Technical Advisor I – Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E), Catholic Relief Services – CRS Vacancy Announcement

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For nearly 60 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made disasters affecting Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. CRS’s humanitarian work in Ethiopia also provides livelihoods support to farmers and entrepreneurs, promotes equality and inclusion, and mitigates the impact of COVID-19.

The Joint Emergency Operation (JEOP) is an emergency food assistance program targeting transitory food insecure households through a vulnerability-based targeting system. JEOP provides emergency assistance to protect their lives and livelihood where recurrent drought affected in significant harvest loss, livestock death and price increase of essentials. The JEOP will expand its nutrition work to include distribution of MAM and SAM nutritional commodities (e.g., Ready to Use Supplementary Foods, Super Cereal Plus, and Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods), SBCC, diagnosis and analysis of acute malnutrition, and prevention of acute malnutrition. The consortium is led by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and includes partners, CARE, Food for the Hungry, Relief Society of Tigray (REST), World Vision and the Organization for Relief and Development in Amhara (ORDA). CRS also works through local implementing partners Hararghe and Meki Catholic Secretariat (HCS and MCS).

Job Title:                      Technical Advisor I – Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E)

Band:                              9

Required number:        One

Department:                JEOP

Employment Term:      Definite term (i.e. up to August 31, 2027)

Reports To:              Program Manager II – Nutrition

Country/Location:       CRS Ethiopia/Addis Ababa

Job Summary:

This position will provide technical leadership and support on the overall implementation of the CMAM interventions in the JEOP emergency nutrition response activities. The position will support the consortium partners to implement IYCF-E approaches for all pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and caregivers of children under five years (CU5) across JEOP emergency nutrition response Woredas, including special focus on those at risk of malnutrition and those that have recovered from acute malnutrition. With the direct supervision of the JEOP Nutrition Program Manager, s/he will provide quality IYCF-E technical oversight of the partner technical teams through conducting frequent supportive supervision and monitoring and coaching of health professionals and will be responsible for ensuring timely reporting and support to the communities on any related IYCF-E activities in target Woredas. S/He will ensure effective systems and processes are in place that support high-quality programming advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work in serving the poor and vulnerable. His/her technical skills and knowledge will ensure that the team continuously works towards improving the impact of IYCF-E interventions within the JEOP’s nutrition programming.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical support on the overall implementation of the IYCF-E interventions in the JEOP emergency nutrition response Woredas.
• Provide IYCF-E technical support to Woredas and partner staff in line with the IYCF-E national guidelines for appropriate and consistent education messaging to PLW and caregivers at all levels.
• Provide technical support to partner staff to ensure that all the target project participants benefit from IYCF-E community level interventions including use of PD/Hearth and CCFLS to prevent malnutrition and address behavior issues around nutrition practices. These interventions include community mobilization for ownership, training of frontline workers on these two approaches, ensure proper targeting of children, lead PDIs, develop messages and menus based on PDI results and supervise activities to ensure quality delivery of interventions.
• Spot and address appropriately the violations of the code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes and violations of the MOH guidelines
• Provide technical support to HF and partner staff on establishment and activation of breast-feeding corners at all service delivery points offering CMAM services for IYCF-E promotion.
• Working closely with the CMAM Technical Specialist, ensure continuum of care for malnourished participants through referrals to CMAM services as required.
• Liaise with ZHB, WHB, and Health facilities and ensure the quality of IYCF-E /Nutrition capacity building activities are technically sound, aligned with proposed implementation plan and adhere to standard guidelines.
• Along with other partner staff, conduct regular follow-up site visits to provide support for quality intervention implementation.

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical support on the overall implementation of the IYCF-E interventions in the JEOP emergency nutrition response Woredas.
• Provide IYCF-E technical support to Woredas and partner staff in line with the IYCF-E national guidelines for appropriate and consistent education messaging to PLW and caregivers at all levels.
• Provide technical support to partner staff to ensure that all the target project participants benefit from IYCF-E community level interventions including use of PD/Hearth and CCFLS to prevent malnutrition and address behavior issues around nutrition practices. These interventions include community mobilization for ownership, training of frontline workers on these two approaches, ensure proper targeting of children, lead PDIs, develop messages and menus based on PDI results and supervise activities to ensure quality delivery of interventions.
• Spot and address appropriately the violations of the code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes and violations of the MOH guidelines
• Provide technical support to HF and partner staff on establishment and activation of breast-feeding corners at all service delivery points offering CMAM services for IYCF-E promotion.
• Working closely with the CMAM Technical Specialist, ensure continuum of care for malnourished participants through referrals to CMAM services as required.
• Liaise with ZHB, WHB, and Health facilities and ensure the quality of IYCF-E /Nutrition capacity building activities are technically sound, aligned with proposed implementation plan and adhere to standard guidelines.
• Along with other partner staff, conduct regular follow-up site visits to provide support for quality intervention implementation

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Health, Nursing, Nutrition or Public Health required.
• Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in implementation of IYCF-E interventions.
• Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in IYCF-E and SBC. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
• Demonstrable commitment to promoting and supporting optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding in emergencies.
• Experience of designing and implementation programs (ideally nutrition-related), including monitoring and evaluation;
• Experience in conducting assessments and an understanding of nutritional data and information systems;
• Knowledge and experience of capacity strengthening and SBC best practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Proven capacity to supervise, train and coach staff;
• Prepared to live and work in an uncertain security environment;
• Ability and willingness to frequently travel and stay at the field;

Required Languages – Proficiency in spoken and written English and Local language.

Travel – 80% travel to communities and health facility is required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Knowledge, training and experience in IYCF-E and community mobilization/BCC
• Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment.
• Good technical writing skills
• Demonstrated skills in program planning, implementation, and monitoring.
• Demonstrated skills in peer group training, Training of Trainers, and development of training materials.
• Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
• Proactive, resourceful, and results-oriented

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.  Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.