Senior Advisor, Health and Nutrition at Save the Children

Save the Children Canada (SCC) is a member of Save the Children International, a federation that works in more than 120 countries worldwide delivering programs focused on health and nutrition, education, child protection, child poverty, humanitarian response, and child rights governance. As the world’s leading independent organization for children, Save the Children’s vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Reporting to the Head of Gender Equality and Program Impact, this position plays a leadership role in the development, implementation and evaluation of Save the Children Canada’s Health and Nutrition portfolio. The Senior Health & Nutrition Advisor distills learnings from this portfolio to produce programming guidance and evidence on gender-transformative Health & Nutrition programming, thought leadership, and compelling fundraising proposals. The Senior Health & Nutrition Advisor stays abreast of industry developments and maintains relationships with key players in the Health and Nutrition space, both in Canada and at the international level. This position will also lead engagement in the Canadian Health & Nutrition sector as well as the greater Save the Children network. The Senior Health & Nutrition Advisor represents Save the Children Canada and provides strategic leadership on Health & Nutrition within Save the Children’s Technical Working Groups as well as within the Canadian sector. In addition, the role will also entail providing people leadership to the Health & Nutrition team in Canada, in addition to guiding the work of other Thematic Advisors working in Health and Nutrition projects. Support will also be provided towards Save the Children’s policy advocacy work, including profiling with the Canadian Government.

Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Thematic & Strategic Leadership, Portfolio Oversight and Technical Quality Assurance

· Lead the development and monitoring of the organization’s Health & Nutrition program vision and impact strategy.

· Provide leadership and strategic oversight of the organizations’ Health and Nutrition portfolio in both development and humanitarian contexts.

· Lead the translation of organizational strategy into concrete objectives and initiatives in the area of Health & Nutrition.

· Maintain line of sight on technical quality at the country level through effective relationships with Regional and Country offices, enabling timely provision of technical input and oversight.

· Manage and acquire strategic partnerships with research and technical partners in the area of Health and Nutrition.

· Lead the development, dissemination and monitoring of program quality tools including supporting program evaluations in the area of Health and Nutrition, with a focus on gender-transformative and adolescent-friendly health and nutrition programming.

· Collaborate globally with Save the Children peers and participate in relevant Health & Nutrition initiatives and working groups to achieve thematic outcomes and drive Save the Children breakthroughs.

· Representation on relevant Technical Working Groups within Canada and within Save the Children, in leadership and/or support roles.

· Provide strategic advisory support to SCC senior leadership related to Health & Nutrition.

· Provide support to the leadership and delivery of Save the Children Common Approaches in the area of Health & Nutrition.

Business Development and Donor Engagement

· New opportunity generation from institutional and private sources and assessment for funding Health & Nutrition programs in alignment to global and strategic plan and growth targets.

· Lead proposal development and technical oversight, leveraging technical expertise and project learnings from Save the Children programs in the Health & Nutrition sector.

· Design relevant technical tools for business development in addition to socializing them with the business development and technical teams while also providing oversight on their use.

· Support Country Offices to build Save the Children Common Approaches into project design.

· Cultivate and strengthen relationships with key funders/donors, research institutes, peer NGO agencies, partners, and sector thought leaders in the Health & Nutrition sector.

Advocacy and Communications

· Support the development and execution of advocacy strategy to influence policy changes and resource mobilization, including producing high quality thought leadership materials and leading positioning activities such as representation at industry panels, presentations to donors, participation in external practitioner networks, and global Working Groups.

· Support the production of high quality thought leadership materials and other products to engage the public around Health & Nutrition initiatives.

· Act as a spokesperson for the organization around Health & Nutrition issues.

Program Learning & Innovation

· Lead the design, testing, and evaluation of innovations to advance gender-transformative and adolescent-friendly Health & Nutrition programming.

· Distill learnings and evidence generated into succinct and compelling programmatic guidance and thought leadership for internal and external consumption.

· Monitor developments in the sector and field to develop and refine program models and identify new research opportunities.

· Co-lead program impact initiatives on Health & Nutrition with the objective of generating compelling evidence on the organization’s Health & Nutrition portfolio, informing quality program design and implementation as well as innovations and best practice.

· Share results, evidence and learnings of Save the Children Common Approaches implementation with key internal and external stakeholders.

Staff Management, Capacity Strengthening and Mentoring

· Lead the Health & Nutrition team in Canada to support strategic organizational goals.

· Provide mentoring and coaching, actively supporting the professional development of International Programs employees and their efforts to build knowledge of gender-transformative and adolescent-friendly Health & Nutrition programming.

· In compliance with HR policies and the Collective Agreement, lead employees using a performance management process that includes performance goal setting, timely feedback, and recognition.

· Manage new employee’s onboarding, ensuring employees receive relevant training and tools to be successful in their roles.

· Model behaviours consistent with Save the Children values, actively creating an organizational culture that reflects the organization’s values and principles.

· Managerial responsibilities of ensuring health and safety, proactive risk management through organizational policy enforcement and maintaining currency of organizational policies and procedures, and integrating Child Safeguarding practices across our work.

Qualifications & Competencies (include but are not limited to):

· Completion of University Degree, plus post-graduate degree or professional designation (Master of Public Health or related field).

· 10+ years’ work experience in international development, with a focus on health and nutrition.

· 3 years of experience in people management.

· Strong knowledge and understanding of gender equality principles and practices.

· Strong knowledge of the global health and nutrition policy landscape in Canada.

· Demonstrated thought leadership expertise such as contributions to academic journals, books, articles; speaking engagements, leading conference presentations and panels.

· Is a strategic big picture thinker, with the ability to engage at detailed project level.

· Strong facilitator, with experience convening and coordinating working groups.

· Is innovative, develops new ideas, and demonstrates adaptability.

· Ability to synthesize and develop high-quality knowledge products from diverse data sources including programmatic materials and tools.

· Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to develop strong working relationships across cultural and organizational boundaries with internal and external stakeholders, and managing through influence.

· Superior English verbal and written skills; proficiency in French considered an asset.

· Comfortable working independently as well as with receiving and accounting for direction and engaging as part of a dynamic team.

· Adhere to Child Safeguarding policies & procedures.

· Police Check and Vulnerable Sector screening.