Technical Adviser - Nutrition-Sensitive Rural Development

Devex is assisting an international financial institution in its search for a Technical Advisor, Nutrition-Sensitive Rural Development.  The institution’s headquarters is based in Rome, Italy, and it develops and finances programs and projects aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and incomes in over 90 countries.

The Policy and Technical Advisory Division (PTA) aims to strengthen the quality of the institution’s portfolio of country programs (comprising loans, grants and associated activities) as regards technological, institutional and policy aspects. The Division supports investment in developing and applying a knowledge base on pro-poor, community-led rural development. This knowledge management provides the basis for PTA’s quality enhancement of the Fund’s programs and partnership development for rural poverty reduction.

As a Technical Advisor, the incumbent will directly report to the Technical Adviser - Food Security & Nutrition in PTA’s Farming Systems for Food Security (FS2) Unit under the overall strategic and policy guidance of the Director of PTA. The incumbent will also work closely with the staff person seconded to IFAD by IFPRI through the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program (A4NH).

POSITION SUMMARY:

• Planning, implementation and reporting associated with the Canadian Supplementary Fund on Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Rural Development.
• Technological, institutional and operational policy support to staff, field missions and regional programs at all stages of the country program.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Assist in all aspects of the planning, implementation and reporting associated with the Canadian Supplementary Fund on Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Rural Development.
• Provide, in close collaboration with the TA on Food Security & Nutrition, guidance to the country program teams on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and rural development in support to the country strategy development, project design, review and implementation support.
• Provide up-to-date professional advice and information to the organisation’s staff and partners on Food Security & Nutrition, with special emphasis on nutrition sensitive agriculture, to enhance the quality of the design, implementation and monitoring of programs and to provide policy advice to countries.
• Participate in loan and grant funded project implementation support, to provide on-demand technical support to on-going programs; participate in project implementation support/supervision missions.
• Contribute to innovation, learning and knowledge management by actively engaging in the agricultural knowledge creation and sharing at country, regional and international levels in the areas of nutrition-sensitive agriculture and rural development. This would be achieved working in close cooperation with colleagues within and across Functional Units and other relevant organisation’s Divisions.
• Contribute to building the documentation of field and research-tested approaches, and the development of products, tools and guidelines in the areas of nutrition-sensitive agriculture with potential for scaling up at the country, regional or inter-regional levels.
• Collaborate with other colleagues in FS2 in the development, day-to-day management, supervision and evaluation of relevant FS2 grants projects, providing pro-active orientation of applied research work in support to the support to country program enhancement, knowledge sharing, development of products in support for scaling up of successful field experiences.
• Strengthen and develop partnerships at the national, regional and international levels for purposes of joint policy engagement and knowledge generation and sharing, business model development, and represent the organisation at international fora in her/his professional area/domain.
• Perform other related duties as may be requested by the Director of the Division.

Ongoing/funded project or proposal?  N/A.  This is a 3 years fixed-term position with possibility for extension, contingent on additional funding

Location Rome, Italy (HQ).

Funded by?   Canadian Supplementary Fund on Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Rural Development.

EDUCATION:

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Nutrition or Public Health, and strong familiarity with Food Security, Agriculture and Rural Development.

EXPERIENCE:

At least 8 years of professional work with relevant experience in food security, nutrition and rural development.

Experience in the design, implementation, performance monitoring, and supervision of nutrition-sensitive rural development initiatives.

Demonstrated experience in working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Familiarity with the key regional and global centres of excellence in relevant professional areas/domains.

LANGUAGES:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; including the ability to set out a coherent analysis in presentations and group interactions.

Good working knowledge of French or Spanish (spoken and written).

To be considered for this position, please click the green ‘Apply Now’ button and complete the online application. So that we may best assess your skills and experience in relation to this opportunity, we encourage you to submit a coverletter highlighting your relevant experience for this position.  You may also submit your CV and Cover Letter directly to jobs-2@devex.com.