Quality Assurance Officer, Nutrition project – Capacity Development

Posted: 05 Jun 2014 11:54 PM PDT

Vacancy Number: QA/CapDev/06/14
Department: Capacity Development
Duration: 2 years’ contract


ILRI seeks to recruit a Quality Assurance Officer to enhance ILRI’s contribution to the mNutrition project, which will be aligned with ILRI’s efforts in the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (www.a4nh.cgiar.org) & Livestock and Fish (http://livestockfish.cgiar.org/). The assignment will involve working with all consortium partners and local content providers to manage a range of quality assurance procedures, and provide advice and guidance concerning mNutrition quality assurance systems and their implementation.

ILRI is part of a DFID/GSMA funded mNutrition Global Content Partner consortium that includes CAB International (lead partner), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), OXFAM, and the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The consortium will lead the in-country development of the nutrition content framework and work with local partners to develop relevant mNutrition services.  The ultimate goal of the mNutrition Initiative is to contribute to improving nutrition and food security of the poor, especially women, by harnessing the power of mobile technologies to improve access to information on nutrition-specific behaviors as well as nutrition-sensitive health and agricultural practices.  The initiative plans to reach at least 3 million beneficiaries across 10 Sub-Saharan African and 4 Asian countries in 3 years.
ILRI works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centers working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in West and southern Africa and South and Southeast Asia. www.ilri.org.

The Centre’s headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and research is conducted in 31 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and receive funding from over 50 different donors.
CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org.

Key Responsibilities
To manage the validation/review process for a designated portfolio of health and agricultural messages, including collaborative and internal reviews. This will include:

• In consultation with relevant (internal and external) technical experts, provide advice and guidance on the preparation of documentation, interpretation of the consortium’s quality assurance procedures;
• Preparation of background materials on the mNutrition QA process;
• Initial scrutiny of documentation to ensure that it meets established criteria;
• Conduct random and scheduled checks of local content providers ‘work in progress’;
• Defining schedules and timescales for QA work, and liaising with partners to ensure documents are prepared in accordance with the agreed schedule;
• Maintaining records of the QA process and keeping these updates on relevant mNutrition databases;
• Help disseminate knowledge and insights gains, as well as tools and methodologies across the mNutrition project and ILRI’s CRPs;
• Co-ordinate and collate the development of technical content by ILRI scientists.
• Work with consortium partners to develop and apply a quality assurance framework for the mNutrition project as well as a process ongoing quality assessment of mNutrition content;

Requirements

• University degree in Business Administration, Communications, ICT, Nutrition, Social Sciences, or other related fields;
• At least 5 years relevant work experience, with some previous experience of quality assurance systems and procedures (preferably in the ICT/mobile or nutrition sectors);
• Project management experience in in a large organisation (either in private sector or development) – Developing country experience definitely a plus;
• Experience of working with multiple internal and external partners in multiple countries;
• High level written skills, obtained through report writing and the ability to receive, understand and convey information in a clear and accurate manner adjusting the content of the information to suit the needs of different audiences;
• Experience of giving customers a positive and satisfactory service by responding to and dealing with enquiries, providing accurate and up to date advice and guidance and identifying and proposing solutions to new issues;
• Experience of establishing productive working relationships with a wide range of organizations and people, including external bodies, and of working as part of a team;
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to maintain work of high quality;
• Commitment to and understanding of equality and diversity issues within a diverse and multicultural environment (A/I);
• Familiarity with aspects of nutrition and/or agricultural systems in developing countries a plus;
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage multiple partnerships;
• Ability to work in a fast paced environment with interdisciplinary teams;
• Ability to develop and facilitate processes and systems related to QA;
• Strong English language skills, both written and spoken.

Terms of appointment:
This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) positions based at ILRI’s Nairobi campus and is for a 2 years’ contract period.

Job level and salary:
This position is job level 3A with a starting salary of KES181,317 per month. In addition ILRI currently offers medical insurance for staff and dependents, Life insurance, Pension at 12.5% employers contribution, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days+ public holidays within ILRI’s National Recruited Staff Scheme.

How to apply:
Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Human Resources Director through our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/  before 20 June 2014. The position title and reference number REF: QA/CapDev/06/14 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.
To find out more about ILRI, visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org