The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

role PURPOSE

[A concise statement, capturing the primary reasons that this role exists and a clear articulation of the context of the role. How will this role contribute to creating lasting change for children?]

Working in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan International aims to reach as many children as possible, especially those who are excluded or marginalized with high-quality programs that offer sustainable benefits by increasing their income and working in partnership with other key stakeholders. Plan International is committed to providing support to children in emergency situations in the program countries.

Given the current humanitarian crisis in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, Plan International is committed to providing vital humanitarian assistance especially in the domain of health, water and sanitation to children and their families. The Nutrition project is to enable affected communities and persons have acess to basic services for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.

The Nutrition officer works directly under the supervision of the Project Coordinator. He/she shall coordinate and supervise all activities related to assessment and treatment of malnutrition, Vitamin A supplementation, training and supervision of Community Volunteers.

Dimensions of the Role

[This section provides a summary of the size and authority of the post. It covers the size of the budget held, the numbers of direct reports, other key stakeholders who may depend on it, the type of communication required, the external representation involved and the reach of the role.]

The Nutrition Officer will be responsible for the identification and training of partner health facilities. Training, Coordinating and Monitoring the activities of Community Volunteers at the level of the project areas. He/She will be incharge of follow-up of all identified malnourished cases and ensure the effective delivery of all preventive approaches .

He/she is called to represent the project coordinator in his/her absence on this bases and with the various external stakeholders.

1. Ensure the operational and technical follow-up of Nutrition activities.
2. Ensure the technical relations and representations of the project to the authorities and partners linked or external to the project (NGO partners, local authorities etc).
3. Ensure that the gender dimension and any other cross-cutting issues important to the design, implementation and development of Nutrition activities are taken into account and that activities reflect the needs of the group and individuals especially children under 5 years of age.
4. Support the Project Coordinator in data collection/management and reporting of the activities carried out.

Accountabilities

[This section is critical for clarifying expectations of the role, providing the framework for its relationship with colleagues and providing areas of accountability against which performance can be managed.

This should include a series of brief statements that define the end results required. E.g. drive, contribute, identify, manage, responsible for, advise/coach, build, develop, provide, conduct, oversee, establish, participate etc.

Statements should ideally be worded so that they will lead to thoughts of measurement.  For example, it is better to state something like « achieve maintenance standards » than « undertake maintenance ».  The former leads to a measure against the maintenance standards.]

Implementation of the activities.

In collaboration with the Project Cordinator, the Nutrition Officer is responsible for:

1. Coordinating the inpatient and outpatient management of  malnutrition through the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) approach.
2. Provide Techincal and operational support through Training, Coaching and supervision of Community Volunteers and Health care workers in the area of Nutrition.
3. Ensure effective implementation and coverage of Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) program.
4. Responsible for organizing  meetings to update and disseminate national protocols for the management of malnutrition, in partnership with other partners and stakeholder
5. Oversee the delivery of effective malnutrition prevention approaches

 Supervision of the collection and processing of project tracking data.

He/she will be responsible for:

1. Oversee and validate the collection and processing of project tracking data;
2. Ensure, in collaboration with the Project Coordinator, a continuous evaluation of the methods of monitoring the activities and proposes necessary improvements, updates or additions.
3. Coordination of the training of local staff and beneficiaries, the gathering of information and reflection within the Nutrition sector. In order to ensure the sustainability and appropriation of the project by the beneficiaries, the Nutrition Officer is required to:-Train and coach the project team and volunteers in the field on screening and management of malnutrition, Nutrition Education, Vitamin A supplementation, Family MUAC and case management/referrals. provide technical support to the project team at the level of the field. He or she will be able to provide these trainings or will use external actors depending on the subjects;
4. Identify training needs for each category of staff/ Health workers in the Nutrition sector, propose training modules corresponding to the needs identified; He or she will be able to facilitate these trainings or will use external actors depending on the subject.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
6. Mobilize and sensitize target communities on project activities
7. Design and disseminate appropriate sensitization and education materials
8. Report to the project coordinator any difficulties related to the smooth running activities
9. Collects and consolidates reports from field agents;
10. Oversee the management and record keeping of all stock of supplies in the field
11. Contribute to the monitoring and evaluation effort related to improved Nutrition, including report writing;
12. Carry out any other relevant duties that may be assigned by the supervisor.

2. Information and Co-ordination

1. Organize with other project team members monthly coordination meetings with project stakeholders in its area;
2. Participate in the monthly project coordination meetings with the entire implementation team;
3. Maintain close cooperation with other partners in the area; Involve as much as possible the representative of local ministries structures;
4. Produce and transmit weekly and monthly reports of activities to the Project Coordinator;
5. Collect the best practices and lessons learned during the implementation of the project in its assignment area;
6. Ensure visibility of the project in its area of intervention;
7. Ensure that there is a good photo bank for the project.
8. Perform any other tasks assigned by the Project Coordinator.

3. Human Resources and Administration

1. Participate in all planned trainings of post and/or related trainings
2. Shall work closely with the government technical services and Project Coordinator.

Dealing with Problems:

1. Maintain neutrality to the on-going crisis.
2. The job requires intense interventions on the field, in areas often at risk. This requires prudence, vigilance and compliance with security instructions.
3. Excellent and creative leadership skills will be utilized to properly implement the activities, in accordance with the standards, principles and with possible resistance from colleagues as is often the case in emergency response work
4. S/he shall work within tight deadlines and accept travels and stays in emergency zones.

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

[This section refers to people inside and/or outside of the organisation that the post-holder needs to have contact with, and why. This should include virtual presence.]

1. Keeps and maintain medium contact with children, their families and communities
2. Maintains a high contact with partners at the divisional and community levels
3. Maintains high contact with local partners.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

[This section details the skills, knowledge and expertise the postholder will be required to demonstrate in doing the job well.

This should include clear levels of technical expertise and skills that support our work at national, international, and global level.]

Essential

Qualification and Experience

1. Bachelor Degree in Nutrition, Nursing, public health or social sciences or equivalent.
2. Knowledge on Plan International is an added advantage.
3.  With at least 2 years of experience in Nutrition, Social Work or community development.
4. Be able to speak English. Ability to speak the local language of the assigned zone will also be an added advantage.
5. Proven skills in community mobilization and facilitation
6. Familiarity with behavior change communication and current Nutrition interventions and participatory methodologies.
7. Has experience in working with children (boys and girls)
8. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
9. Resident in the assigned communities

Skills

1. Timely and effective delivery of project activities and other outputs (reports, etc.)
2. Commitment to child protection, gender equality and participation
3. Skills in participatory assessment, Nutrition and related activities
4. Good computer skills (Microsoft Words, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer)
5. Ability to network with grassroots structures.

Behaviours: 

1. Commitment and adherence to humanitarian values and standards,
2. Not been involved in any child protection issues
3. Demonstrates neutrality in the current socio-political crisis.
4. Works with trustworthiness and integrity
5. Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high security risks, diversed cultural contexts and harsh living conditions. Works and lives with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
6. Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity.
7. Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive under pressure.

Desirable

1. Empathy on issue affecting children rights and equality for girls
2. Good planning and organizational abilities
3. Team work
4. Integrity
5. Humility

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

3. Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
4. Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
5. Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
6. Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
7. Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

5. Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
6. Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
7. Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
8. Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

4. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
5. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
6. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
7. Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

8. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
9. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
10. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
11. Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

Physical Environment

[In this section, state “typical office environment”, or conditions such as “must work outside in an extremely hot and humid climate”. Also note if any protective equipment is required.]

• Work in hot and cold climate

Level of contact with children

[Please delete as applicable]

Medium level: Frequent interaction with children

Closing Date: January 12th, 2022

NB: Click here to apply: https://jobs.plan-international.org/job/Bamenda-Nutrition-Officer/758487801/

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.