Nutrition Specialist (Food Systems for Children), P-3, TA

Role Overview

This senior specialist role sits within UNICEF Kenya’s nutrition programme and focuses on turning the global food systems agenda into concrete national action. You will generate and use evidence to shape policies, programmes, and private sector engagement so that children in Kenya have access to affordable, nutritious, and safe foods. The work spans public health regulation, school food procurement, climate adaptation, and innovative market-based initiatives, requiring close collaboration with government ministries, UN agencies, academia, and businesses.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the generation of evidence on food systems and all forms of malnutrition, including landscape analyses of existing policies, stakeholders, and institutional arrangements, and use this to define UNICEF Kenya’s strategic entry points and programme goals.
• Manage the First Foods Africa initiative in Kenya, coordinating multi-sectoral partners, piloting market-based solutions to improve infant and young child diets, and building productive relationships with private sector actors.
• Advance the climate-responsive nutrition agenda by mobilising resources, convening academics and partners, and representing the Kenya Country Office on climate and nutrition taskforces.
• Drive regulatory and legislative efforts to improve children’s food environments, including restrictions on food and beverage marketing, front-of-pack labelling, and fiscal measures such as taxes on unhealthy foods and subsidies for nutritious alternatives.
• Improve public food procurement in schools and other institutions by assessing current policies, identifying gaps, and developing practical guidance on sourcing healthy foods.
• Design and lead overweight and obesity prevention programming, working with health colleagues to reshape the environments where children and adolescents learn, live, and play.
• Lead the development of national standards for commercially produced complementary foods (CPCFs), synthesising research on marketing, nutrient content, purchasing patterns, and informal markets in coordination with the regional office.
• Strengthen social and behaviour change approaches to diets across the life course, integrate them into existing platforms (including maternal, infant, and young child nutrition), and produce knowledge products such as peer-reviewed articles, policy briefs, case studies, and advocacy materials for internal and external audiences.

Requirements & Qualifications

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in public health, nutrition, food science, or a directly related field.
• At least five years of progressively responsible experience working on nutrition and food systems agendas, including designing and implementing food and nutrition policies or programmes in partnership with government.
• Proven ability to train, supervise, and provide technical support to diverse partners, with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical capacity to synthesise information from multiple sources, identify trends, and translate findings into realistic strategies for nutrition and food systems transformation.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, collaborate effectively within teams, and follow tasks through to completion with strong attention to detail.
• Professional fluency in written and oral English.
• Experience working on health or nutrition programmes within a UN system agency is desirable.
• Experience in country-level programming across development, fragile, and humanitarian settings is also desirable.