry of Health (MoH) personnel, Local Government Area (LGA) teams, health facility staff, implementing partners, and other stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of health and nutrition interventions.

Reports to: Health and Nutrition Coordinator

Staff reporting to this post: None 

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

1. Technical Support and Service Delivery

• Lead the establishment and implementation of IMAM and IMCI services across supported health facilities in line with national guidelines.
• Provide regular on-the-job coaching and mentoring for health workers to strengthen their capacity in IMCI, IMAM, disease surveillance, and the management of SAM with medical complications.
• Ensure that children under five years of age, including those with acute malnutrition, are appropriately assessed and treated according to updated national and WHO protocols.
• Facilitate the operationalization of Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes (OTPs) and MIYCN services in target communities, ensuring integration with existing Stabilization Centre services.
• Support health facilities to maintain uninterrupted service delivery by monitoring stocks of medicines, nutrition commodities, and essential supplies.

2. Capacity Building and Supervision

• Conduct health worker capacity assessments and identify training, coaching, and mentoring needs.
• Support the planning and delivery of technical training on IMCI, IMAM, disease surveillance, MIYCN-E, and MAMI.
• Facilitate supportive supervision and post-training follow-up to ensure that acquired skills are applied effectively in clinical practice.
• Develop and share monthly supervision and monitoring plans, conduct regular facility visits, and track the progress of supervised staff.
• Ensure that MoH and SCI staff use approved quality assessment tools and supervision checklists during facility visits.

3. Monitoring, Reporting, and Data Management

• Update and maintain the 5W/4W mapping of health and nutrition services at LGA level and share updates monthly with the Health and Nutrition Coordinator.
• Track acute malnutrition screening data and update facility-level morbidity and disease surveillance reporting tools.
• Support MoH staff in accurately completing Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), DHIS2, IMCI/IMAM registers, and other relevant reporting tools.
• Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team during assessments, ensuring quality data collection, documentation, and analysis.
• Compile monthly health and nutrition reports highlighting implementation progress, contextual changes, service quality, challenges, and proposed corrective actions.

4. Coordination and Partnership

• Collaborate closely with the Ministry of Health and LGA teams in supportive supervision, joint planning, and implementation of health and nutrition activities.
• Organize and participate in LGA-level coordination meetings and quarterly review workshops with implementing partners and government counterparts.
• Contribute to project planning and budget phasing, particularly for maternal, newborn, and child health components.
• Represent Save the Children International (SCI) at relevant sector coordination meetings and technical working groups when required.

4. Logistics, Finance, and Administration

• Identify health facility-level supply, human resource, and logistical needs and report them to the appropriate personnel for timely action.
• Prepare monthly supply requests and submit them to the line manager.
• Monitor supervisee attendance and validate timesheets to support accurate payment processing.
• Liaise with the Human Resources team to support staff performance reviews, appraisals, and orientation on SCI values, safeguarding, and the Code of Conduct.
• Promote the rational use of medical equipment, medicines, nutrition commodities, and other supplies across supported health facilities.

5.   Safeguarding and Accountability:

• Promote and uphold child safeguarding and protection standards across all health and nutrition activities, ensuring that children and vulnerable beneficiaries are treated with dignity and protected from abuse, exploitation, neglect, and harm.
• Report any safeguarding concerns or suspected incidents promptly through SCI’s established reporting mechanisms and comply with the organization’s safeguarding policies, Code of Conduct, and mandatory reporting procedures.
• Ensure that health workers and relevant project personnel understand and comply with safeguarding requirements during service delivery and community engagement.
• Maintain confidentiality and respect the privacy, dignity, and rights of children, caregivers, and other programme participants.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS 

Degree in Nutrition, Registered Nurse/Midwife or B. Sc. Nursing/Midwife, Health education, Medicine & Surgery (MBBS), or any other relevant health related field.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Recommended a minimum of 2 to 3 years’ experience in a humanitarian and development environment, including significant field operations experience and experience working with MOH.
• Commitment to working in deep field locations
• Extensive knowledge of Nutrition and Health interventions.
• Extensive experience in in stakeholders’ management, participation in TWGs, and other coordination meetings.
• Significant knowledge of humanitarian and development systems, institutions and donors and best practices in emergency management
• Ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English and at least one major Nigerian Language
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently, live and work in difficult physical conditions in an area of potential insecurity.
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s Vision, Mission, Values and Practices

Equal Opportunities:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.