Agriculture & Nutrition Advisor , Arlington, VA

Established in 1915 with Helen Keller as a founding trustee, Helen Keller International (HKI) works to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.  Headquartered in New York City, HKI offers programs in 21 countries in Africa and Asia as well as in the United States.  The organization combats the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research.  Each year, our programs directly benefit millions of people, and children are a primary concern.  HKI programs address malnutrition, cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis, refractive error and diabetic retinopathy.  HKI has over 600 staff and an annual budget of over $57 million. 

Strengthening Partnerships, Results and Innovations in Nutrition (SPRING) is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide state-of-the-art technical support and facilitate country-led, regional, and global programs to improve the nutritional status of women and children. The SPRING implementation team consists of JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (the Prime), Helen Keller International (HKI), The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Save the Children (SC), and The Manoff Group (TMG). SPRING builds on past USAID investments and its partner expertize to deliver high impact nutrition interventions, such as infant and young child feeding, control of micronutrient deficiencies, and maternal nutrition practices focusing on the first 1,000 days of life. SPRING is also leading efforts to strengthen the evidence base and to build on, clarify and strengthen understanding, application and use of the most promising nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions. In support of this, SPRING builds capacity and creates dialogue and evidence through exchange of ideas across stakeholders through a platform for Knowledge Management to share Agriculture/Nutrition related learning. SPRING, as designed, provides an opportunity for USAID bureaus and missions worldwide to invest and access its technical services and resources.

HKI is seeking an Agriculture & Nutrition Advisor to join the SPRING project team.

Scope of the Position

The Agriculture and Nutrition (AN) Advisor will work closely with the Nutrition and Agriculture Advisor, Research Advisor and SBCC Advisor to lead implementation of agriculture/nutrition activities and the development of technical content for guidance documents and reports including literature reviews, contextual analyses, advocacy briefs, technical reports and primary research publications.  The AN Advisor will lead SPRING’s contribution to the evidence base regarding the role of agriculture in supporting nutritional outcomes in developing country settings. In collaboration with the KM team, the AN Advisor will actively promote SPRING’s work and results through the Agrilinks AgN-GLEE group and contribute to the project’s communications planning to support both targeted and broad dissemination of SPRING’s agriculture and nutrition linkages work.  S/he will report to the Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) Director. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead in the implementation of agriculture and nutrition activities and the development, technical content and completion of the project’s technical documents supporting the agriculture and nutrition linkages evidence base.
• Support the FSN Director and the SPRING Agriculture/Nutrition Team to develop SPRING’s agriculture and nutrition strategy.
• Build and maintain relationships with USAID and their Feed the Future implementing partner technical advisors in collaboration with the FSN Director.
• Liaise with the FSN Manager and KM team to ensure technical integrity of all SPRING agriculture/nutrition linkages products (case studies, guidance documents, publications and communications, etc).
• Provide direct technical support and assistance to USAID Missions and FTF implementing partners, as requested by USAID and its partners or identify additional areas of expertise required to provide support.
• Contribute to the growth and maintenance of strategic relationships and technical collaborations with key multi and bi-lateral partners, implementing organizations, universities, in-country stake holders and other thought leaders/technical organizations to support and lend credibility to SPRING’s agriculture and nutrition agenda/strategy  and solidify SPRING’s stakeholder network for delivering high quality technical assistance, technical guidance and research in the area of food security and agriculture/nutrition linkages. 
• In coordination with the Research Advisor, oversee and ensure design, completion and reporting of operations research activities that contribute to the understanding and/or application of agriculture/nutrition linkages.
• Lead and moderate online technical discussions drawing from both SPRING-generated and other technically-sound experts.
• Participate in, attend and present SPRING’s work at relevant meetings in Washington, DC and internationally to build SPRING’s visibility and promote learning across the team.
• Provide regular and as-needed updates and reports to the FSN Director on work plan activities.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree in agronomy, agricultural economics, animal science, horticulture, natural resource management, international rural development or a related field.
• At least 15 years of experience in a role responsible for leading and implementing agricultural development and/or food security programs. Experience working with programs that link agriculture and/or economic growth and nutrition is a must.
• A demonstrated understanding of the technical components of both agriculture and nutrition including but not limited to multi-sectoral program design, monitoring and evaluation, social and behavior change communications (SBCC), and current best practices/approaches for program implementation and stakeholder capacity building.
• Experience interacting with and knowledge of key programs/priorities of U.S. Government agencies and USAID Missions, host country governments, partners, universities and other relevant stakeholders. Knowledge of Feed the Future and USAID’s Bureau of Food Security, a plus.
• Excellent written and oral communications and partnering skills.
• Previous experience and success in publishing technical research papers.
• Strong initiative and self-motivation required, with a commitment to teamwork and effectiveness within a nonhierarchical, participatory management environment.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally.

To Apply

Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume tohkihr@hki.org noting the position title in the subject line.

All external applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S.  Only qualified candidates meeting our requirements will be contacted.

(SPRING uses multiple partners to find candidates for a job.  Therefore, candidates may see several advertisements from different partners for the same position.  Applications submitted to any partner organization will be considered for the position.  Applicants should only apply to one partner organization.)