Consultant – Large-Scale Food Fortification and Iodine Nutrition

FULL JOB DESCRIPTION

ABOUT UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund works in more than 190 countries and territories to protect children’s rights, improve their health and nutrition, expand access to education and support vulnerable children and families affected by emergencies.

UNICEF is recruiting an experienced consultant to provide technical support for advancing the large-scale food fortification and iodine nutrition agenda across West and Central Africa.

JOB DETAILS

• Job Title: Consultant – Large-Scale Food Fortification and Iodine Nutrition
• Vacancy Number: 594579
• Contract Type: Individual Consultancy
• Contract Duration: 10.5 months
• Duty Station: Abuja, Nigeria
• Work Arrangement: Office-based
• Travel Requirement: Travel across West Africa and other member states
• Functional Area: Nutrition
• Application Deadline: 2 August 2026 at 11:55 PM

JOB SUMMARY

The consultant will provide technical, policy and coordination support to UNICEF, Regional Economic Communities and member states to accelerate progress on large-scale food fortification, universal salt iodisation and other nutrition priorities across West and Central Africa.

The role will strengthen regional collaboration, support governments and partners, improve programme implementation and contribute to reducing micronutrient deficiencies among children, adolescents, women and other vulnerable populations.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide technical guidance on large-scale food fortification and iodine nutrition programmes.
• Support governments in strengthening national food-fortification policies and implementation strategies.
• Review existing food-fortification programmes and identify implementation gaps.
• Develop recommendations to improve programme quality, coverage and sustainability.
• Support universal salt iodisation and iodine-deficiency prevention programmes.
• Strengthen regulatory monitoring and quality-assurance systems for fortified foods.
• Develop and review technical guidelines, tools, standards and programme documents.
• Analyse programme data and evidence related to food fortification and iodine nutrition.
• Strengthen monitoring, reporting and accountability systems.
• Support programme assessments, reviews and evaluations.
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, policy briefs and knowledge products.
• Build the capacity of government institutions, UNICEF personnel and implementing partners.
• Coordinate with UNICEF country offices, governments, regulatory agencies, food producers and development partners.
• Participate in regional technical meetings, workshops and working groups.
• Support resource mobilisation and proposal-development activities.
• Travel to participating countries to provide technical assistance and monitor programme implementation.
• Document lessons learned, good practices and implementation challenges.
• Complete agreed deliverables and progress reports within the required timelines.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

• Technical reviews of large-scale food-fortification and iodine nutrition programmes.
• Country technical-support mission reports.
• Recommendations for strengthening programme planning, implementation and monitoring.
• Technical guidelines, tools and knowledge products.
• Monitoring and reporting frameworks.
• Capacity-building materials and technical presentations.
• Documentation of lessons learned and good practices.
• Periodic progress reports covering activities completed, results achieved and next steps.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced university degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Food Science, Food Technology, Food Systems, Epidemiology or another related discipline.
• Additional professional training in food fortification, micronutrient nutrition or public-health programming will be an advantage.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Significant professional experience in nutrition, food fortification, iodine nutrition or micronutrient programming.
• Demonstrated experience supporting large-scale food-fortification initiatives.
• Experience working with governments, regulatory agencies, food producers and development partners.
• Experience developing technical guidelines, strategies, policies, tools and programme reports.
• Experience conducting programme assessments, monitoring or evaluations.
• Previous work experience in West and Central Africa is desirable.
• Experience working with UNICEF, another United Nations agency or an international development organisation will be an advantage.
• Experience providing technical assistance across several countries is desirable.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Strong technical knowledge of large-scale food fortification.
• Good understanding of universal salt iodisation and iodine nutrition.
• Knowledge of micronutrient-deficiency prevention and control.
• Strong analytical and research skills.
• Ability to interpret programme data and translate findings into practical recommendations.
• Excellent technical writing and report-writing skills.
• Strong facilitation, presentation and capacity-building skills.
• Ability to work with government institutions, private-sector partners and international organisations.
• Strong coordination and stakeholder-engagement skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
• Ability to manage several country-support activities simultaneously.
• Good knowledge of programme monitoring, evaluation and results-based management.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of French will be an advantage.

UNICEF CORE VALUES

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability

HOW TO APPLY

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications through the official UNICEF Careers Portal using the application link provided above.

Applicants should carefully review the complete Terms of Reference before applying.

Applicants may be required to submit:

• Updated CV
• Cover letter
• Technical proposal
• Financial proposal
• Academic and professional certificates
• Details of similar assignments previously completed
• Contact details of professional referees

Application Deadline: 2 August 2026 at 11:55 PM.