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Job
Title:          Maternal,
Child, Health and Nutrition (MCHN) Manager 

Organization: Mercy
Corps

Duty Station: 
Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Deputy
Director of Programs

About US:

Mercy Corps is an
International NGO that exists to alleviate poverty and oppression by helping
people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been
fully registered in Uganda as an operational NGO. Currently Mercy Corps has an
office in Kampala and is implementing Food Security programs which comprise of
Water and Sanitation, Livelihood and Agriculture and Conflict Mitigation
Management Program in North and North Eastern Uganda. We implement programs in
the northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotido
with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other
private donations.

Job Summary:  The Maternal, Child, Health and Nutrition
(MCHN) Manager will play a key leadership role in the implementation of the
USAID Food for Peace Activity to support pregnant and lactating women and
children under five years of age living across the districts of Amudat, Kotido,
Kaabong and Moroto in Karamoja. The Activity is multi-sectoral with programming
in livelihoods, nutrition, WASH, and governance with cross-cutting attention to
gender and youth.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Strategy & Vision

·        
Support
the Apolou Leadership in developing a vision and strategy for the Activity;

·        
Play an
active role in identifying and developing new initiatives that foster or
improve food security and nutrition strategic objectives of the Activity and
the country office;

·        
Integrate
nutrition more broadly into the Apolou program.

Program Management

·        
Manage a
team of four technical leads, that manage a cascading team of 50+ staff;

·        
Support
scale up of MCHN and nutrition Behavior Change strategy in four districts
through Mother Care Groups, male engagement programming, and other activities
as relate to the overall nutrition objective;

·        
Support
implementation of health system governance activities across the four
districts;

·        
Ensure
nutrition activities are implemented according to best practice with technical
oversight of implementation strategy and related materials;

·        
Develop
and roll out associated MCHN curricula to community platforms as needed;

·        
Manage
team of nutrition implementers, including national staff and international
consultants;

·        
Provide
budget oversight and administration for the health and nutrition component and
ensuring staff compliance with donor and agency regulations;

·        
Work
with partners and team leaders, advocate for nutrition and health priorities in
line with Apolou strategy at key district, regional and national events;

·        
Ensure
an integrated approach to health and nutrition related program activities in
order to maximize resource utilization and synergy between the staff,
consortium members, district local governments, the Ministry of Health and
other implementing partners;

·        
Support
coordinated data collection systems and reporting formats within the MCHN team
and between partners, with integrated communications to ensure sharing of
lessons learned and foster a supportive environment driven by achievement;

·        
Identify
and communicate learning agenda for the nutrition and health sector within
Apolou;

·        
Recommend
program priorities and explore, evaluate and present new opportunities with
high potential for impact in the areas of health, nutrition and gender. Work to
integrate Resource Transfer activities into the MCHN component.

Team Management

·        
Lead
quarterly review meetings, and monthly sector meetings to guide implementation,
coordination and learning;

·        
Participate
in the recruitment of new staff, establish effective supervision structures,
identify and meet training needs and ensure adherence to Mercy Corps’
performance management system within the team;

·        
Establish
an adaptive management learning culture in which evidence is continuously
generated and lessons learned are actively shared across the consortium for
maximum impact;

·        
Work
with HQ and national office staff to strengthen operations, identify and pursue
complementary programming;

·        
Build
capacity of team leaders to take primary responsibility for respective data
gathering, quality control and communication to MELC focal person.

Influence &
Representation

·        
Ensure
establishment and provide oversight on the team’s maintenance of relationships
with communities, village councils and local government in Moroto, Kotido,
Kaabong and Amudat/Karamoja target areas (and soon Karenga District);

·        
Support
and coordinate visits from regional and HQ based staff and external visitors,
such as donors and media, in collaboration with DCOP and CoP;

·        
Establish
and maintain contact with all key actors as relevant for program implementation
– government ministries, UN agencies, NGOs, private sector partners – and
establish mechanisms for contacting local community organizations and partners
and other local NGOs/CBOs in line with key Apolou areas of work;

·        
Advocate
and make appropriate presentations when requested at local, regional, and where
possible national and international platforms for Apolou supported strategies
for health and nutrition;

·        
Represent
Apolou Ministry and District level at Nutrition-related meetings, implementing
partner coordination meetings, events and conferences

Finance, compliance
and operations management

·        
Oversee
the smooth flow of routine program support functions (e.g., finance,
administration, logistics) in the field office and compliance with Mercy Corps
and donor policies and procedures;

·        
With the
support of the Operations Director and Senior Operation Manager ensure adequate
operational systems are in place to provide for sector operations;

·        
Manage
program budget(s) as secondary budget holder;

·        
Strictly
follow Mercy Corps Fraud and Corruption Prevention guidelines.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

·        
The
applicant for the Mercy Corps Program Manager – Livelihoods job must hold a Master’s
Degree or equivalent in nutrition or Public Health;

·        
Eight years
of experience in nutrition specific programming with at least 3 of the years in
nutrition programming implementation.

·        
Experience
working with Mother Care Groups/Male Change Agent models will be an advantage.

·        
Experience
working with USAID Food for Peace programming will be an advantage.

·        
Experience
in working in the Karamoja region will be an advantage.

·        
Demonstrated
understanding of key concepts in public health nutrition, community behavior
change, preferably with an understanding of the facilitative approach to
development;

·        
Demonstrated
experience with budget oversight and management.

·        
Superb
English verbal and written communication and presentation skills required;

·        
Strong
understanding of nutrition data analysis and statistics;

·        
Ability
to communicate with donors, private sector and civil society partners and host
government representatives;

·        
Demonstrated
flexibility, creativity and enthusiasm as well as a willingness to learn and to
be continually adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working
environment is mandatory;

·        
Self-starter,
with strong capacity for critical thinking and problem solving;

·        
Demonstrated
capacity to generate and to translate innovative ideas into practical
development approaches as well as marketable investment proposals and concepts;

·        
Willingness
to travel at least 40% of working days in the region or to necessary events
outside the region.**

·        
The
success of the MCHN Manager will combine strong program management skills with
one’s ability to execute program activities with high quality.

·        
S/he will
have an ability to develop, implement and manage innovative activities focused
on health and nutrition.

·        
S/he
will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity
building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills.

·        
Multi-tasking,
prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail are
essential.

·        
The most
successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and
accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective
written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

How to Apply:

All suitably
qualified and interested candidates should send their E-mail applications
including a cover letter clearly stating the salary requirements, updated CV
(with three professional referees), and copies of academic
qualifications/certificates addressed to the Senior HR and Legal Manager, Mercy
Corps Uganda to: ug-mcjobs@mercycorps.org

Deadline: 13^th September 2019

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