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Contract Duration: 6 Months

Working arrangement: Office Based

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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 healthcare.

How can you make a difference?

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) delivers nutrition services through community outreach, nursing stations, health centres, hospitals, divisional health teams and national programme structures. Community health workers and frontline health personnel contribute to screening, growth monitoring, counselling, referral, treatment follow-up and routine reporting.

Nutrition information is therefore generated at several points in the continuum of care. However, the information collected at community, primary health care, outpatient, inpatient and national levels is not always consistently defined, linked, reported or used. Referral outcomes, discharge follow-up and movement between services may be difficult to track, while duplication and differences in recording and reporting practices can increase staff workload and affect data quality.

Fiji's wider health information environment includes paper-based and electronic clinical and public health systems. Any improvement to nutrition information should build on existing MHMS systems, clarify essential information needs and responsibilities, and avoid creating a separate or unsustainable reporting mechanism.

This consultancy will focus on a rapid and practical assessment, agreement on a minimum nutrition dataset, a prioritised improvement plan and preparation of a small set of priority tools.

Purpose

The purpose of the consultancy is to support MHMS to strengthen the consistency, quality, linkage and use of priority nutrition information from community to national level, while working through existing government structures and information systems.

Scope of Work

The consultant will work closely with MHMS, UNICEF and relevant partners. The work should be practical, and focused on improvements that can be implemented through existing MHMS structures and systems.

- Review key nutrition policies, guidelines, registers, reporting tools and relevant health information system documents.

- Consult a focused sample of national, divisional, facility and community stakeholders and map how priority nutrition information is recorded, reported, linked and used.

- Identify the most important gaps affecting data quality, referral completion, inpatient and outpatient continuity, discharge follow-up, reporting burden and use of data.

- Agree with MHMS a concise minimum nutrition dataset, standard definitions and clear responsibilities for recording, reporting, validation and feedback.

- Develop a short, prioritised improvement plan covering immediate actions that can begin within existing systems and a limited number of medium-term actions requiring additional resources.

- Prepare or refine a small set of priority tools, such as selected reporting templates, referral and feedback forms, data-quality checks, standard operating procedures or a simple routine reporting format.

- Facilitate validation, incorporate consolidated feedback, orient designated MHMS personnel and provide all final products in editable format.

- Avoid designing a parallel information system or undertaking major software development, national rollout or large-scale training within this consultancy.

If you would like to know more about this consultancy, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: Terms of Reference TMC0007662.pdf

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

Minimum requirements:

Education

An advanced university degree in nutrition, public health, epidemiology, health informatics, health information systems, monitoring and evaluation, biostatistics or another directly relevant field.

A first university degree in a relevant field combined with at least two additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

Work experience

- At least five years of progressively responsible professional experience in nutrition information, routine health information systems, public health monitoring, health data or related health-system strengthening.

- Demonstrated experience conducting data-flow mapping, indicator and data-element review, data-quality assessment and analysis of routine reporting arrangements.

- Demonstrated experience developing practical data dictionaries, reporting tools, referral or follow-up tools, standard operating procedures, data-quality checks or implementation plans.

- Experience consulting with government counterparts and facilitating technical review or validation processes.

Technical knowledge and skills

- Strong understanding of individual-level and aggregate health information, data governance, confidentiality, reporting burden, data use and continuity of care.

- Ability to translate assessment findings into focused, feasible recommendations that can be implemented through existing systems and resources.

- Strong analytical, facilitation and technical writing skills, including preparation of concise reports and editable operational tools.

Language requirements

- Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of iTaukei, Fiji Hindi or another Pacific language is an asset.

Desirable

- Previous experience working with a ministry of health in Fiji, another Pacific island country or a comparable small-island setting.

- Experience in maternal, infant and young child nutrition, growth monitoring or management of acute malnutrition information is an asset.

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 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 reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 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.

Qualified candidates are invited to submit the following documents via the online recruitment portal, TMS (Talent Management System):

An up-to-date TMS profile and curriculum vitae (CV)
Cover letter
A separate financial proposal (only acceptable in the format of the linked template) Financial Proposal TMC0007662.docx
A detailed technical proposal : Applicants must outline the methodology, workplan, quality assurance approach and proposed sustainability measure

Remarks: If the TOR or financial proposal documents are not downloadable on certain recruitment platforms, please visit our official page Vacancies | UNICEF Careers.

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.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Nutrition Information System Strengthening Consultant, Suva, Fiji, 6 Months, OfficeBased with field trips. (Open for International Candidates Only) Req#596479