Project Officer, Nutrition in Humanitarian Contexts

Position description

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Advancing Nutrition project is the Agency’s flagship nutrition project, led by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), and a diverse group of experienced partners. Launched in September 2018, USAID Advancing Nutrition implements and provides technical support to nutrition interventions across sectors and disciplines for USAID and its partners. The project’s multi-sectoral approach draws together global nutrition experience to design, implement and evaluate programs that address the root causes of malnutrition. Committed to using a systems approach, USAID Advancing Nutrition strives to sustain positive outcomes by building local capacity, supporting behavior change and strengthening the enabling environment to save lives, improve health, build resilience, increase economic productivity and advance development. 

SUMMARY
The Project Officer sits on the Nutrition in Humanitarian Context (NHC) Team and is responsible for a range of coordination, research/programming, financial and administrative activities as outlined below. The successful candidate will work under the direction of the NHC Director, and engage in activities providing technical support to the Bureau of Humanitarian Response. These activities may include support for the coordination of discrete technical assistance tasks ranging from agriculture in emergencies to food assistance to wasting treatment/prevention; support to USAID Advancing Nutrition Technical Advisors on research; budget monitoring and projections; coordination of on-line events; notetaking, and provide general support for the Activity Leads and Director as needed. Working closely with the team’s Project Coordinator, the Project Officer will take the lead in administrative tasks to ensure the team meets all contractual deliverables, ensures US government compliance, manages the budget, and provides technical input when needed. Occasionally, the Project Officer may be asked to lead special initiatives or support activities that bridge across the project’s technical teams. This position is based in Arlington, VA and will be supervised by the Director, NHC. The salary range for this position is $47,500 to $64,865. Please note the JSI office is closed due to the ongoing pandemic and that all project staff are working remotely until the office reopens.  

Advancing Nutrition is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Project Officer will:

• Under the supervision of the NHC Director, will provide operational and technical support to the development and implementation of the NHC team activities, including; work plans, detailed implementation plans, technical deliverables, and budget monitoring.
• Support the timely completion of team deliverables by monitoring detailed implementation plans, budget tracking, and developing processes/management tools.
• Monitor activity timelines and keep Technical Directors and activity leads appraised of current status, upcoming deadlines, issues, and/or delays. 
• Facilitate the development and review of programmatic reports and communication materials, including annual and quarterly reports, literature reviews, strategy documents, policy briefs, and research reports. 
• Manage the document review process to ensure quality and maintain version control; work closely with the Knowledge Management team to coordinate editing, layout, and/or translation, and track deliverable timelines.
• Provide support to secondary documentation reviews and participate in information/data analysis and draft content, as needed, to inform reports, briefs and assessments.
• Lead the coordination of technical activities such trainings, webinars, stakeholder meetings, and workshops, with support from the Project Coordinator. 
• Manage the preparations for special events such as conferences and workshops, and support administrative and management activities such as staff retreats and meetings. 
• Develop scopes of work (SOW) for qualified consultants and technical assistance (TA) visits, and facilitate the recruitment of appropriate TA providers; supervise consultants as appropriate.  
• Serve as budget manager for assigned activities, liaising closely with the Finance Manager, Project Coordinator and Activity Lead to track spending and ensure appropriate allocation of funds.
• Work closely with and mentor Project Coordinators. 
• Perform other related duties as requested/assigned and carryout overseas assignments as needed and skills allow.

Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree or relevant experience in the field of humanitarian studies, nutrition, health, international development, or a related field.
Experience: 1-3 years of relevant work experience in the humanitarian arena and/or project management. Experience working and living in a developing country highly preferred. Experience with USAID contracts a plus.
Required Skills/Characteristics: 

• Flexibility, with the ability to work on multiple tasks and in fluid environments with changing priorities.
• Organized and attentive to detail.
• Proactive and comfortable independently gathering information to complete tasks.
• Engaging with financial management systems for budgeting and budget tracking Strong writing and budgeting skills.
• Concise writing to summarize research findings, from surveys and from published research.
• Ability to interact professionally with culturally and linguistically diverse colleagues
• Ability to work comfortably in the MS Office Suite applications, specifically MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as Google applications, e.g. Google Docs, Google Drive.

Preferred Skills:

• Planning/coordinating meetings and on-line events.
• Organizing travel logistics.

Languages: English fluency required. French spoken and written capacity preferred.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting will remain open until the position is filled.

Salary commensurate with experience.

Application instructions

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