Public Health and Nutrition Senior Project Officer

Position Title: Public Health and Nutrition Senior Project Officer

Employment Type: Fixed, Full-time

Level: Senior Officer

Duration: One year with the possibility of extension

Salary: Based on experience, aligned with the organization’s salary scale.

Background

Nexus 4 Empowerment and Development (N4ED) is a grassroots Ethiopian Civil Society Organization committed to fostering a brighter generation through investments in children’s nutrition, early childhood development, and women’s empowerment. N4ED connects people, knowledge, and opportunities to build resilient communities. We strengthen the foundations of life through three interconnected pillars: Early Childhood Development & Family Well-being, Women’s Economic Empowerment, and Social Empowerment & Protection.

The Public Health and Nutrition Senior Project Officer will support the planning, coordination, and implementation of N4ED’s public health and nutrition projects. The position is primarily responsible for leading the day-to-day implementation of project activities, providing technical support, facilitating community-based interventions, and ensuring that project objectives are achieved while improving the health and nutritional well-being of target communities.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate and implement public health and nutrition project activities in accordance with approved work plans and timelines.
• Develop and deliver needs-based educational sessions on public health and nutrition for community members and project beneficiaries.
• Provide targeted education for women, men, girls, and boys in different community settings to address specific health and nutrition issues.
• Prepare and update manuals, training materials, and educational resources to support health and nutrition awareness activities.
• Organize and facilitate training sessions for community members, volunteers, and relevant stakeholders on public health and nutrition topics.
• Design and support preventive health and nutrition interventions that address malnutrition and common public health concerns.
• Implement maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) interventions, including breastfeeding promotion, complementary feeding, and responsive feeding practices.
• Support nutrition screening activities for children and women, including MUAC measurement, weight monitoring, identification, and referral of nutrition-related concerns.
• Promote essential health practices, including hygiene, sanitation, infant and young child feeding, and balanced diets.
• Organize cooking demonstrations using locally available ingredients and promote practical, nutritious meal preparation.
• Develop innovative recipes utilizing local foods to encourage dietary diversity.
• Conduct regular field visits to monitor implementation, provide on-site technical support, and ensure the quality of project activities.
• Monitor project activities, collect project data, track progress against planned objectives, and prepare periodic technical and activity reports.
• Liaise and coordinate with government offices, health facilities, community leaders, and partner organizations to support effective project implementation.
• Provide technical support and day-to-day guidance to project assistants, volunteers, and community facilitators during project implementation.
• Document project achievements, success stories, lessons learned, and best practices to support organizational learning and reporting.
• Ensure project activities are implemented in accordance with N4ED policies and relevant national health and nutrition guidelines.
• Facilitate the implementation of other N4ED health and nutrition initiatives in line with organizational priorities.

Moreover, in accordance with N4ED’s other services and projects, the Public Health and Nutrition Senior Project Officer may be assigned additional responsibilities as deemed necessary by the organization.

Qualifications

• A first degree in Public Health or Health Officer Studies and a master’s degree with a specialization in Nutrition.
• Minimum of 4 years of relevant professional experience in implementing community-based public health and nutrition programs, preferably with NGOs or development organizations.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating and implementing community-based health and nutrition projects while working with multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong expertise in developing and delivering public health and nutrition training.
• Demonstrated experience in preparing manuals, training materials, and educational resources.
• Experience organizing cooking demonstrations and promoting locally available nutritious foods.
• Experience conducting field monitoring, community mobilization, and stakeholder engagement.
• Good knowledge of preventive health, community nutrition, maternal and child nutrition, and behavior change approaches.
• Good organizational, planning, and coordination skills.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders, government institutions, and community groups.
• Ability to mentor and provide technical support to junior staff, volunteers, and community facilitators while actively participating in field implementation.
• Proficiency in Amharic and English; knowledge of an additional Ethiopian language is an asset.
• Demonstrated leadership, initiative, and the ability to coordinate project activities while working both independently and as part of a team.
• Strong time management, problem-solving, documentation, and reporting skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to volunteering and community engagement.