Job Title: Social and Behavior Change Advisor
Organisation: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP)
Project Funding Source: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
Reports to: Chief of Party
CCP is recruiting for an anticipated USAID-funded bilateral award for Uganda.
About the Company:
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) is a leader in strategic communication and research that facilitates access to information and exchange of knowledge to improve health. CCP has more than 60 projects that employ staff in more than 40 countries around the world. CCP has unparalleled experience as a global center for Social and Behavioral Change excellence. Through its projects, CCP harnesses the power of social and behavior change communication to encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors in the projects implemented worldwide.
Job Summary: The SBC Advisor, in partnership with the Deputy Chief (DCOP) of party, is the technical lead of the project, with overall responsibility for SBC implementation. They will use state-of-the-art, evidence-based tools to design and implement SBC activities in-line with the overall project vision. They will directly assist the Chief of Party (COP), Deputy Chief of Party, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Advisor in the design, implementation, and monitoring of SBC interventions while ensuring they are in accordance with the quality requirements of the project and are relevant to the current context, adapting as required. The SBC Advisor will have a supervisory role extending and promoting learning within the project and with other USAID partners. They will possess both deep applied experience in SBC and demonstrated abilities in leadership, strategic thinking, application of best practices, gender integration, and innovations in SBC. The SBC Advisor will integrate learnings from global best practices, they will provide strategic direction for SBC programming, while proactively engaging and convening a broad range of donors and implementers in advancing the practice of SBC in Uganda. This is a Key Personnel role approved by USAID.
Key Duties and Responsibilities: Specific duties and responsibilities include:
- Lead in-country technical work independently, including the development of strategies, multi-media communication materials, needs assessments, program planning, and reporting documents.
- Lead the design, planning, and implementation of SBC programming and activities, linking to research, monitoring and evaluation.
- Lead activity, materials, and tools development, review, and pilot testing.
- Provide leadership in applying cutting-edge, innovative, and prioritized approaches to designing and implementing SBC activities.
- Oversee the integration and use of approaches, to ensure they are purposefully considered in the design, planning, implementation, and monitoring of all SBC activities such as human-centered design and behavioral economics, digital strategies, and gender, youth, and social inclusion-focused strategies.
- Establish communication channels and systems to understand the needs and feedback from other implementing partners and stakeholders in Uganda.
- Recommend processes and mechanisms to improve efficiency and impact.
- Lead shifts in approach, as needed, based on the reports and data.
Program Management
- Provide leadership for activities across the project framework.
- Represent the project at relevant forums at national level and provide support to the community engagement team to undertake similar roles effectively at regional and lower levels. Represent the SBC initiatives of the project in all relevant levels of government officials, partners, donor, NGO and private sector representatives.
- Participate in the development of the project’s strategic documents, including work plan and quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports.
- Seek, select, engage, and monitor qualified consultants and agencies, as needed, to provide technical support.
- Conduct any other relevant duties as assigned by the DCOP and/or the COP or as agreed/assigned during meetings with the broader project team.
- Develop partnerships with relevant institutions and liaise with key line ministries to strengthen/implement project activities.
- Respond to USAID/Uganda project team requests related to progress against targets and provide other programmatically relevant information in a timely fashion.
- Coordinate with other senior staff to ensure strategic project management.
- Mentor local NGOs subcontracted by the project on technical areas.
- Provide support to and build the capacity of partner organizations and existing traditional structures to design and implement community engagement activities.
People Management
- Design and manage effective structure for the technical team.
- Supervise, coach, and mentor staff independently. This may include: o Orient and train new staff members.
- Conduct regular (at least quarterly) check-ins and annual performance reviews with all supervisees.
- Identify and recommend appropriate professional development opportunities for supervisees.
- Provide coaching and mentoring to promote continued growth and improvement among supervisees and other staff.
- Ensure all staff have the technical knowledge to complete their job duties.
- Oversee and ensure the quality of work produced by staff or team.
- Lead and build staff capacity in technical work, including strategies, toolkits, communication materials, scripts, job aides, and needs assessments.
- Provide information to others about their quality of work. This includes raising concerns about errors, omission, and poor-quality products to the staff member responsible for that work and requesting revision of work that is not high quality.
- Operate in compliance with all JHU policies and local employment laws.
Technical Work
- Support the design and implementation of SBC activities in-line with high level strategy design. May include:
- Lead and build staff capacity in technical work, including strategies, toolkits, communication materials, scripts, job aides, and needs assessments.
- Generate and envision new activities, ideas, frameworks, and strategies that further high-level goals.
- Demonstrate willingness to drive project goals and strategic direction in alignment with in-country trends and donor priorities
- Use, develop, and model tools, processes, best-practices, and colleague review to ensure all products and documents are of the highest quality possible.
- In collaboration with CCP’s research and evaluation division, strategically plan for research, monitoring, and evaluation activities.
- Support and lead in-country technical activities, including trainings, workshops, and program support.
- Demonstrate technical expertise in relevant technical areas (e.g., SBC, knowledge management, health areas) and build capacity in others.
- Carry out field visits as needed and work with staff in a collaborative manner to strengthen technical capacity.
- Ensure activity integrity technically, administratively, and financially.
- Demonstrate high level technical communication, including writing reports, creating and giving presentations, and facilitating trainings or group discussions.
- Support the collaboration, learning, and adaptation (CLA) agenda for the project.
- Ensure excellence in programs, products, and deliverables to meet program goals.
Professional and Organizational Growth
- Support strategic partnership development and donor cultivation.
- Contribute to global technical knowledge.
- Represent JHU, CCP, and the activity at relevant external meetings and events. May include delivering technical presentations, networking, relationship building and initiating and following through with opportunities for collaboration
- Engage and collaborate with other programs across CCP.
- Recognize and address factors that might strategically impact a program or CCP and lead implementation of solutions.
- Proactively seek opportunities to expand leadership and management skills.
- Request or initiate quarterly check-in meetings with supervisor to assess performance, strengths and areas for improvement in your current position and establish professional goals.
- Identify opportunities for bringing new skills into CCP, including attending JHU courses and seminars, conferences and external trainings.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
Minimum Qualifications (Required)
- Master’s degree in public health, social sciences, communication/communications, or other relevant degree or a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with a minimum of fifteen (15) years of professional experience in delivering SBC and professional experience working in mid to senior management positions.
- At least five (3) years of senior level management experience in the design, implementation, and management of programs of similar size, complexity and setting.
- At least seven (5) years of senior level SBC technical experience.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Senior level experience in social and behavior change communication, including but not limited to the use of human centered design, behavioral science, and advanced audience segmentation.
- Senior technical expert in at least one of these technical areas: family planning/reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal, newborn, and child health, malaria, global health security, gender, youth, and social inclusion, with sufficient understanding in all the areas to provide technical guidance and guide collaboration and coordination efforts.
- Demonstrated leadership qualities, depth and breadth of management expertise and technical experience.
- Proven record of building teams and fostering collaboration to achieve program goals, meet program milestones, and produce quality program results.
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
- Experience in successfully engaging the private sector.
- Demonstrated leadership qualities, depth and breadth of management expertise and experience.
- High level of interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills including a demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders.
- Excellent skills and experience in collaborative working relationships with senior level government leadership.
- Experience with integration of gender and youth analysis into health projects and services.
- Ability to work well with others.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Ability to work independently in a high profile, fast-paced and multi tasked environment.
- Excellent knowledge of national issues impacting the health sector in Uganda.
- Knowledge of the various regions of Uganda.
- Experience in Uganda.
- Exceptional communication skills in written and spoken English.
Preferred Qualifications
- Ugandan citizenship.
- Prior experience as an SBC technical expert or advisor preferred.
Other Requirements:
- May require up to 25% travel in Uganda, and internationally, as needed.
- Collaborate with US-based team on a routine basis.
- Excellent past performance references.
- Other duties may be assigned.
Please note: this position is contingent upon securing award.
How to Apply:
All candidates are encouraged to submit e-mail applications to ccpug-jobs@jh.edu with copies of current CV, cover letter and three professional referees. Please indicate which position you are applying for in the subject line of the email.
Deadline: 7th August 2024
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