IPC Nutrition Specialist

Organizational Setting

The Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) conducts economic research and policy analysis to support the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, nutrition, environment and life, leaving no-one behind. ESA provides evidence-based support to national, regional and global policy processes and initiatives related to monitoring and analysing food and agricultural policies, agribusiness and value chain development, rural transformation and poverty, food security and nutrition information and analysis, resilience, bioeconomy, and climate-smart agriculture. The division also leads the production of two FAO flagship publications: The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI). 

The Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) is responsible for ensuring FAO's efforts to support countries and partners in preparing for and effectively responding to food and agricultural threats and crises. It is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance of corporate tools and standards to enable Decentralized Offices to assist Members to prepare for, and respond to emergencies. OER ensures humanitarian policy coordination and knowledge, liaison with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee as well as with humanitarian resource partners, co-leadership with the World Food Programme of the global Food Security Cluster, organizational preparedness, surge capacity and response to large-scale emergencies. OER supports food and nutrition security assessments and early warning activities related to emergency and humanitarian analysis and responses. OER plays a major role in the development and leadership of the Organization's programme to increase the resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a global, multi-partner innovative initiative to facilitate decision-making with improved food security analysis. The IPC is a set of tools and protocols for classifying the severity and nature of food insecurity that integrates food security, nutrition, and livelihood information into a clear statement about the nature and severity of food insecurity and implications for response.
IPC incorporates a meta-analytical approach drawing on evidence-based analysis that includes a broad range of data sets and stakeholders. This global initiative This global initiative is governed and strategically guided by an IPC Global Steering Committee (GSC), consisting of nineteen major UN agencies, international NGOs and regional intergovernmental bodies: Action Against Hunger, CARE International, Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the Global Food Security Cluster, the Global Nutrition Cluster, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union, Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (Oxfam), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Save the Children, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, and the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The IPC Global Support Unit (GSU), hosted within FAO and co-managed by FAO’s Agrifood Economics and Policy Division (ESA) and the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER), is the operational arm of the IPC Steering Committee and is responsible for the coordination of IPC normative development, IPC global standards on quality and compliance, as well as the global coordination of capacity building support to IPC activities worldwide.
IPC Call for Expression of Interest
As part of the implementation of the IPC Global Strategic Programme, the IPC engages experts to work on activities and projects as international consultants or under personal service agreements (PSA) at various levels of experience (see minimum requirements below). The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions and have a duration of up to 11 months. The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the availability of resources and needs of the Organization. 

The assignment can be Home-based or Rome-based and will require travel.

Individuals meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Call will be included in the ESA Divisional Roster. Experts who are registered in the Roster are available for consideration whenever relevant opportunities arise matching the required profiles.  

Reporting Lines

Selected applicants will work under the overall guidance of the IPC Global Programme Manager and IPC Global Lead for Technical Development and Innovations, and under functional supervision of the Technical Development Team Leader

Technical Focus 

Coordination: Coordinate the Global IPC Nutrition Working Group (NWG) and advance synergies in the global fora, facilitate global meetings to promote IPC technical development activities, and coordinate the nutrition activities of the IPC–Cadre Harmonisé (CH) Roadmap.
Technical: Lead IPC’s technical development work related to acute malnutrition, including analysis of persistent/protracted acute malnutrition, Famine detection and classification, and nutrition risk monitoring, as well as support technical capacity development

Tasks and responsibilities

The IPC is looking to identify qualified nutrition experts with broad experience and skills in at least three of the areas of work identified below:

•    Coordination of nutrition multi-partner global or regional fora, establishing partnerships, and building multi-partner synergies at various levels
•    Leading technical expert discussions related to different areas of nutrition, including but not limited to: nutrition situation analysis, nutrition information systems (NIS), health information systems (HIS), nutrition risk monitoring and analysis, and nutrition and mortality assessments, among others
•    Development of technical analysis tools and procedures, and writing of technical manuals
•    Facilitation of IPC Acute Malnutrition (AMN) analyses in countries characterised by extreme, protracted and volatile conditions, including risk of famine.
•    Participation in famine analysis and/or analysis of nutrition and mortality in high-severity contexts

Specific terms of reference will include detailed activities and deliverables based on the incumbent's experience in the broad areas of expertise mentioned above.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•    Bachelor's degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Statistics, Data Science, Information Systems or a closely related field, plus at least 5 years of relevant experience Proven experience in Integrated Food Security/Acute Malnutrition Phase Classification (IPC) and/or nutrition information systems and analysis related to the fields of nutrition, public health, or food security: 
o    Level A (Senior Expert) – at least 10 years of relevant experience
o    Level B (Expert) – at least 5 years of relevant experience
•    Working knowledge of English, French or Spanish and limited knowledge of one of the other two or Arabic, Chinese, Russian. Knowledge of Portuguese would be considered an asset in specific locations.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Selection Criteria 

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in emergency operations or famine contexts, is desirable. 
•    Extent and relevance of experience in food security and nutrition analysis and programmes. 
•    Extent and relevance of experience in the application of IPC scales and analytical processes. IPC Level 3 (lead) or Level 2 (facilitator) would be considered an asset.
•    Good facilitation and communication skills (oral and written), and demonstrated ability to tailor messages to different audiences, ranging from national level analysts to senior management of agencies. 
•    Familiarity with data analytics, data management, and visualisations/reporting tools, e.g. EPI Info/ENA software and SMART methodology. Knowledge of ArcGIS would be considered an asset.
•    Familiarity with the architecture of development and humanitarian assistance architecture at country, regional and global levels. Previous experience with IPC Partner Organizations would be considered an asset.