Senior Public Health Nutrition Expert

The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) is a non-profit, autonomous international agricultural research center with headquarters in Taiwan and regional offices in Africa and Asia. WorldVeg conducts research and development programs that contribute to realize the potential of vegetables for healthier lives and more resilient livelihoods. The Center implements its science for development agenda through three outcome-oriented 'flagship programs': Safe and Sustainable Value Chains, Healthy Diets, Vegetable Diversity and Improvement, and one cross-cutting flagship program: Enabling Impact.

The Healthy Diets Flagship Program was established in 2017 and aims to alleviate malnutrition by improving dietary quality through greater consumption of diverse and nutritious vegetables. The program addresses malnutrition from seed to farm to table using nutrition-sensitive interventions crossing agriculture, nutrition, health and education. For more information, please visit our website: worldveg.org.

WorldVeg is seeking a Senior Public Health Nutrition Expert to strengthen its Healthy Diets Flagship Program. The ideal candidate should be a senior scientist in the area of public health and community nutrition with a passion to leverage the potential of vegetables to improve the quality of people's diets and health in particular in low-income countries of Africa and Asia. The candidate will contribute to the design of innovative and multi-sectoral interventions that lead to nutrition outcomes. The position will be based at WorldVeg's Regional Office for East and Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand but the candidate is to contribute to activities of the Healthy Diets Flagship Program in both Africa and Asia.

Key Job Responsibilities:
• Design and implement ongoing and new nutrition-focused projects globally, i.e.,
◦ assess diet quality and nutrition status of target populations;
◦ design and validate effective interventions to enhance diet quality with a focus on improving maternal and child nutrition in rural and urban communities;
◦ identify drivers of increased vegetable consumption and design social and behavior change interventions promoting healthier diets;
◦ evaluate the role of nutrition interventions in empowering women, and incorporate gender-inclusive approaches in interventions; and
◦ Develop and provide public policy recommendations in nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions.
• Pro-actively mobilize resources to conduct research on healthy diets: contribute to high quality research and development proposals; participate to international strategic events; build and nurture relationships with potentials donors and partners.
• Contribute to research and develop standards and guidelines for food safety.
• Mentor researchers and students in relevant areas of research.
• Write high-quality peer reviewed articles and publish in high impact factor publications.
• Develop productive partnerships to further WorldVeg's Healthy Diets Flagship Program and actively participate in regional and international nutrition and health research communities and networks.
• Provide inputs to other Flagship Programs and activities.

The Person:
• A PhD in public health nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, community nutrition, or related discipline.
• Proven ability in using nutrition research tools and study designs to generate evidence for public health nutrition research and apply evidence-based nutrition interventions.
• Considerable skills in computation and statistical analysis.
• A minimum of five years of postdoctoral experience.
• A good track record in high-quality publications and fundraising.
• Experience in an international and multi-disciplinary/cultural environment is an asset.
• In-depth understanding and experience in 'linking agriculture to nutrition and health'.
• Experience in networking with donors and partners in the field of nutrition and health.
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively in the region and sometimes globally.
• High proficiency in spoken and written English.

The Reward:
This is an Internationally Recruited Staff (IRS) position with competitive pay and benefits. WorldVeg considers this as a strategic position and the incumbent is expected to enable the Center to be in a pivotal role in promoting vegetables for nutrition and health. The initial appointment is for three years and may be extended depending on performance of the incumbent and availability of resources.

How to Apply:
Submit a letter of application with curriculum vitae, names and addresses (including telephone/e-mail) of three referees, and date of availability. Please send the application by email, stating the job title in the subject line, to human.resources@worldveg.org before 15th May 2019.

Tags: 
human health
nutrition
Location: 
Bangkok (Thailand°