In 'The Giver', what job does Jonas's father hold?

In Lois Lowry's 'The Giver', Jonas's father works as a Nurturer. He cares for newborn infants at the Nurturing Center and helps determine whether babies are healthy enough to be assigned to families in the Community.

Jonas's father initially appears gentle and compassionate. He is especially concerned about Gabriel, a fragile infant who has not developed as expected, and receives permission to bring the baby home at night. His work reflects the Community's belief that every person should be carefully managed and assigned a place.

The darker truth emerges when the Giver shows Jonas a recording of his father performing a release. Jonas learns that release is not a harmless departure to Elsewhere: in this case, his father lethally injects the smaller of identical twins. The scene shatters Jonas's faith in his father's kindness and in the Community's euphemistic language.

Nurturer is easy to confuse with Receiver or Giver, but those are separate roles. Jonas is selected to become the next Receiver of Memory, while the Giver trains him. His father belongs to the caregiving profession responsible for infants, even though the Community's apparently humane system conceals violent practices.