TEAM/PROGRAMME: Programme Development and Quality

LOCATION:  Beijing, with some regional and international travel

The Health and Nutrition programme in China :

The health and nutrition program (hereafter referred to as the Program) of Save the Children aims to ensure the proper health service and nutrition during pregnancy and childhood, to prevent child death and gives children a healthy start and improves their long-term growth, development and educational achievement, and future economic opportunities.  Maternal, infant and young child nutrition (MIYCN) is a sub-theme of the program.

In China, the MIYCN sub-theme, in partnership with local health departments and research institutes, aims to:

1.     address adequate food and nutrient intake, effective feeding and care practices, and protection against diseases;

2.     support breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding at six months, feeding during illness, food preparation, hygiene and health     care-seeking;

3.     improve access to essential micronutrients through fortification, supplementation and dietary diversity measures;

4.     increase demand for services and better practices through social and behaviour change communication.

ROLE PURPOSE: As a member of the Program Development and Quality team, the Nutrition Advisor is responsible for leading the development of high quality and innovative MIYCN sub-theme program within the health and nutrition program,  as well as community-based 0-3 ECCD project within education program, that delivers immediate and lasting change for deprived children in China.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: National Health Lead

Staff directly interacting with this post: National Education Lead, Director of Program Development and Quality, Director of Programme Implementation, Project budget holders, project managers and senior officers working in nutrition programmes across China; Communication and campaign team; Member and donor service team, M&E Specialist, SCI technical Advisors.

External interactions with this post: Government departments with in the Health and Family Commission that’re responsible for nutrition at different levels, Universities and Research Institutions, INGOs working in nutrition, maternal and child health facilities and health providers

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

1. Strategic Planning

• Support the National Health Lead to provide strategic vision and direction to MIYCN in Save the Children China
• According to the Program Strategy for 2016-2018 and through coordination with provincial teams and with other members of the PDQ, to ensure the achievement of its goal and objectives while tracking progress against indicators.  Year on year progress will be assessed against the strategy’s yearly milestones
• Support national health lead to ensuring that all country-wide initiatives are in alignment with the Program Strategy and follow Save the Children’s Theory of Change
• Be part of Save the Children’s regional and global networks and providing strategic input to regional and global thinking on MIYCN as mothers and children’s basic needs.

2. Lead development and growth of the Program

• Lead on the design of cost effective, innovative and high quality MIYCN and community-based 0-3 ECCD project proposals  working closely with member technical advisors, and program implementation and donor management teams
• Support strategically important projects aiming to experiment with new intervention models, generate effective tools and experiences for future replication.
• Initiate and maintaining partnership and communications with the relevant department in National Health and Family Planning Commission, existing maternal and child health platforms at national level and academic institutes to mobile resources, communicate success, and bring about policy advocacy for the Program
• Working with colleagues, positioning Save the Children as one of the leading organizations in MIYCN in China, including representation of the program at national and international conferences and external events
• Assisting the Communications and Donor Relations team as needed with external representation and donor communications

3. Technical Assistance and Programme Quality

• Developing, commission and/or manage research (of a high enough quality to publish) that can maximize the impact of Save the Children’s work on the Program.
• Directly providing or procuring technical support and advice for baseline and end evaluations, development of packages for trainings, etc. at program and project level.
• Regular monitoring of the Program Strategy indicators, in addition to global indicators and feeding this learning back into project design and implementation
• Working closely with Save the Children regional and global technical advisors to ensure the programs technical approaches are in alignment with regional and global initiatives
• In cooperation with the MEAL Specialist develop indicators and M&E tools that assist the project staff to deliver quality project and create data to inform future program development and application to project proposals.
• Review of internal and external reports, with an emphasis on technical contents, and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement to colleagues.

4. Management of key Advocacy Efforts

• To lead the development of advocacy priorities and strategies in close liaison with the project team and the Communications team
• Prepare key policy briefing documents for positioning Save the Children on issues
• Track and maintain an up-to-date mapping of government and private sector developments in the field, including changes to policy and investment, and track their impact upon the program and its advocacy efforts

5. Knowledge Management and Learning

• Initiate and coordinate capacity building activities for key program staff, including identifying external training opportunities, and organizing peer learning groups and seminars
• Strengthen technical expertise by keeping up to date on the global debate, and incorporating learning from key research initiatives and regional/global trends to activities and program development
• Ensure that learning materials, related policies, operational research and good practice documentation are stored, sorted and shared on a timely basis
• Present the Program overall progress, strategies, learning and good practices in extended SMT meetings

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our 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, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates other
• ​Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, external partners and supporter
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strengt
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solution
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

Child Safeguarding:

• Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

ESSENTIAL:

• Master of Public Health, Nutrition or Medical degree
• At least 5 years practical working experiences that related to maternal and child health and nutrition
• At least 5 years working experiences with preferably experiences on program development, monitoring and evaluation, policy research and advocacy in a given or broader field related to nutrition
• Knowledge of project management cycle and experience in program strategy development, project design and proposal development
• Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills to interpret and present the Program Strategy, approaches and results
• Ability to lead the thought and guide the Program team through constructive interaction and communications
• Recommended advanced fluency in both Chinese and English

Desired:

• Experiences working and connecting with high level government health department,
• Academic experiences in developing training materials, leading health research
• Passionate about helping vulnerable children and young peopl
• Excellent listening and inter-personal skills and ability to work well with disadvantaged and diversified population
• High level of self-awareness and willingness to take criticism as an opportunity for growth