Senior Nutrition Officernew

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to humanitarian crises by supporting people affected by conflict, displacement, and other emergencies to survive, recover, and rebuild their lives. In South Sudan, IRC provides integrated health and nutrition services to refugees, host communities, and other vulnerable populations affected by displacement, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, and limited access to essential services.

IRC's health and nutrition programming in Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima focuses on ensuring access to quality, lifesaving nutrition interventions through facility-based treatment, community outreach, early identification of acute malnutrition, referral, and follow-up. Services are implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Health (MoH), County Health Department (CHD), UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, and other relevant humanitarian partners.

Job Purpose

The Senior Nutrition Officer will provide technical and operational leadership for the implementation of IRC-supported nutrition services across Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima nutrition sites. Based in Ajuong Thok, the postholder will oversee the delivery of quality, integrated nutrition interventions, ensuring adherence to national Ministry of Health guidelines, IRC technical standards, approved project plans, and relevant humanitarian nutrition protocols.

The position will oversee Community Outreach, Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP), Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP), and Stabilization Centre (SC) services, ensuring effective identification, admission, treatment, monitoring, referral, and follow-up of children and other eligible beneficiaries affected by acute malnutrition.

The Senior Nutrition Officer will supervise and mentor nutrition staff, monitor service quality and performance, strengthen community-based screening and referral systems, ensure effective nutrition commodity management, and maintain accurate and timely reporting. The postholder will work closely with the Health and Nutrition Manager, health facility teams, community structures, and external partners to improve service coverage, treatment outcomes, and continuity of nutrition services across all assigned locations.

Key Responsibilities

A. Nutrition Program Management and Oversight

• Lead the planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition activities across Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima nutrition sites.
• Develop and maintain monthly and weekly implementation plans, ensuring activities are delivered in line with approved project targets, budgets, donor commitments, and operational priorities.
• Conduct regular field visits to all assigned nutrition sites to monitor implementation, identify service delivery gaps, and provide technical guidance and operational support.
• Ensure consistent application of national nutrition guidelines, IRC protocols, and approved admission, treatment, referral, and discharge criteria.
• Coordinate integrated nutrition service delivery with outpatient and inpatient health services, maternal and child health, immunization, health promotion, and community health activities.
• Monitor beneficiary caseloads, service utilization, staffing needs, commodity availability, and implementation progress across the three locations.
• Identify operational challenges, develop corrective action plans, and follow up on agreed actions with responsible staff.
• Ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential nutrition services during emergencies, population movements, funding transitions, and other operational disruptions.

B. Community Outreach and Active Case Finding

• Oversee community-based nutrition activities, including active case finding, MUAC screening, referral, follow-up, and defaulter tracing.
• Coordinate regular outreach activities in collaboration with community health workers, community nutrition workers, community leaders, and other relevant structures.
• Ensure systematic screening of children under five years and pregnant and lactating women for acute malnutrition at community level, health facilities, and designated reception or transit centres.
• Strengthen early identification and referral of children with severe acute malnutrition, moderate acute malnutrition, medical complications, and other conditions requiring specialized care.
• Monitor outreach coverage, screening results, referrals, admissions, and follow-up outcomes to identify gaps and improve service utilization.
• Support community mobilization and behaviour change communication on early care-seeking, appropriate infant and young child feeding, maternal nutrition, and prevention of malnutrition.
• Ensure community outreach teams have appropriate equipment, MUAC tapes, reporting tools, transport arrangements, and other essential resources.
• Establish effective linkages between community outreach teams and OTP, TSFP, SC, and other relevant health services.
• Ensure that community feedback and complaints relating to nutrition services are documented and addressed through established accountability mechanisms.

C. Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP)

• Provide technical oversight of OTP services at Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima nutrition sites.
• Ensure proper screening, anthropometric assessment, admission, clinical assessment, treatment, follow-up, and discharge of eligible children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition, in accordance with national protocols.
• Ensure accurate recording of weight, MUAC, oedema status, appetite test results, clinical findings, and treatment progress, as applicable.
• Monitor weekly OTP performance, including admissions, attendance, defaulters, transfers, recoveries, non-response, and referrals.
• Ensure early identification of children with medical complications or treatment failure and timely referral to the Stabilization Centre or other appropriate health services.
• Monitor compliance with prescribed treatment protocols and ensure appropriate use of RUTF and other therapeutic commodities.
• Review OTP registers, treatment cards, tally sheets, and reports to ensure data quality and consistency.
• Investigate high default rates, prolonged treatment, poor recovery outcomes, and other performance concerns, and implement corrective actions.
• Ensure caregivers receive appropriate counselling on treatment adherence, home care, feeding practices, and follow-up appointments.

D. Targeted Supplementary Feeding Programme (TSFP)

• Oversee the implementation of TSFP services in accordance with approved eligibility criteria, national guidelines, and applicable WFP or partner requirements.
• Ensure accurate screening, admission, follow-up, transfer, and discharge of eligible beneficiaries, including children and pregnant and lactating women where included in the approved program design.
• Monitor beneficiary registration, attendance, ration distribution, commodity consumption, and treatment outcomes.
• Ensure supplementary food commodities are stored, handled, distributed, and documented appropriately.
• Coordinate with WFP, implementing partners, and relevant supply chain teams to monitor pipeline status and address potential stock-outs.
• Ensure transparent and accountable distribution practices, with appropriate beneficiary verification and complaint-handling mechanisms.
• Review TSFP performance data and take timely action to address high default rates, low attendance, stock discrepancies, and other operational challenges.
• Strengthen referrals between TSFP, OTP, SC, health facilities, and community outreach services.

E. Stabilization Centre (SC) Services

• Provide technical and operational oversight of Stabilization Centre nutrition services for children with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications, in coordination with the designated clinical team.
• Ensure SC services operate in accordance with national inpatient management protocols and approved clinical procedures.
• Monitor patient admission, clinical assessment, treatment, feeding, monitoring, referral, transfer, and discharge processes.
• Ensure appropriate coordination between the SC, OTP, outpatient department, maternity and child health services, laboratory, pharmacy, and other relevant clinical units.
• Support the clinical team in ensuring appropriate management of complications, treatment monitoring, therapeutic feeding, and transition to outpatient care when clinically indicated.
• Ensure that SC staff maintain accurate patient records, treatment charts, feeding records, registers, and discharge documentation.
• Monitor SC outcomes, including recovery, death, default, non-response, length of stay, and transfers, and ensure timely review of adverse outcomes and unusual trends.
• Monitor the availability of therapeutic feeds, essential medicines, medical supplies, equipment, and other resources required for inpatient nutrition care.
• Promote infection prevention and control, safe patient care, caregiver counselling, and adherence to clinical and nutrition treatment protocols.
• Ensure timely referral and follow-up arrangements for children transitioning from SC to OTP and other relevant services.

F. Technical Quality Assurance and Supportive Supervision

• Conduct regular supportive supervision visits to OTP, TSFP, SC, and community outreach sites across the three locations.
• Provide on-the-job coaching, mentorship, and technical support to nutrition staff to strengthen clinical and programmatic competencies.
• Review service delivery practices, beneficiary records, treatment outcomes, anthropometric measurements, and compliance with national protocols.
• Conduct routine data quality assessments and verify the consistency of registers, reports, beneficiary records, and commodity consumption data.
• Identify gaps in clinical practice, staff capacity, infection prevention and control, and patient safety, and implement corrective action plans.
• Ensure nutrition staff receive refresher training on CMAM, IYCF, anthropometric assessment, data management, referral procedures, and other relevant topics.
• Promote respectful, confidential, inclusive, and nondiscriminatory service delivery.
• Follow up on recommendations from IRC technical teams, government supervisors, donor monitoring visits, and inter-agency assessments.

G. Nutrition Commodity and Supply Chain Management

• Prepare and update nutrition commodity forecasts based on beneficiary caseloads, historical consumption, treatment protocols, stock balances, and projected program needs.
• Coordinate with pharmacy, logistics, supply chain, and program teams to ensure timely replenishment of nutrition commodities across Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima.
• Monitor the availability and utilization of RUTF, supplementary food commodities, therapeutic milk where indicated, F-75 and F-100 where required for SC care, anthropometric equipment, and other essential supplies.
• Ensure appropriate storage, stock rotation, stock reconciliation, documentation, and reporting of all nutrition commodities.
• Conduct regular physical stock counts and compare stock records with consumption, distribution, and beneficiary data.
• Monitor expiry dates, losses, wastage, discrepancies, and potential pipeline gaps, and take timely corrective action.
• Ensure appropriate allocation and redistribution of commodities across sites in accordance with approved procedures and documented needs.
• Liaise with relevant partners, including WFP and UNICEF where applicable, to follow up on commodity pipelines and address supply interruptions.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and IRC procedures governing the receipt, storage, use, and distribution of nutrition supplies.

H. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Reporting

• Ensure timely collection, compilation, analysis, and submission of accurate nutrition data from all assigned sites.
• Prepare and submit weekly, monthly, quarterly, and donor-specific reports in accordance with established deadlines.
• Monitor program performance against approved indicators, including admissions, treatment outcomes, default rates, screening coverage, referrals, service utilization, and commodity availability.
• Maintain updated nutrition dashboards, performance tracking tools, beneficiary records, and action trackers.
• Analyse nutrition trends and use findings to guide program adaptation, resource allocation, and corrective actions.
• Support nutrition assessments, mass MUAC screening, rapid assessments, coverage assessments, and other relevant monitoring exercises.
• Document achievements, operational challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for improvement.
• Ensure affected populations receive appropriate information about available services, eligibility criteria, entitlements, and complaint mechanisms.
• Support Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), safeguarding, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), and safe feedback mechanisms.
• Ensure confidentiality, responsible handling of beneficiary information, and secure maintenance of program records.

I. Staff Supervision and Capacity Building

• Directly supervise assigned nutrition staff and provide day-to-day technical and operational guidance.
• Develop staff work plans, clarify roles and responsibilities, and monitor individual and team performance.
• Participate in recruitment, induction, orientation, performance reviews, and professional development planning.
• Identify capacity gaps and coordinate relevant training, mentorship, and refresher sessions.
• Conduct regular team meetings to review progress, address challenges, and follow up on agreed actions.
• Promote teamwork, accountability, respectful communication, staff wellbeing, and adherence to IRC policies.
• Ensure adequate staffing arrangements across Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima and promptly escalate critical staffing gaps.
• Ensure all nutrition staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities, code of conduct, and reporting obligations.

J. Coordination and Integration

• Work closely with the Health and Nutrition Manager and other technical colleagues to ensure effective integration of nutrition services within IRC-supported health facilities and community programming.
• Coordinate with the Ministry of Health, County Health Department, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, and relevant nutrition coordination structures.
• Participate in nutrition coordination meetings, joint supervision visits, technical reviews, and partner assessments as delegated.
• Coordinate with health facility teams to strengthen screening, referrals, follow-up, and continuity of care between community and facility-based services.
• Collaborate with WASH, health promotion, protection, and other relevant teams to address underlying barriers to nutrition service access and utilization.
• Communicate emerging nutrition risks, service delivery gaps, commodity shortages, and changes in caseloads to the Health and Nutrition Manager.
• Maintain constructive relationships with community leaders, refugee representatives, host-community structures, and other stakeholders.

K. Budget Monitoring and Program Development

• Contribute to nutrition work plans, project proposals, concept notes, budgets, procurement plans, and resource forecasts.
• Monitor activity implementation against approved budgets, targets, and donor commitments.
• Provide timely input for donor reports, project reviews, budget revisions, and expenditure forecasts.
• Identify resource gaps and propose practical solutions to maintain continuity and quality of nutrition services.
• Support needs assessments and evidence-based program design for nutrition interventions across the three locations.
• Contribute to project close-out, transition planning, and continuity-of-service arrangements when funding or operational priorities change.
• Ensure efficient use of program resources and compliance with IRC and donor requirements.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree/Diploma in nutrition, Human Nutrition, Public Health, Nursing, Clinical Medicine, or another relevant health-related discipline.
• A postgraduate qualification in Public Health, Nutrition, or a related field is an added advantage.

Professional Experience

• At least three to five years of relevant experience in humanitarian nutrition programming, preferably with an international NGO.
• Demonstrated experience in the implementation and supervision of CMAM services, including OTP and TSFP.
• Experience in the management or technical oversight of a Stabilization Centre is highly desirable.
• Experience coordinating community outreach, MUAC screening, active case finding, referral, and defaulter tracing.
• Proven experience supervising staff, conducting supportive supervision, and strengthening service quality.
• Experience in nutrition data analysis, reporting, commodity forecasting, stock monitoring, and donor compliance.
• Experience working with refugees, displaced populations, and host communities in emergency or resource-constrained settings is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with South Sudan Ministry of Health guidelines, humanitarian coordination mechanisms, and UN nutrition partner requirements is an advantage.

Technical Competencies

• Strong technical knowledge of CMAM, OTP, TSFP, SC, IYCF, anthropometric assessment, and community-based nutrition programming.
• Ability to analyse nutrition performance indicators and translate findings into corrective actions.
• Strong planning, coordination, supervisory, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent report-writing, data management, and communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and provide effective oversight across multiple locations.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
• Commitment to accountability, integrity, confidentiality, inclusion, and humanitarian principles.
• Ability to work in challenging field conditions and travel regularly between Ajuong Thok, Pamir, and Hakima as operationally required.

STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT:

• The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

• Safeguarding policy:The IRC has a zero-tolerance policy for safeguarding violations by staff, incentive workers, visitors, sub-grantees, suppliers/sub-contractors, and implementing partners. Safeguarding at the IRC is an integral to organizational values and ethics, and staff and associates are expected to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment of any person linked to the program by both its employees and any downstream partner. The successful candidate will be subject to a thorough background check and satisfactory references.undefined

• Narrowing the Gender Gap:The International Rescue Committee is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including a flexible hour (when possible), maternity leave, transportation support, and gender-sensitive security protocols

• Equal Opportunity Employer:IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants because of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws 

Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

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