SPRING is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide state-of-the-art technical support and facilitate country-led, regional, and global programs to improve the nutritional status of women and children. The SPRING implementation team consists of JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., Helen Keller International (HKI), The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Save the Children (SC), and The Manoff Group (TMG).
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Technical Advisor for SPRING, USAID’s flagship nutrition project, will provide technical support and strategic guidance for the design and implementation of evidence-based SBCC activities to improve maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN), hygiene, and a range of nutrition sensitive agricultural practices aimed at reducing stunting and anemia. The Advisor will be a key member of SPRING’s SBCC Global Initiatives Team, with heavy engagement with SPRING’s Agriculture-Nutrition team as well. The position is based at the JSI offices in Rosslyn, Virginia. A primary focus for this position is managing SPRING’s nutrition and agriculture SBCC portfolio in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Additionally he/she will work on core-funded activities and provide technical assistance to SPRING’s SBCC related activities at both country and global level, with a particular technical focus on SBCC as it relates to the nexus of nutrition, agriculture, and resiliency. This technical assistance may involve support for nutrition SBCC program design and evaluation; nutrition SBCC capacity building; the development of strategic plans, technical materials, communication tools, training packages, job aids, guidelines and standards; as well as the creative application of mobile technologies, community video, community radio, and other promising nutrition SBCC platforms.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
Strategic Direction (10%)
- Support the SBCC Team Leader in development of overall SPRING SBCC strategic direction, with particular emphasis on nutrition SBCC related to the intersection between nutrition, agriculture, and resilience.
Management (50%)
- Manage SPRING’s nutrition and agriculture SBCC portfolio in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
- Contribute to the development of the SBCC team work plans and budgets, ensuring consistency with the Project’s strategic direction and priorities;
- Provide specific regional-level support to SPRING staff and short term consultants in West Africa.
- Ensure timely, quality delivery on assigned activities, including management of budgets related to those activities.
Technical Leadership in Nutrition SBCC (30%)
- In collaboration with key project stakeholders, support development and implementation of SPRING’s global nutrition SBCC portfolio, with particular emphasis on SBCC related to the intersection between nutrition, agriculture, and resilience;
- Provide up-to-date, evidence-based nutrition SBCC technical guidance and support to the SPRING Global and Country Initiatives Teams;
- Manage the development of evidence-based program standards, guidance, and tools that reflect global best practice in nutrition SBCC, and promote widespread application and use of these standards;
- Lead efforts to build capacity in the design and implementation of sustainable, high impact, and high quality nutrition SBCC programs, both at the HQ and country-levels;
- In collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, identify key gaps, best practices, and promising new approaches for nutrition SBCC; and
- Design and/or oversee research studies to test and document their effectiveness.
Other: (10%)
- Serve as a point of contact on matters related to SBCC in the context of nutrition, agriculture, and resiliency;
- Perform other duties as assigned by SPRING’s SBCC Team Leader and SPRING’s Agriculture-Nutrition Team Leader. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND BACKGROUND · Knowledge and experience in the design and implementation of evidence-based behavior change strategies, approaches, materials, etc.
· Prior field-based work experience designing or implementing nutrition and/or health programs, especially in vulnerable, food insecure or disaster prone settings highly desirable.
· Strong record of fostering new and effective partnerships on an international level including participation in technical advisory groups, international consultations, boards, etc.
· Research skills, preferably in formative and/or “operations” research (identifying research question, and working with experts in protocol development, implementation, and analysis).
• Experience delivering technical assistance in developing country settings, on both facility and community based MIYCN programs.
· Experience overseeing technical quality of programs integrating nutrition into maternal and child health, family planning, agriculture, food security/livelihoods, and/or HIV/AIDS.
· Ability to develop and apply monitoring and evaluation plans to determine program results and monitor impact.
· Knowledge of USAID and other donor policies, strategies, and program priorities preferred.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in international public health programming with emphasis on SBCC and community nutrition programs including MIYCN.
- MPH, MS, or PhD or equivalent experience in behavior change, social sciences, health education and/or communication.
- Strong interpersonal skills (ability to work effectively in a team, and in cross-cultural settings).
- Proven leadership skills, and the ability to manage multiple activities simultaneously.
- Demonstrated success in working with local government and NGO stakeholders, and experience in capacity building.
- Ability to travel up to 40% of the time, specifically in travel restricted areas such as Guinea and Sierra Leone.
- High level fluency in both English and French (written and spoken). Fluent French is required for this position.
- Must be authorized to work in the United States of America.
ABOUT THE MANOFF GROUP, INC.:
For the past 40 years, The Manoff Group has been an international leader in designing and assisting the implementation of programs that effectively promote good nutrition and allow populations to enjoy improved nutritional status. The Manoff Group is a leader in social and behavior change communication. Its innovative Behavior-Centered Programming approach is a practical methodology for realizing measurable and sustained behavior change at the individual, community and organizational levels. Integral to our work is policy advocacy, capacity development among stakeholders, and behavioral monitoring and evaluation to strengthen a program’s impact on nutrition.
The Manoff Group offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits.
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