Career Opportunities: Social and Behavioral Change Communication Specialist (40204)

Requisition ID 40204 – Posted 08/04/2021 – Country (1) – Programme Management

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Position Description

Plan is seeking applicants for a Social and Behavioral Change Communications (SBCCC) Specialist for an anticipated USAID-funded Education program in Rwanda. This program will support the result areas of the LEARN Project under the Homes and Communities Activity, with the purpose of improving literacy outcomes for all Rwandan children by the end of primary grade 3 (P3). The SBCC Specialist will be responsible for developing and disseminating social mobilization guidelines, fund mobilization guidelines, behavior change communication guidelines, and key advocacy messages.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the development, analysis, and repetition of a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey to be conducted as a baseline to inform the project SBCC strategy.
• Provide guidance and support in crafting and testing simple, easily understood behavior change messages that clearly and persuasively present evidence about the benefits of reading and other themes collected from the KAP survey.
• Develop comprehensive tools, campaign materials, and interventions, using evidence-based theories and methodologies, in close collaboration with the project leadership;
• Oversee the program and technical aspects of the procurement process in developing requests for proposals, soliciting, selecting, and overseeing vendors providing SBCC services and products;
• Manage the creative research work of any SBCC firm, advertising agencies, public relations experts, production vendors, and/or consultants hired by the project to assist with SBCC or community-level work. This includes providing technical orientation to local NGOs to implement quality and successful SBCC work;
• Provide technical support to the project’s SBCC and community level activities.
• Liaise and coordinate with the relevant agencies of the Ministry of Education and assigned counterparts to ensure coordination of communications, strategy, NGO subcontracts, and school community small grants with MOE priorities;
• Identify risks, challenges, and new opportunities in project implementation and management, and propose adaptations and action working closely with project leadership and Plan management teams in Rwanda and USA;
• Support the development of annual work plans and contribute to development of performance monitoring plans;

Key Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant degree including the fields of behavior change, communications, marketing, international development, or a related field; Master’s Degree strongly preferred.
• Experience SBCC experience in senior technical roles of USAID-funded grants and/or contracts strongly preferred;
• At least 5 years of experience in designing, planning, and implementing SBCC efforts and/or community level activities, including communication campaigns and trainings.
• Experience with Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) methodology, measurement, and knowledge of USAID communications and branding policies and procedures
• Computer skills and mastery of Microsoft Office suite, especially Word and Excel
• Demonstrated knowledge of cultural barriers to education and to reading in Rwanda;
• Demonstrated experience on other international development projects strongly preferred; and
• Fluency in English and Kinyarwanda is required.

Plan is an Equal Opportunity Employer and as such qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Location: TBD

Reports to: Head of Programs 

Grade: TBD

Closing Date: 17th April 2021

This position is on the local contract and only people live and permitted to work in Rwanda are allowed to apply.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights, and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.