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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to a Future

How can you make a difference?

Humanitarian action is of fundamental importance to UNICEF and encompasses interventions aimed at saving lives, alleviating suffering, maintaining human dignity, and protecting the rights of affected populations wherever there are humanitarian needs, as well as interventions addressing underlying risks and causes of vulnerability to disasters, fragility and conflict. UNICEF’s humanitarian action is guided by the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs) which set organizational, programmatic and operational commitments and benchmarks against which UNICEF holds itself accountable for the coverage, quality and equity of its humanitarian action and advocacy and which are mandatory for all UNICEF personnel.

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 120 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Over the years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict, drought, landslide, and flood, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, UNICEF is committed to support humanitarian coordination through the cluster approach. UNICEF plays a key role in both global and country-level interagency coordination for its areas of programmatic responsibility.  As Cluster Lead Agency (CLA) for Nutrition, UNICEF is committed to fulfil the core functions defined by the IASC when the clusters are activated or when UNICEF is asked to support sectoral coordination. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

Purpose of the job:

Under the overall direction and guidance of the Chief of Field Operation and Nutrition section, the Nutrition Specialist Cluster Coordinator will provide leadership and representation of the Cluster/ Working Group at country level. They will facilitate the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, strategic, adequate, coherent, and effective response by participants in the national Cluster/ Working Group that is accountable to those who are affected by the emergency. In their effort to provide an efficient and effective response to the humanitarian crisis, the Nutrition Specialist Cluster Coordinator is responsible for building relationships with stakeholders, for securing the overall coordination of sectoral responses and for ensuring inter-sectoral collaboration at the sub-national level and for ensuring adequate coordination with the national level.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Coordination, representation and leadership

• Ensure and maintain a coordination mechanism that facilitates the effective achievement of the cluster functions (as outlined by the IASC Reference Module) and the requirements of the HPC (HNO, HRP and CCPM) and which builds on pre-existing coordination structures where appropriate and furthers the development of current or future national and subnational capacities,

• Coordinate with the national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group, ensuring alignment of work and priorities, effective communication, reporting and engagement between the levels,

• Supervise the sub-national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group coordination team,

Needs assessment and analysis

• Contribute to the planning and implementation of needs assessment and analysis, including contributing to multi-sectoral needs assessments and joint analysis of need, at national and sub-national levels,

• Analyse needs assessment data and work collaboratively with the national and sub-national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group partners to create analytical products, including an HNO based on evidence-based information.

Strategic response planning

• Contribute to national-level strategic planning, response prioritization and the development of the sectoral response plan that is based on the HNO and aligned with national priorities, policies, and plans.

• Ensure all programme delivery modalities (in-kind, cash, voucher and services) are given equal consideration in the strategic response planning and establish and implement systematic measures for supporting their consideration and use,

• Provide technical support to national and sub-national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group partners to ensure activities are aligned with national priorities and communities' needs,

Resource mobilization and advocacy

• Support partners' resource mobilization to promote the effective functioning of the national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group and its response,

• Monitor, analyze and communicate information about the national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group’s financial situation and resource mobilization and identify appropriate actions to address gaps or constraints,

• Advocate for improved sectoral outcomes, network with advocacy allies and influence stakeholders' decision-making.

Implementation and monitoring

• Monitor, evaluate and report on the coverage, equity, quality and progress of the response against the Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group strategy, priorities and agreed results at the national level,

• Contribute to gap and coverage analysis to identify spatial and temporal gaps, overlaps and coverage of the Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group humanitarian response,

• Monitor the national and sub-national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group’s adherence to IASC cluster approach principles, relevant humanitarian and sectoral agreements, standards, initiatives and guidelines and encourage partners to make improvements.

Accountability to affected populations

• Be accountable to the affected population by establishing inclusive and consultative feedback mechanisms and encouraging the involvement of the affected population in the response,

• Ensure the inclusion of cross-cutting issues (age, child protection, disability, gender, gender-based violence (GBV) mitigation and response and HIV & AIDS) in national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group activities throughout the HPC,

Strengthen national and local capacity

• Encourage participation of local and national actors in national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group activities and strategic decision-making, removing barriers to access,

• Contribute to the development of a capacity assessment and capacity strengthening strategy for Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group members and oversee implementation and harmonization of initiatives,

• Lead early warning, contingency planning, and emergency preparedness efforts for the national and sub-national Cluster/ Sector/ Working Group.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  Nutrition Specialist Cluster Coordinator Level 3.docx

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in nutrition, public health, nutritional epidemiology, global/international health and nutrition, health/nutrition research, policy and/or management, health sciences, humanitarian assistance and development or another health-related social science field.

• Work Experience: A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in nutrition, public health, nutrition planning and management, or maternal, infant and child health/nutrition care. Experience of working in the humanitarian coordination system is required.
• Skills: Humanitarian architecture, cluster approach and core functions, Humanitarian principles, standards and guidelines, Nutrition in Emergencies principles, standards, concepts, tools and resources

• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables

• Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.

• Relevant experience in health/nutrition programme/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.

• Direct, practical experience in the design, implementation and/ or coordination of nutrition interventions through community-based platforms, and effective intersectoral collaboration is strongly desired. 

• Prior experience in partnership development and management, including bilateral donors, foundations and civil society, is an asset.

• Experience in effective management of human resources/teams in high-stress/risk environments is an advantage.

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance. 

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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.