International Consultant Senior Nutrition Advisor CST IV Pakistan (Remote)

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity. It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race colour national origin ethnic or social background genetic information gender gender identity and/or expression sexual orientation religion or belief HIV status or disability.

ABOUT WFP

The World Food Programme is the worlds largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict disasters and the impact of climate change.

At WFP people are at the heart of everything we do and the vision of the future WFP workforce is one of diverse committed skilled and high performing teams selected on merit operating in a healthy and inclusive work environment living WFPs values (Integrity Collaboration Commitment Humanity and Inclusion) and working with partners to save and change the lives of those WFP serves.

To learn more about WFP visit our website: follow us on social media to keep up with our latest news: YouTube LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Twitter TikTok.

WHY JOIN WFP

• WFP is a 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

• WFP offers a highly inclusive diverse and multicultural working environment.

• WFP invests in the personal & professional development of its employees through a range of training accreditation coaching mentorship and other programs as well as through internal mobility opportunities.

• A career path in WFP provides an exciting opportunity to work across the various country regional and global offices around the world and with passionate colleagues who work tirelessly to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches millions of people across the globe.

• We offer an attractive compensation package (please refer to the Terms and Conditions section of this vacancy announcement).

About the Job

Job Title:International Consultant - Senior Nutrition Advisor CST IV

Grade: CST IV

Type of contract:International Consultant

Duration:3 Months(15 January 2026 - 13 April 2026)

Duty Station: Remote

Date of Publication: 11 December 2025

Deadline for Application:16 December 2025

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The WFP CO Pakistan is seeking a Senior Nutrition Advisor support to further shape integrate and expand its nutrition portfolio of work. This relates specifically to WFPs technical advisory and implementer role for the governments nationwide nutrition sensitive conditional cash transfer program: Benazir Nashonuma Programme (BNP) and related evidence generation and dissemination external stakeholder engagement for alignment on ways forward beyond BNP 2.0 (i.e. from July 2026) and exploring further opportunities for integrating nutrition initiatives for different target groups in BNP and other federal or provincial programs including identifying potential funding sources.

WFP has been a key advisor to the government of Pakistan in particular for its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for Health and for Disaster response to the 2010 floods chickpea- based LNS was developed produced and distributed. Studies were then designed to assess the impact of these LNS products on management of wasting and prevention of stunting. When the Fill the Nutrient Gap study in 2017 identified a very large affordability gap for a nutritious diet and the prime minister requested BISP to include stunting prevention as a target for its cash transfer programs WFP BISP and other nutrition stakeholders conceptualized a transfer package for the first 1000 days that consisted of a conditional cash transfer uptake of preventive health and nutrition services (the condition for the cash transfer) and locally produced chickpea-based LNS for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and children aged 6-23 months. This package was tested among children aged 6-23 months under controlled conditions for its impact on stunting by Aga Khan University (AKU). The combination of cash and SNF proved most effective and the design of BNP was finalized. After piloting the delivery of the package through facilitation centers at THQs in 2020 and a first scale-up in 2021 BNP was scaled-up nationwide in 2023. WFP has been the implementing partner for BNP from the start and is currently in the second and last year of its second contract with BISP of 100 million USD/y. Over 540 facilitation centers are operational in the country and more than 3.5 million participants have yet been reached. UNICEF and WHO also provide services under BNP in particular on SBC and for treatment of SAM including with complications. The Gates Foundation funds the independent impact evaluation of BNP which is conducted by AKU. The midterm results that were presented in September 2025 showed very strong results in particular a 20% lower prevalence of stunting at 6 months of age among the BNP cohort compared to the non-BNP cohort.

The process of devolution of governance from federal to provincial governments including of resource mobilization and financing is already far advanced for certain departments including Health while others such as Social Protection are earlier on in the process. For BNP in particular the devolution process is the topic of much discussion and speculation. Two provinces (Punjab and Sindh) have another conditional cash transfer program for the first 1000 days target groups which is aimed at uptake of health services. While the level of the cash transfer is slightly higher than of BNP it does not have a specific nutrition component other than a micronutrient supplement provided as part of antenatal care where available. Furthermore these programs are blanket in the sense that everyone is eligible and the services are provided at the BHU. Meanwhile coverage of this CCT programs is low which appears related to low awareness about the program and issues with its delivery (late or no payment of CCT etc).

To ensure that the nutritional benefits of BNP will continue to benefit the pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children of tomorrow WFP is very actively engaging in discussions with government and partners on the success of BNP the specific components that underlie its impact and the cost drivers and ways to reduce this in order to identify and align on best options for different scenarios of implementation of conditional cash transfer programs with a nutrition objective under federal or provincial governance going forward. BISP has requested the concept note for BNP 3.0 before the end of 2025 and conversations with provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh about support to their CCT programs are ongoing.

Meanwhile the following initiatives are ongoing to explore further ways to increase cost-efficiency of the program: AKU will soon start a 24 months study to compare the impact of SQ-LNS (20 g/d) to MQ-LNS (50 g/d) for 6-23 mo old children when provided under the BNP programmatic circumstances with interim results becoming available after 12 18 and 24 months. Additional local suppliers of LNS are being sought to reduce reliance on a single provider and to stimulate competition and possibly a price reduction. Furthermore commercial versions of nutritious foods for specific target groups are required for self-purchasing consumers. This requires work with standard setting bodies and producers.

Other nutrition initiatives that the CO is seeking expert advice on relate to food fortification in particular of wheat flour and rice. Wheat flour fortification by chakkis started with support from the Innovation Accelerator was then supported by the Gates Foundation and is now ongoing with support from GiZ. Uptake of fortified whole grain wheat flour is stimulated at BNP FCs and at specific FCs adolescent girls receive vouchers to redeem for fortified chakki flour. Making the business model for quality enhancement including fortification sustainable by exploring for example creation of chakki associations and revolving fund for acquiring consumables (e.g. premix) should come next. Discussions of rice fortification have also started and require expert input as well.

The CO would like to seek the senior nutrition experts strategic guidance for the integration of nutrition in the above mentioned areas of the next phase of BNP & provincial CCT programming wheat flour fortification and rice fortification and leverage the experts knowledge institutional memory and wide WFP as well as international networks for partner engagement. The latter includes government (BISP health and provincial planning SP and health departments) academia (especially AKU and UC Davis which leads the SQ-LNS task force) World Bank (HNP and ag & food) Gates Foundation UNICEF WHO ADB and others.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Country Director the Senior Nutrition Advisor is expected to perform the following tasks:

• BNP Endline Evaluation & Communication by AKU - Review preliminary results provide feedback and suggestions for presentation / communication to AKU; Identify salient topics for communication by WFP; Share results of midline and endline evaluation with provinces together with AKU team as and when appropriate; Contribute to cost-benefit estimation and analyses by AKU and partners.

• Donor & Partner engagement: Provide strategic input to strengthen WFPs position in donor/partner dialogues; Provide content for donor updates and briefing materials on WFPs nutrition portfolio; Engage with international partners technical experts to inform them on the strengths and results of the BNP components and discuss ways to ensure that these components will continue to be provided to those most in need.

• Advocacy & Communications: Collaborate with Communications and Nutrition units to develop a suite of advocacy tools to elevate BNPs visibility and impact such as Op-Eds Policy briefs Advocacy toolkit Stakeholder engagement.

• Preparing for BNP 3.0: Support the CO to refine the proposal for BNP 3.0 based on government feedback on the Concept Note that will be submitted in December 2025; Visit and provide guidance to the SQ/MQ impact comparison study that AKU has been contracted to conduct and review the first interim results; Support SC & FSQA on the engagement with and review of offerings of potential additional domestic producers of LNS and other nutritious products including positioning and meeting requirements for institutional and market demand outside of BNP.

• Food Fortification: Provide guidance to the development of a strategic approach for sustaining and expanding chakki fortification for enrolling medium size mill(s) for wheat flour fortification for the McGovern Dole programme and to seek opportunities for engagement on the potential of rice fortification.

• Formulate work packages for analyses to guide WFPs positioning and engagement on nutrition- sensitive policies: WFPs analytical tools and approaches for collaborating and advocating on affordable healthy diets (nutrient-adequate and diverse) including identifying context specific limiting factors in the food system and estimating the potential contributions of different ways to address them including social assistance packages (targeted using cash and nutritious foods) targeted and untargeted food fortification and social behavior change strategies have expanded considerably in recent years (MIMI and Enhance/FNG). Identifying opportunities and requirements for their use in Pakistan can contribute to positioning of WFP towards improving access to healthy diets for the most vulnerable which can also include children suffering from moderate acute malnutrition.

• Perform any other tasks aligned with the role and expertise as assigned by the supervisor.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

• Contributions to BNP endline results dissemination including finalization of presentation content and inputs to cost-benefit analysis.

• Messages for dissemination from mid- and endline evaluation of BNP for donor & partner briefing and integration in advocacy and communication materials. Dissemination through own channels and contacts as appropriate.

• Technical contributions to BNP 3.0 proposal including strategic engagement with domestic and international partners.

• Oversight and guidance to the SQ/MQ comparison study conducted by AKU.

• Technical contributions to development of a strategic approach to expand food fortification including of wheat flour by chakki mills and medium/large size millers and of rice.

• Guidance for expanding supply and demand for specially formulated foods through institutional and market-based approaches.

• Concept notes for FNG/Enhance and/or MIMI analyses to support evidence-informed advocacy for enhancing access to healthy (nutrient-adequate and diverse) diets.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Education:

• PhD in Nutrition Science or related field in an asset. Advanced university degree in Nutrition Science or related field is required.

Experience:

• More than 20 years experience in international nutrition community nutrition or related field required.

• Experience in operations research or community-based participatory research or public health research required including good record of scientific publications.

• 10 years experience on analyses fortification SNF portfolio and nutrition-sensitive social assistance required.

• Extensive network in international nutrition among development partners and academia required.

• Experience working in emerging areas of nutrition such as food systems nutrition sensitive adolescent girls climate change double burden required.

• Experience working in emergency desirable. Experience in capacity development desirable.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of global nutrition architecture required.

• Knowledge of scientific methods and ability to critically analyze emerging global evidence for robustness quality and relevance.

• Ability to work independently.

• Good interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work in multicultural setting.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills required.

Language:

• Fluency in English is required.

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered interested candidates are invited to apply via ( Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

WFP LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK

WFP Leadership Framework guides to the common standards of behavior that guide HOW we work together to accomplish our mission.

Click here to access WFP Leadership Framework

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

WFP is committed to supporting individuals with disabilities by providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation please contact:

NO FEE DISCLAIMER

The United Nations does not charge any application processing training interviewing testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee please disregard it. Furthermore please note that emblems logos names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs or spontaneous applications by email.

• If you experience challenges while submitting your online application please contact us at for technical support only.

• Please note that applications sent to this email address cannot be considered.

• We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate complete and includes your employment records academic qualifications language skills and UN Grade (if applicable).

• Once your profile is completed please apply and submit your application.

• Please make sure you upload your professional CV in the English language

• Kindly note the only documents you will need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter

• Additional documents such as passport recommendation letters academic certificates etc. may potentially be requested at a future time

• Only shortlisted candidates will be notified

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs job requirements merit and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse all forms of discrimination any kind of harassment sexual harassment and abuse of authority. Therefore all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) FAO Finance Committee WFP External Auditor WFP Audit Committee Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.