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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. 

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. 

And we never give up. 

For every child, sustenance

How can you make a difference? 

Background:

Indonesia, with 38 provinces and 514 districts across more than 17,000 islands, faces ongoing nutritional challenges despite robust economic growth. The country bears the triple burden of malnutrition, encompassing undernutrition (stunting and wasting), overweight/obesity, and widespread micronutrient deficiencies. According to the 2023 Indonesia Health Survey, 21.5% of children under five are stunted, 8.5% are wasted, and 4.2% are overweight. Additionally, 23.8% of children under five and 27.7% of pregnant women suffer from anemia, posing risks to maternal and child health and maintaining cycles of poor cognitive development, productivity loss, and poverty.

Over the years, Indonesia has made significant efforts to combat malnutrition through comprehensive policies and programs. Key initiatives include the Health Law No. 36/2009, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement (2011), and the National Strategy to Accelerate Stunting Reduction (STRANAS), launched under Presidential Decree No. 42/2013 and renewed through No. 72/2021. These efforts have contributed to notable progress, with stunting prevalence declining from 37.6% in 2013 to 21.5% in 2023. Nutrition remains a top priority within the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029, with commitments to universal school meal programs and supplementary food for under-five children and pregnant women.

With 2024 marking the final year of STRANAS, the National Health Strategy, and the Medium-Term Development Plan, the Ministry of Health seeks to conduct a comprehensive review of its nutrition programs to assess progress, identify gaps, and provide evidence-based recommendations for sustaining and enhancing improvements. To ensure the success of this critical review, an experienced Team Leader is needed to provide technical leadership, oversee the assessment process, and guide a multi-disciplinary team. The Team Leader will play a pivotal role in ensuring the review’s accuracy, stakeholder engagement, and alignment with national priorities, delivering actionable insights to strengthen Indonesia’s future nutrition strategy.

Scope of Work

The International Team Leader will play a strategic role in managing and guiding a multidisciplinary team to deliver a comprehensive and impactful National Nutrition Review and will work on nutrition governance. This will involve coordinating one international consultant on maternal nutrition who will conduct the review and develop strategies to improve maternal nutrition services, one national team leader who will focus on prevention of malnutrition in children under five; and three national consultants with specialized expertise: the School-Age and Adolescent Nutrition Consultant who will review programs for school-age children and adolescents; the Care for Wasted Children and Nutrition in Emergency Consultant who will review the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition and Nutrition in Emergency Programme, and the Nutrition Program Costing Consultant who will provide financial insights, ensuring budgeting strategies align with governance reforms. 

The International Team Leader will oversee the entire review, focusing on governance structures, leadership, and multi-sectoral coordination, while fostering collaboration, optimizing the team’s effectiveness in a remote working environment, and ensuring all contributions align with global standards and national priorities for a cohesive and impactful review process.

To ensure efficient team operations, the Leader will develop and implement robust communication and management systems, facilitating regular updates, progress reviews, and timely problem-solving. They will proactively address challenges, optimize team dynamics, and leverage the diverse expertise of team members to develop a unified and evidence-based approach. Close coordination with the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) will be critical to ensure alignment with national priorities and global standards, driving a consistent focus on actionable outcomes.

By strategically leading and coordinating the team, the Leader will ensure that the review is not only completed on time but also delivers high-quality, actionable insights that contribute to the development of sustainable, evidence-driven nutrition strategies for Indonesia’s future. This leadership will play a key role in shaping policies and interventions that address the nation’s nutritional challenges and drive measurable improvements in child and public health outcomes.

Design and Methodology

The Team Leader will design a comprehensive assessment framework that incorporates key elements such as planning, budgeting, human resources, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and service delivery dimensions. The methodology will align with global best practices, such as the WHO Nutrition Landscape Information System (NLIS), while ensuring coherence with Indonesia’s national priorities and policy frameworks. The review will employ desk reviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field visits at both national and subnational levels to provide a detailed understanding of the nutrition program's implementation and effectiveness.

Governance and Coordination

A key focus of the review will be evaluating the governance structures for nutrition at both national and subnational levels. This includes assessing the effectiveness of inter-agency and inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms in achieving nutrition objectives. The Team Leader will analyze the alignment of policies, plans, and budgets with Indonesia’s national nutrition strategies to identify gaps and opportunities for enhancement. Additionally, the review will examine the capacity of national and subnational stakeholders to effectively implement the activities outlined in the STRANAS framework.

Resource Management

The Team Leader will assess the allocation, utilization, and management of financial and human resources across national, provincial, and district levels, focusing on budget processes, resource flow, and deployment effectiveness. This includes identifying bottlenecks, proposing solutions to enhance efficiency and equity, and analyzing whether current financing levels meet the needs to achieve STRANAS endline targets. Recommendations will address funding gaps, resource optimization, and strategies for sustainable support to ensure equitable nutrition outcomes.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Nutrition Data & Information Systems

The robustness of nutrition-related data collection, reporting, and utilization will be a key area of focus. The Team Leader will analyze existing M&E frameworks to evaluate their effectiveness in tracking progress against national and global nutrition targets. Recommendations will aim to strengthen data-driven decision-making and accountability mechanisms.

Stakeholder Engagement

The Team Leader will facilitate consultations with government agencies, subnational entities, and development partners, utilizing various communication channels, including virtual platforms, to gather diverse perspectives and ensure a participatory approach. Stakeholder feedback will be incorporated into the review process and final recommendations, ensuring the outputs are practical and broadly supported.

Reporting and Dissemination

The Team Leader will lead and work closely with a team of Internation and National Consultants to draft, validate, and finalize a comprehensive National Nutrition Review report. This report will synthesize findings and provide actionable recommendations to inform future strategies. The Team Leader will also present the findings and recommendations to key stakeholders, ensuring clarity, accessibility, and alignment with Indonesia’s nutrition goals.

Please refer to the Term of Reference attached for the detailed tasks and deliverables.

 TOR International Team Leader - TMS.pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

• Advanced university degree in nutrition, food science, food technology, public health, medical sciences, or related field
• More than 10 years of experience in programme related strategies including planning/budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation; and advanced knowledge of nutrition programs, governance systems, resource management, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks, with a strong understanding of global nutrition standards (e.g., WHO, UNICEF) and their application in national contexts.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams across international and national contexts, fostering collaboration, and ensuring accountability in remote environments.
• Experience in synthesizing diverse data and inputs into cohesive, evidence-based strategies and recommendations, with a proactive approach to identifying and addressing challenges.
• Excellent skills in engaging and collaborating with high-level stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners, and technical advisory groups, to ensure alignment and buy-in.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, and experience working in diverse cultural settings, with a deep understanding of Indonesia’s or similar social, political, and health systems to ensure relevance and appropriateness of strategies.
• Strong written and verbal communication abilities (English), with the capacity to present complex findings and recommendations clearly, persuasively, and in formats tailored to diverse audiences.
• Capability to adapt to changing circumstances, manage diverse perspectives, and use digital communication tools to streamline team coordination and maintain progress in a dynamic, remote work environment.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) and core competencies:

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (if applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.