🇸🇱 Job Vacancy @ Helen Keller International – Project Officer

Job Announcement – External 

Project Officer (Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation) – Readvertisement

Job Type:    Full time

Location:     Freetown, Sierra Leone

Contract      Duration: (12 months subject to renewal based on funding availability)

Reports to:  Program Coordinator (Nutrition)

Grade: H

Helen Keller International is a global health organization dedicated to eliminating preventable vision loss, malnutrition, and diseases of poverty. Helen Keller Intl partners with communities that are striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty and is devoted to scaling up evidence-based, cost-effective solutions to improve care practices and ensure that basic health interventions reach vulnerable people, with a focus on women, youth, and children.

Helen Keller Intl has been operating in Sierra Leone for nearly 20 years in support of the Nutrition and Neglected Tropical Disease (NTDs) components of the National Health Development Plan of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, as well as the food security component of the Ministry of Agriculture.

High stillbirth, neonatal (31/1000), and infant mortality (77/1000) rates persist in Sierra Leone.  About 11% of newborns are small-for-gestational-age. The distance to health centers, unpredictable costs, shortages of supplies, and the lack of public utilities contribute to poor antenatal care. Many policies, initiatives, and strategies post-war have targeted these weaknesses most importantly the Free Health Care Initiative in 2011 and the Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescents Health strategy launched in 2012.

Micronutrient deficiencies are common among pregnant women in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) primarily due to inadequate dietary intake and limited diversity of fruits, vegetables, animal protein, and fortified foods.

It is difficult to fill micronutrient gaps by promoting dietary change alone or even with iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements. Because of this, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), along with the World Health Organization (WHO), formulated a prenatal Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS) in 1999 to provide the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of 15 micronutrients, including IFA, as a potentially cost-effective strategy to address a broad spectrum of micronutrient deficiencies.

The Project Officer (MMS) will be responsible for supporting MMS activities in Helen Keller Sierra Leone.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with the Program Coordinator (Nutrition) to contribute to meeting the objectives and targets of the project effectively and efficiently within the time frame.
• Support the program coordinator in planning organizing, and carrying out facilitation activities on the health worker’s training on MMS with the directorate of food and nutrition and the directorate of reproductive and child health at the national level in line with the project’s timeline and implementation model as adapted
• Assist the Program Coordinator in planning with the district health management team for the training of multiple micronutrient supplements at the district level
• Participate in the training of health workers on the transition from iron folate to multiple micronutrient supplements. Utilize training materials and resources provided by the program to improve the quality of MMS activities as appropriate.
• Contribute to quality assurance of program activities
• Lead any procurement activities on multiple micronutrient supplements in collaboration with team members and other teams in the CO, as needed
• Assist in conducting initial and periodic information/advocacy sessions with community leaders and local authorities to build awareness, understanding, and support for Multiple micronutrient supplement activities
• Attending monthly in-charge meetings and collecting portfolio data on a regular basis, in line with the implementation plan and timeline.
• Assist the Program Coordinator to develop and monitor the workplace for MMS activities
• Assist the Program Coordinator in monitoring and overseeing the MMS field activities in terms of supplies, and supervision at the districts and health facility level.
• Participate in all monitoring activities, nutritional surveys, and/or assessments with special attention on multiple micronutrient supplements
• Work closely with the M&E staff and other program staff to collect and analyze the project data
• Participate in and contribute to all relevant meetings, platforms, and workshops in the country when delegated to do so.
• Ensure the understanding and compliance of procurement policy and other operations policies of the organization.

Additional Job Responsibilities:

• The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Qualification and experience

• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field – nutrition, public health, social sciences, etc.
• At least 3 years of proven in implementing nutrition programs
• Program management experience a plus
• Willingness to travel to the field
• Must be able to work in a dynamic and complex environment
• Excellent written and verbal English language skills

Terms & Conditions

This is a local posting in Sierra Leone, and as such, is subject to local terms and conditions.

To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to:

[email protected]

or hand-deliver to: Helen Keller Int Office at 16H James Macarthy Drive, off Spur Road, Wilberforce, Freetown.

Please mark your application as per the references stated in the position above (referencing the SUBJECT heading)

Closing date for the receipt of applications for the above vacancies is 17:00hrs on Thursday 26  January, 2023 

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

“Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply”