Project Coordinator on Healthy Diet focusing on Sodium Reduction (WHO)

#038 – Job Title:Special Service Agreement for Full time Project Coordinator on Healthy Diet focusing on Sodium Reduction.

1. Background

According to WHO estimates, the deaths caused by cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs), mainly strokes and heart attacks, account for 31% of total deaths in Viet Nam. Hypertension is a very important cause of CVDs and unhealthy diet especially excessive use of salt is a critical risk factor of hypertension. According to non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors survey (STEPS) in 2015, on average, Vietnamese people consume 9.4grams of salt/person/day, which is almost double than the WHO recommendation of less than 5grams/person/day.

Viet Nam has been getting support from the Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) for efforts of population salt consumption reduction. Most of the support is though the World Health Organization (WHO), however the RTSL has also funded for some other organizations such as Vital Strategies, Global Health Advocacy Incubator and George Institute (Australia) for the salt intake reduction in Viet Nam. To help Ministry of Health (MOH) of Viet Nam coordinate interventions related to salt intake reduction aligning with the National Action Plan on salt reduction, the RTSL and WHO will support the MOH of Viet Nam with a Project Coordinator with details as below.

2. Objective

The Project Coordinator will provide support to promote healthy diet focusing on the sodium reduction initiatives conducted through the Ministry of Health ("MOH") and partners in Vietnam. The Project Coordinator will support the General Department of Preventive Medicine (GDPM), MOH’s technical assistance and capacity strengthening activities that have been mutually agreed upon by the MOH, the World Health Organization Representative Office in Viet Nam (“WHO Vietnam”), and the Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategies (“RTSL”) and will ensure that these activities maintain the standards of quality as defined by the MOH, WHO Vietnam, and RTSL.

The Project Coordinator will help coordination across sodium reduction partner organizations in Vietnam (including the National Institute of Nutrition, Department of Legislation, General Department of Preventive Medicine, WHO Vietnam, Vital Strategies, and Global Health Advocacy Incubator) and with global sodium reduction partner organizations, including RTSL and The George Institute for Global Health. The Project Coordinator will serve as the initiative’s primary point of contact at the MOH for in-country and global sodium reduction partners and as a liaison between RTSL, WHO Vietnam, and the MOH.

3. Specific tasks:

Based on the guidance provided by RTSL, WHO Vietnam, and the MOH regarding the objectives of the sodium reduction initiatives in Vietnam and with regular input from and consultation with the RTSL Cardiovascular Health team at headquarters, the Project Coordinator will support to complete work in the following domains:

Develop a roadmap for development and implementation of sodium reduction policies, for example, the adaption of the WHO sodium benchmarks for packaged foods and/or front of pack labelling.
Coordinate with the Department of Legislation (DOL)-MOH, and other relevant ministries, departments, and partners for the Nutrient Labelling Circular
Work with partners to finalize and disseminate technical guidelines for sodium reduction (e.g., schools, households, restaurants)
Support the National Institute of Nutrition to organize a dissemination workshop for promoting the results of the work on low sodium fish sauce and coordinating efforts across government agencies, The George Institute, and other partners to develop an implementation roadmap for scaling up use of low sodium salt substitutes
Coordinate with National Institute for Nutrition, The George Institute, and other partners to support implementation of the roadmap for scaling up low sodium salt substitutes.
Support the MOH to finalize a Nutrient Profile Model
Develop protocols and instruments for packaged food studies
Implement mass media and community-based education on salt reduction, in partnership with Vital Strategies, WHO, and other partners
Other activities to support implementation of the ‘National Action Plan on Communication and Advocacy for Dietary Salt Intake Reduction for Prevention and Control of Hypertension, Stroke and Other Non-Communicable Diseases, Period 2018-2025’
Perform other tasks/duties, especially the ones related healthy diet such as reducing consumption of fat, sugar and increase use of vegetable and fruit as assigned by the Ministry of Health or WHO supervisor and Resolve to Save Lives Contract Manager.

Administrative:

Support to organize internal and external meetings, maintain meeting attendance, take meeting minutes etc.

Reporting, Monitoring, and Communications:

The Department Lead who will be overseeing the Project Coordinator’s work is the GDPM at the Ministry of Health. The MOH Lead may be changed at any time by notice delivered by WHO Vietnam and RTSL to the Project Coordinator in accordance with this Agreement.
Provide regular feedback to MOH, WHO Vietnam, and RTSL on program implementation progress, challenges, and results
Produce standard reports as defined by MOH, WHO Vietnam, and RTSL
Maintain regular contact by phone, Zoom/Skype and email with the RTSL Contract Manager and WHO Vietnam designated contact - the NCD technical Coordinator, and in-person with the MOH Department Lead to report on initiative progress toward deliverables, roadblocks and successes. At a minimum, the Project Coordinator will participate in a monthly "update" call with the WHO NCD technical Coordinator and RTSL Contract Manager.

The Project Coordinator will deliver the following written reports:

Monthly reports on major achievements
Quarterly reports on deliverables and progress, in the template provided by WHO-RTSL. Quarterly reports shall be delivered to the Ministry Lead, WHO Vietnam, and the RTSL Contract Manager not later than 10 days after the end of the relevant quarter for the preceding quarter.

In addition to the communications and written reports required, the Project Coordinator shall provide all other information regarding the Initiative requested by WHO, Resolve to Save Lives, the Contract Manager and/or the Department Lead as soon as reasonably practicable following a request.

4. Competencies

Producing results
Communicating in a credible and effective way
Fostering integration and teamwork.

5. Specific requirements

a. Education: Postgraduate qualification in public health, nutrition, or related qualification

b. Experience:

More than 10 years post-degree experience in nutrition and/or public health, preferably in the government health environment
Knowledge and experience in interpreting and reporting data analyses

c. Skills

Capable of communicating technical concepts clearly, concisely, and understandably in a language that is understood by technical and non-technical audiences
Ability to effectively collaborate with staff at different levels
Good capacity in coordinating activities, monitoring project/programme implementation, and generating reports.

d. Language: Fluent in Vietnamese and verbal/written English.

7. Place of assignment: The General Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health

8. Term of service: The duration of this assignment will be 12 months, with the opportunity to extend to additional 10 months based on performance.

9. Medical clearance: The selected SSA holder will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Those who are interested can submit your most updated CV and application letter indicating post title and vacancy notice number by 7 October 2022 and should be addressed to: