Head of Nutrition and Health Department Tempo Inteiro

Action Contre la Faim (ACF) is a humanitarian association recognised as being of public benefit and founded in 1979, the organisation operates in 47 countries in the fields of nutrition, health, food security and livelihoods, water, hygiene and sanitation and mental health and care practices.

Specific Objectives (Not complete)

The incumbent is responsible for guaranteeing the quality, relevance and scaling of the Nutrition & Health strategy and interventions at the mission, in conformity with ACF and international standards and national policies and in line with the Mission’s localization agenda.

Mission 1: Contribute to defining the country strategy as well as the Nutrition & Health strategy and positioning of the department

• Promote and foster an understanding within the partners’ field teams of the humanitarian and development situation regarding Nutrition & Health in the context of intervention, and its continuous, systematic, and thorough monitoring;
• Analyse the Nutrition & Health humanitarian and development situation at country level, in collaboration with partners’ teams;
• Integrate the Nutrition & Health sector with the other technical sectors (WASH, MHPSS, FSL), liaising with local partners;
• Contribute to the technical and operational advocacy strategies of the mission, region, and headquarters in line with the advocacy objectives defined in the ACF reference documentation;
• Identify the subjects for sectorial advocacy specific to the mission in collaboration with the DCD and partners.

Mission 2: Coordinate the identification of needs and formulation of project proposals 

• In collaboration with partners, coordinate the identification of Nutrition & Health humanitarian and development needs sensitive to cross-cutting issues such as gender;
• Contribute to the identification of funding opportunities and inroads for donor relationship development, ensuring in collaboration with the DCD and partners, that there is an exchange of technical information with the funding agencies identified;
• In collaboration with partners’ teams, produce the Nutrition & Health sections of project proposals in accordance with the formats and deadlines (internal and external) of funding agencies, and make substantial contribution to general and cross-cutting sections of proposals;
• Ensure that new programs are based on the epidemiologic information available regarding nutrition, health status, healthcare services situation and outbreaks. Then, depending on the evolution of the event, and coordinating with all actors, resources can be mobilized to expand or contract programs;
• In liaison with finance and logistics departments, develop budgets allocated to designed interventions, and monitoring them in order to provide accurate and timely budget follow-up.

Mission 3: Design, develop and evaluate actions in the field of nutrition and health

• Carry out detailed assessments and evaluations of humanitarian needs, among crisis-affected populations in his/her area of intervention, including the analysis of the prevailing context on nutrition, health status, healthcare services situation and outbreaks;
• Ensure adequate analysis of epidemiological data and mapping, regarding infectious diseases, with emphasis in cholera outbreaks;
• Share his/her analysis of needs in the area with the Country Representative/DCD Programs and with Heads of Department of other sectors, in order to develop an integrated multi-sectoral approach;
• Initiate studies based on the analysis of data provided by other partners (NGOs, UN agencies, governmental departments);
• Identify challenges and propose research projects and innovative approaches on nutrition, health status, healthcare services situation and outbreaks;
• Build on good practice, experience and assessments in the framework of ACF’s organizational development strategy and ensure that recommendations from assessments are implemented.

Mission 4: Monitor and coordinate programmes in the fields of nutrition and health

• Ensure the technical conformity of Nutrition & Health programmes with international rules, approaches, and technical standards, and ACF framework documents and technical works as well as national protocols;
• Boost the overall standard of implementation of projects with local partners in order to maximise their impact;
• Issue and follow up on technical recommendations for the improvement or maintenance of Nutrition & Health programme quality;
• Alert the DCD and partners and advise on precautionary measures to be taken in case a major risk to public health is foreseen or identified;
• Promote transparency and ethical standards in projects by highlighting complaints / grievance procedures, particularly in respect of the beneficiary population;
• Propose health indicators, data collection options, and provide technical support to teams in order to ensure a correct data collection of beneficiaries/patients in healthcare activities;
• Control, validate and monitor resources used by ACF programs in order to draft requests and undertake quality control;
• Coordinate with other sectors and departments within ACF in order to ensure rational use of resources and program integration, particularly in outbreak responses in which the work strategy needs to be agreed with the WASH team and other sectors;
• Participate in data analysis with the rest of the team, in order to prepare reports on Morbidity (and Mortality if that corresponds) and activities for ACF programs, donor reports, and statistics for the MoH (particularly for outbreak responses) as necessary;
• Ensure timeliness, validation by relevant line Managers, quality and completeness of reporting for all planned activities, including monthly Activity Progress Reports (APR);
• Using, APR indicators qualitative and quantitative submitted, to monitor quality of programs;
• Participate in the capitalization of good practices, and evaluation of experiences following requests of your supervisors;
• Contribute to donors reports: mid-term and final reports as required;
• Supervise or conduct of assessments and/or surveys on nutrition or health situations.

Mission 5: Develop and launch programmes in collaboration with governmental and local agencies

• Propose a national strategy adapted to the local situation on nutrition, health status, healthcare services and response to outbreaks. Promote the transversal integration of these strategies with all sectors: Health, WASH, FSL, Mental Health, etc;
• Provide technical support regarding support from national and local authorities and partners, to the development of national strategy in which programs are inserted;
• Create and develop a network for the detection and referral of beneficiaries, coordinating with the MoH or other partners;
• Make sure that health and nutrition program and activities are in line with project definitions, logical frameworks, budgets, work plans, ACF’s logistical and administrative procedures and locally approved protocols;
• Negotiate with local partners on work organisation, protocols, action plans and the operationalization of activities;
• Build a long-term strategy for programs, with a view to enabling local partners to achieve autonomy for the continuation on activities.

Mission 6: Manage technically the Nutrition and Health Program Managers

• Ensure the scale of the field team is in line with programs needs. Assess the gaps and identify resources to cover them;
• Lead the recruitment process for health and nutrition staff members, and complementary induction training;
• Appraise technical performances and skills of teams, subsequently using this information to determine training needs for the staff under his/her responsibility, particularly for the newly recruited staff;
• Provide technical support, on the job training and organising and leading meetings for the staff under his/her responsibility, in order to reinforce staff’s competencies and improve work climate;
• Liaise with the Field Coordinator and/or DCD Programs to deal with any problems within Nutrition and Health Program Managers;
• Ensure staff safety, making respect biosecurity rules (IPC behaviors, PPE, adequate disposal of infectious material, etc.).

Mission 7: Represent Action Contre la Faim and its positioning at the local level, including coordination and collaboration with other actors

• Represent ACF in meetings with national and international authorities on matters of nutrition, health, healthcare services and outbreaks, supporting the team in its liaison and collaboration with these partners, regarding ACF programs;
• Make national and international authorities fully aware of ACF positions and protocols, communicating them in regular meetings  in order to facilitate harmonious and productive relations, identifying key local actors and developing collaboration with them;
• Develop and maintain relations with current and potential donors (visits to projects, presentations of ACF and its work, requests for funding, etc.);
• Ensure that the relationship established with partners respects the principles and values of the ACF partnership policy, establishing productive partnership agreements;
• Produce and/or publish technical, strategic and activity information concerning technical progress on nutrition, health status, healthcare services situation and outbreaks in the country of intervention (for partners);
• Share relevant data regarding infectious diseases evolution (with emphasis in cholera outbreaks) with our partners, in order to improve the effectiveness of the collective response;
• Represent ACF in sectorial coordination at national and sub-national levels (sectorial and/ or cluster) and with technical authorities;
• All relevant meetings (Cluster/ Sector/ other relevant sectorial fora) are attended in a consistent way;
• If required, liaison with the Working Group takes place to elicit input prior to key meetings.

Skills Required

• Medical background (medicine, midwife, nurse, pharmacist) with a specialization in nutrition or public health. Master level;
• At least 5 years experience in the field of humanitarian emergency/complex context, including at least 3 years in a coordination position;
• Experience with ACF is a strong plus;
• Demonstrated experience in the management of malnutrition, in healthcare organizations support and in the implementation of humanitarian responses in an emergency context (with emphasis in community-based prevention activities as well as in maternal and child health);
• Experience in partnership with local authorities;
• Experience in outbreak responses is a plus;
• Familiarity with nutrition survey methodologies (SMART, NCA, SQUEAC, etc).) and in the setup of cholera control and IMCI interventions;
• Excellent interpersonal skills with partners and authorities, as well as proven writing skills (project writing, reporting, etc);
• Strong sense of flexibility and appetite for innovative solutions;
• Fluency in English (oral and written) and Portuguese is mandatory.

How to Apply

To complete your application, please complete the application form at the link.

Procedure: Selected candidates will be contacted by email for a technical test.

Note: The dossiers received will not be returned. Any application submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

Action Against Hunger is committed to preventing risks related to abuse, sexual exploitation and promoting gender equality and diversity. The ACF Mozambique mission encourages women to apply. Action Against Hunger’s recruitment process is free of charge and no form of compensation will be asked of a candidate. It reflects the main policies and its charter through its professionalism and impartiality. If you observe behaviour contrary to these values during this process, please inform the appropriate teams. All people hired by Action Against Hunger will also be checked for compliance with the so-called “anti-terrorist” lists, respecting the rights of employees and the confidentiality of personal data.

Contract duration: One year

Receiving base: Pemba, Cabo Delgado

Availability: Immediately

Remuneration: 252,503.00 MZN (Gross monthly Income) and 13th Month paid in December (prorata depending on the starting date)

Benefits: Health insurance including partner and children (providing certificates); 2 days per month paid leave