TEAM/PROGRAMME:

Growth through Nutrition

Gob Grade:

1C

Background:

Growth through Nutrition (GtN) – is six-year multi-sector nutrition project in Ethiopia (2016-2022. Save the Children in partnership with its Government partners, MoH, MoA, MoE, MoWIE, MoE, MoSHE and their decentralized structures, international NGOs and local NGOs implements Growth through Nutrition using a multi-sector platform comprised of evidence-based nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.

The purpose of the USAID Growth through Nutrition activity is to improve the nutritional status of women and young children in the four productive regions with a focus on the first 1,000 days from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday—the critical window of opportunity for a child’s growth and development. The project has four essential crosscutting elements:  Gender equality and women’s empowerment, a rigorous learning agenda, sustainable approaches, and convergence/overlay of multi-sector nutrition interventions (e.g. agriculture, livelihoods, education, health, humanitarian assistance) and WASH activities in the same geographic areas.

In the remaining project period, Growth through Nutrition focuses on ensuring that project inputs so far are leading to desired behavioural change for improved nutrition of the target population through quality and integrated activities implementation; documenting and sharing lessons and experiences; scaling-up and institutionalization of best practices and sustainable approaches by working closely with government and other key stakeholders.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Manger will lead the SBCC team and spearhead the overall process to ensure SBCC contributes to the project’s intermediate results in alignment with the project’s approved work plan and in collaboration with the program team; this includes providing technical direction and oversight to all SBCC components of the project.  He/she is primarily responsible for strengthening regional and district health, nutrition, and WASH teams in SBCC, building teams’ technical capacity to implement, manage and evaluate the effectiveness of SBCC activities and institutionalize approaches for health and nutrition SBCC. S/he also provides technical oversight and guidance for the implementation of 5 LNGO partners implementing SBCC activities at the community level. The Manager will be accountable for, identifying best practices, and documenting lesson learned and impact. S/he is also responsible for developing health and nutrition advocacy plan and tools to   strengthen the policy environment for nutrition, health and WASH.   S/he represents the project externally with partners and GoE to ensure the project’s SBCC approach is in line with and supports GoE priorities and advocates for GoE scale up of project approaches through the National Food and Nutrition Policy/Strategy, Seqota Declaration, PSNP V and other priority sectoral nutrition strategies/programs. The Manager will coordinate with Program’s government partners, national Advisors, sub-primes, SBCC teams, and regional coordinators to facilitate ownership, coordination, and smooth implementation of SBCC.

S/He is responsible for effective planning and utilization of SBCC budget; for bi-annual review, planning and preparation of reports and briefs on SBCC activities. S/He also reviews and approves partner work plans and reports.

This position is based in Addis Ababa with regular travel to regions for technical support, sub-prime monitoring and capacity building and coordination.

Reports to: 

Deputy Chief of Party, Programs

Staff directly reporting to this post:

 one staff at AA

Other/Matrix reporting relationship:

Dotted line management of SBCC managers in five field offices and five local NGO partners

A.KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 

Technical Leadership:

• Oversees and provides technical support in monitoring a strategic and results-oriented approach for all Social Behaviour Change Communication activities of both project-specific SBCC interventions (Enhanced Community Conversations, adolescent nutrition related SBCC activities and GoE sectors’ integrated health and nutrition SBCC initiatives.
• Leads SBCC team to strategically plan, implement, and evaluate SBCC and community engagement activities, working closely with other SBCC team members at the Head Office and in regions and partners.
• Regularly participate in national stakeholder meetings, assuring program contributions to strategies and initiatives supporting the National Nutrition Programme (NNP or upcoming Food and Nutrition Strategy implementing sectoral programs
• Ensure integration of project’s SBCC activities into major activities across the different IRs of the project and potential platforms of Save the Children and sub-prime implementers for effective nutrition messaging. Proactively engage in adapting project’s SBCC interventions to national/local priorities that impede routine implementation such as COVID-19, different campaigns, etc.
• Drive cross-functional team members to develop detailed SBCC project schedules and milestones, and risks and risk mitigation plans to meet  the project  SBCC requirements
• Support the design and implementation of campaigns, workshops, and other community mobilization and social change initiatives at national and decentralized levels.
• Ensure that crosscutting elements of the project; gender, learning and documentation of program experience, coordination with other stakeholders in the same geographic areas and sustainable approaches are considered in each SBCC activity
• Provide technical assistance to implementation of innovative SBCC approaches of the project such as in woreda implemented grant-under-grant initiatives
• Build the capacity of project national and regional team and local partners.
• Ensures the quality, consistency and appropriateness of evidence based nutrition communication materials are disseminated to local communities, government officials, and partners.
•  Leads the efficient implementation of the SBCC component of the project work plans, budget, and reporting.
• Provides support to systematic documentation and information sharing of the SBCC media and lessons learned. 

Collaboration and Empowerment

• Collaborate closely with the SBCC team members, Program staff, as well as other projects/programs of Save the Children, working on SBCC issues to ensure synergy, sharing of technical resources, learning and mutual support.
• Effectively collaborates with government sectors and SBCC actors such as religious institutions to promote agreed optimal maternal and child nutrition related messages
• Coordinates with other similar programs in Ethiopia to assure effective integration and linkages between program activities, and to identify opportunities for synergies in the design, development and use of SBCC materials and related activities.
• Represent Growth through Nutrition externally with GoE to ensure SBCC interventions are aligned with GoE work plan and priorities. Advocate for scale-up of the project’s evidence-based SBCC interventions through GoE Seqota Declaration and FNP/strategy generated programs.
• Provide coordination and technical support to government counterparts and other partners in the development and strategic use of communication for social development.
• Promote SBCC knowledge exchanges among nutrition sector partners to promote diffusion of good practice.
• Participate in regular program meetings as required.

Research and Dissemination

• Support the design of appropriate monitoring and evaluation tools for SBCC activities in collaboration with other program staff, partners and stakeholders, including setting clear performance targets and identifying expected results.
• Work with SBCC and M&E teams to monitor and evaluate the impact of the project’s SBCC strategy
• Leads documentation of SBCC lessons and proactively seeks and identifies media to share key outcomes of the project multiple SBCC interventions
• Engage in project studies that help inform effective project activities implementation and other nutrition SBCC interventions at large
• Analyse and evaluate data to ensure compliance and achievement of objectives and recommend corrective action, when necessary, to meet programme/project objectives.
• Prepare monitoring and evaluation reports in accordance with the established guidelines, methods and procedures.

Program and Staff Management

• Prepare and oversee work plans and budgets for the SBCC activities to assure cost-efficient use of funds, and timely and effective implementation of activities.
• Provide supportive guidance and technical assistance to the regional SBCC Managers, Local NGOs and teams on the development and implementation of SBCC activities at decentralized levels (regions, woredas).
• Develop and make presentations on program social behavior change communication activities as requested.
• Lead the writing of donor program reports and other project documents related to social behavior change.
• Review and approve work plans and reports of the five local NGOs
• Ensure effective management of the SBCC team member reporting to the SBCC Advisor/Manager, including supporting their development and ensuring accountability for results.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds suppliers accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and takes responsibility for their own personal development
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence
• Displays consistent excellent judgement

Experience and Skills:

• At least BA/BSc Degree, preferably Master’s Degree or PhD in Public Health, Health communication, Communications, Behavioral Sciences, Health Promotion, or Social Sciences
• A strong demonstrated understanding of Social Behavioural Change Communication as a form of strategic communication, with at least 10 years of relevant experience in SBCC work;
• Out of which at least four years of experiences demonstrating state-of-the-art expertise in the application of the behavioral sciences in multisectoral program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation; SBCC programs targeting the general population; targeting key or vulnerable populations;; work on gender issues, e.g., gender equity, gender-based violence and other health-related data in SBCC program design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation; and SBCC-related qualitative research
• Demonstrated ability to address behaviour change issues in improving household nutrition status
•  Previous experience working in the development of government SBCC and advocacy policy at national levels in the areas of nutrition, health, water hygiene, and sanitation (WASH) or agriculture
• An understanding and commitment to Save the Children values
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to both lead and work effectively with a team
• Excellent spoken and written Amharic and English
• Excellent computer skills (particularly Microsoft Office) and internet skills
• Willingness to travel and work with rural communities

KEY COMPETENCIES

Technical competencies:

• Ensures linkages across portfolio ensuring quality and coherence of MEAL systems and evidence gathering
• Manages resources and capacities to develop and maintain quality MEAL systems
• Facilitates strategic alignment of data to global priorities

Generic Competencies

• Child Rights: Promotes an enabling environment for participation, and accountability to children
• Be the Innovator: Promotes innovation to find new and better approaches to driving progress for children
• Deliver Results at Scale: Promotes a clear focus on impact in a project and programme design, management, and oversight

Generic Competencies

• Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities

• Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalised children and adolescent
• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery

Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peerS,

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Gender Equality Policies, supported by relevant procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SC Health and Safety policies and procedures.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. The duty station of the position holder will be in Addis Ababa This role is offered on the basis of national terms and conditions only.

The Organization

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.