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.

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For every child, the right to a Calling

How can you make a difference?

Madagascar faces one of the highest burdens of child malnutrition globally, with poor dietary diversity remaining a key contributor to undernutrition among young children. Achieving sustainable improvements in child nutrition requires not only nutrition-specific interventions but also stronger food systems that increase the availability, accessibility, affordability, and consumption of nutritious foods. In line with UNICEF’s mandate to protect the rights and well-being of every child and contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger), UNICEF Madagascar is implementing the First Food initiative to improve the diets of children aged 6–23 months through food systems approaches and multisectoral partnerships. Based within the Nutrition Section, the Nutrition Specialist (First Food) will provide technical leadership and programme support to advance innovative solutions, strengthen partnerships, and scale up interventions that improve child dietary diversity and nutrition outcomes, particularly in priority regions of southern and south-eastern Madagascar.

Join UNICEF Madagascar's Nutrition team and contribute to improving nutrition outcomes for school-age children and adolescents across the country. Under the supervision of the Nutrition Specialist, you will support the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of nutrition programmes, helping to translate evidence and policy into impactful action for children and young people.

The role combines programme development and planning, programme management, monitoring and delivery of results, technical and operational support to programme implementation, networking and partnership building, and innovation, knowledge management and capacity building. You will work closely with government counterparts, UN agencies, development partners, civil society organizations and other UNICEF sectors to strengthen multisectoral approaches, generate evidence, monitor programme performance and build sustainable national capacity.

Through your contributions, you will help accelerate progress towards improved nutrition, health and well-being outcomes for Madagascar's children and adolescents, while advancing UNICEF's commitment to equity and the rights of every child.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Download File JD Nutrition Specialist (P-3), FT, #00118343, Antananarivo, Madagascar, ESAR.pdf

To qualify an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Nutrition, Public Health, Agriculture, Political Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Health, Agriculture, Political Science, Development Study, Food System Science, Nutrition Research and any other related fields.
Work Experience: At least 5 years of relevant work experience in a developing country in one or more of the following areas is required: Nutrition, Public Health, Agriculture, Child Nutrition, Infant and young child feeding, Food Systems, Maternal and child health and any other related fields.
Skills: Food Science, Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Program Development, Public Health, Partnership Development, Capacity Building, Policy Advocacy, Project Implementation.
Language Requirements: Fluency in French and English is required.

Desirables:

Language: Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language.
Experience in nutrition and/or agriculture programme/project development and management with Rome based UN system agency is an asset.
Experience in results-based management, SDG2 knowledge, value chain development, field work in developing countries in an asset.
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
(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

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, discrimination, fraud, corruption and other forms of serious misconduct. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference, safeguarding and background verification checks. These checks may include verification of academic credentials and employment history, screening against relevant United Nations misconduct databases, and requests for misconduct disclosures from current and former employers, professional associations, other relevant organizations and participating organizations under inter-agency safeguarding initiatives, including the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS), where applicable. Appointment, selection and continued engagement are subject to the satisfactory completion of all required checks. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information and consent to enable UNICEF to undertake these checks. 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 are conditional on the selected candidates willingness to comply with current or future vaccination requirements, should UNICEF mandate it for personnel. Failure to comply with such requirements, where applicable and without a duly approved medical exemption from the relevant UN authority, will result in the cancellation of the selection or may lead to other administrative measures, including separation from service.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable women and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants' bank account information.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF's Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.