The Advisor, Social and Behavior Change (SBC) & Community Health provides technical support to SBC programs or program components for Save the Children (SC) and to other health programs as needed. The Advisor supports a portfolio of on-going and new programs, with significant SBC and community health components, and provides technical guidance across community health portfolio and the Save the Children Federation based on program experiences and state-of-the-art lessons learned. The Advisor leads technical assistance to on-going and new programs of the global, USAID-funded Breakthrough Action (BA) and other USAID and non-USAID funded programs in Francophone African countries that may include Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, DRC, Senegal and others. S/he contributes to SC SBC team efforts to raise capacity in project countries in both SBC and community health. S/he will be a key member of the SBC team, part of SC’s Department of Global Health and Nutrition (DGH), and contribute towards project knowledge management, delivering on project results. In addition, s/he will provide specialized SBC expertise while collaborating with members of Save the Children International (SCI) to advance SCI’s global SBC agenda.
In collaboration with the Senior Advisor and team lead for Behavior Change and Community Health and other team members, the Advisor supports an SBC and community mobilization portfolio, primarily in the Francophone Africa region, and in other countries, as needed. S/he will work closely with project technical and management to determine and meet technical assistance needs, including documentation of program progress and results. The Advisor participates in the Behavior Change and Community Health Team’s learning and capacity building efforts cutting across SC-US as well as Save the Children International.
Technical Leadership and Expertise for SC SBC Programs and Member Country Initiatives (80%)
- Part of global SBC program planning and implementation
- Provides direct and distance technical assistance to country offices in SBC and community health, including formative research, strategy development, participatory SBC materials development, community capacity strengthening and other related technical assistance needs focused on malaria, maternal, child and newborn health as well as reproductive health (other health areas as needed)
- Leads workshops, training and other capacity building activities to build local and national SBC capacity in project countries.
- Coordinates and liaises with donors or other organizations in the public and private sector to meet project needs—e.g., private sector for materials development and production.
- Collaborates with other SCI members on technical issues.
Program Learning and Innovation specific to SBC within DGH and in coordination with other SC Departments and SCI (10%)
- Articulates key SBC program innovation and learning priorities in updated and effective community mobilization approaches
- Identifies best practices from country programs and global work, documents these practices, and disseminates and promotes uptake within the agency.
- Prepares and edits reports for donors and other external readers as needed and assists with internal SC/US and SCI planning, knowledge capture, and reporting
Mobilizes Public and Private Resources (10%)
- Collaborates with SC US and country offices in identification, development and submission of quality proposals in SBC and community health.
- Leads and supports proposal development processes, providing technical inputs, review and provides guidance including drafting of text work plans and reports
- Establishes and maintains new/existing relationships with key donors (headquarters and regional/country level) and program partners to advance global sector health/nutrition work within portfolio
- Minimum of 7 - 10 years of experience required in SBC, SBCC, community health, community mobilization, participatory training facilitation, health communication, public health promotion, behavioral sciences, or related field
- Extensive implementation experience in SBC and/or community health in developing country context, including management of interdisciplinary teams, preferably in West Africa
- Demonstrated abilities and experience in SBC strategy, materials and community activity development
- Demonstrated problem solving skills, collaboration experience (including with line ministries), creativity and willingness to innovate;
- Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations, including under limitations determined by project workplans or donor regulations
- Familiarity with and understanding of USAID regulations, policies and procedures or those of other donors
- Fluent oral and strong written English and French communication skills required
- Strong skills in program documentation and report writing desired
- Demonstrates Save the Children’s core values of accountability, collaboration, integrity, ambition, and creativity.
- Ability and willingness to travel internationally about 30% of time.
- Meaningful work, with a knowledge that you are changing the lives of children all around the world
- A family friendly work environment
- Highly collaborative and innovative teams
- Generous paid vacation days, holidays, family leave days, and sick time
- Healthcare plans including medical, dental, and life insurance
- Retirement savings account with matching company contributions
- Structured and formalized management development and coaching programs for mid and senior level managers
- Extensive e-learning opportunities on a variety of topics offered through our affiliation with several prestigious universities as well as language learning opportunities