Technical Consultant to support ICDS and State Poshan Abhiyaan
Consultancy Duration : Till 31 December 2026
Duty Station : Lucknow- Uttar Pradesh
Application Closing Date : 05 May 2026
TERMS OF REFERENCE
1. Background
Positive behaviours play crucial role in promotion of healthy diets and nutrition. KGMU in coordination with a UN agency works closely with ICDS and other partners to promote child, maternal and adolescent nutrition. This position will provide technical support in the areas of capacity development and communication to enhance service delivery to support promotion of technical capacity and positive behaviors .
ICDS has several programmes to promote awareness and nutrition behaviours for various population groups. Technical support to ICDS will help in effective implementation of those interventions. In addition to ICDS other departments such as health, education Panchayati raj and State Livelihood mission also implements various programmes which are crucial to address maternal nutrition, anemia prevention and control and adolescent nutrition. Therefore, technical support for promotion of nutritional behaviours will also requires liaison with these departments.
2. Key tasks
Institutional Capacity Building & Technical Support to ICDS and other departments
• Provide institutional capacity building and technical support to ICDS for strengthen-ing large-scale community mobilization and nutrition campaigns such as Sambhav, Poshan Paah, POSHAN Pakhwada, and World Breastfeeding Week.
• Lead capacity development of the ICDS cadre through:
o Development of structured training resources (modules, job aids, IEC/BCC materials)
o Facilitation of skill-building workshops on nutrition SBC and interpersonal communication
o Support in effective session delivery and transaction
• Provide technical support for SBC (Social and Behaviour Change) capacity building of ICDS functionaries at both state and district levels.
• Support integration of SBC training into institutional systems by working with State Institute of Rural Development and facilitating training of master trainers.
Programme Implementation & Systems Strengthening
• Provide technical support to streamline and standardize SBC materials for nutrition behaviour promotion within ICDS.
• Support ICDS in strengthening the use of social media for nutrition communication and outreach.
• Develop and support implementation of guidelines for effective activation of sector and project-level meetings in ICDS.
• Support district administrations (Shravasti and Gorakhpur) through orientation, guideline dissemination, and field visits to Anganwadi Centres for observation and feedback.
• Provide technical assistance to ICDS and NHM for community mobilization initia-tives focusing on maternal nutrition (preconception, antenatal, and postnatal stages), including anemia prevention.
Governance, Convergence & Monitoring
• Support ICDS in strengthening and updating District Nutrition Committee (DNC) meetings and provide guidance to districts for improved functioning.
• Provide state-level coordination and technical support for nutrition-related pro-grammes and training for ICDS functionaries.
Knowledge Management & Documentation
• Support ICDS in knowledge management and documentation of community mobili-zation interventions such as POSHAN Pakhwada. POSHAN Maah. SMBHAV Cam-paign.
• Support development of knowledge products for ICDS.
Community and FacilityLevel Strengthening
• Strengthen frontline delivery of Poshan Abhiyaan and Anaemia Mukt Bharat inter-ventions through support to community platforms such as:
o Mother group meetings
o VHSNDs
o Anganwadi Centre sessions
• Capacity building of facility staff on MAMC counselling
• Review and report counselling of women on MAMC
3. Qualifications / specialized knowledge / experience/ competencies (core/technical/functional) / language skills required for the assignment (please use as applicable)
• Advanced (post-graduate) university degree in nutrition/ public health/ social sciences/ sociology and adept at planning, assessment, data management, monitoring and evaluation with a minimum of 3-5 years’ experience in development sector.
• Previous experience in the field of capacity development training and communication related behaviour change and social action.
• Knowledge/Familiarity with the national flagship programmes (ICDS, NHM and others) and experience of working with Government (especially ICDS) is an asset.
• Previous experience of working on strengthening ICDS programming and other nutrition programmes especially regarding Nutrition Surveillance, New WHO-growth standards, Mother and Child Protection card, Maternal Nutrition, SAM management and Infant and Young Child Feeding, Adolescent and Maternal Nutrition is an asset.
• Good analytical, negotiation, communication, and advocacy skills.
• Good understanding of data systems
• Demonstrated ability to work in a multi-disciplinary environment and to establish harmonious and effective working relationships with governmental, academia and training institutions
4. Logistics requirements:
• The consultant will carry his/her own equipment like Laptop and data plan.
• The consultant needs to have medical and health insurance valid for the consultancy duration.
• The Consultant will be guided by the HR policies related to leaves etc of KGMU.
4. Duration of Consultancy:
Unitl 31 December 2026 from the day of on-borading .
5. Reporting
The consultant will report to the KGMU State-level technical support team
6. Application Procedures
1) The appointment will be made by Project Coordinator, UNICEF Project, Department of Community Medicine & Public Health, King George’s Medical University UP, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
2) Application should be sent to snm.kgmu@gmail.com by 5 May 2026 with the subject line "Application for Technical Consultant to support ICDS and State Poshan Abhiyaan, Uttar Pradesh” along with three separate files consisting of:
a) Cover letter
b) Curriculum Vitae (CV)
c) Details in excel format with the following tables
1. Name
2. DOB
3. Education & Professional Qualification
4. Address
5. Contacts with Email
6. Current Posting with name of organisation
7. Current Designation
8. Duration
9. Last Posting with name of organisation
10. Last Designation
11. Duration
12. All working experience with District, Division & State Level
13. Total Experience (in complete year)
(Please note that application with incomplete details will be rejected)
3) Only short-listed candidates will be approached for the next level of selection.
4) The selection will be done on the basis of meeting the qualification outlined in the advertisement, results of the written/interview.
5) Any attempt to unduly influence selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
6) Please note, no fee will be charged during any stage of the selection process.
7) Joint applications of two or more individuals will not be accepted.
8) We encourage diversity and inclusion within the work force and encourage qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, to apply.