Senior Technical Advisor - Social and Behavior Change Communication
Job Title: Senior Technical Advisor for Social and Behavior Change Communication
Dept./Location: Program Quality Support Department (PQSD)/Baltimore, MD
Band: E
FSLA: Exempt
Reports To: Health & HIV Senior Technical Advisor
Background:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is a non-profit international relief and development organization whose mission is to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. In its health and HIV work, CRS, in collaboration with local partners, seeks to strengthen local health systems (from the community to the national levels) to meet the health needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people.
CRS country programs, work with local partners, to address a wide-array of health issues. Programs engage in health system strengthening, HIV care and treatment, nutrition, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases. CRS works in close partnership with local stakeholders to prioritize local ownership, leadership and sustainability. Interventions follow CRS’ Integral Human Development model and focus on the most vulnerable populations. PQSD technical advisors work closely with regional and country program staff to identify and document promising practices, manage and share technical information with the field, represent the interests of CRS’ Health and HIV Unit internally and externally, and provide assistance to field programs.
Primary Function:
Located within the Program Quality Support Department (PQSD), the Senior Technical Advisor (STA) for Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) will work within the Health and HIV Unit. S/he will be responsible for leading the development of innovative and cutting edge SBCC strategies, trainings and materials to strengthen the capacity of CRS staff and partners to design, implement, and evaluate high quality SBCC interventions for diverse areas of health and HIV programming. S/he will also represent CRS’ interests in health and HIV programming both internally and externally. It is anticipated that 70% of the time will be spent on supporting (both from Baltimore and on site visits) state-of-the-art field-based SBCC programmatic activity in project design, implementation and evaluation; and 30% will be spent on representation and other related tasks.
Job Responsibilities:
Serve as technical advisor for social and behavior change communications and other behavioral programs implemented by CRS and its partners to ensure programs reflect the state-of-the-art in SBCC programming.
Provide technical leadership in the overall design, implementation and evaluation of SBCC projects and/or the SBCC component of larger multi-sectoral projects. This includes participation on project design teams, overseeing the development of formative research, designing behavior changes strategies, engaging in operations research, project evaluation, and impact evaluation.
Provide CRS country programs and partners with expert input and ongoing technical support to ensure best practice in behavioral interventions and communication campaigns. Conduct site visits to review technical quality of behavioral interventions and communications materials, recommending changes as needed, and support partners to improve SBCC practices. Facilitate sharing of materials and best practices across CRS programs in different countries.
Maintain a network of scientific and professional contacts including leading researchers, scholars and practitioners in the field of human behavior, and share new research findings in these areas.
Contribute to international and domestic meetings, workshops and conferences dealing with behavioral aspects of health and HIV programming. Collaborate with CRS headquarters, regional and country program staff to document CRS’ experiences around SBCC and publish in peer-reviewed journals.
Contribute to CRS’ Health and HIV Global Strategy by working collaboratively with other PQSD staff as appropriate to provide technical and programmatic advice on appropriate strategies for social and behavioral change.
Participate in and contribute to internal and external working groups and committees working on issues related to social and behavior change, particularly cross-cutting areas like gender and stigma and discrimination.
Contribute to development of technical guidance for the design, implementation and evaluation of behavioral interventions.
Develop initiatives to build country program capacity to identify and address behavioral aspects of health and HIV programming including the use of formative research to identify the target audience, behavioral determinants and to develop effective SBCC interventions.
Support country-program staff in the development of M&E plans and operations research that supports quality SBCC interventions.
Provide recommendations for new areas of research and programming, and promote innovation in behavioral interventions and communications, e.g. new ways of engaging the private sector and media and use of information and communication technology.
Ensure CRS behavior and communications efforts align with global donor trends e.g., as USAID, PEPFAR, PMI, Food for Peace, UNAIDS, and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM).
Supervisory Responsibilities: Supervise consultants and short-term hires as necessary.
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: PQSD Health and HIV Unit; PQSD Publications Unit; Other PQSD Technical Advisors; Special Grants Unit; Overseas Support Department; Regional and Country Offices, including Regional Technical Advisors (RTA) for Health, HIV and AIDS, and Vulnerable Children; Other RTAs; Deputy Regional Directors for Program Quality; Country Program Representatives; Heads of Programming; Program Managers; Fundraising; Media; US Operations.
External: International health and HIV networks; SBCC advisors of other Faith-based Organizations/PVOs/NGOs; SBCC -related working groups; partner organizations; USG agencies such as USAID; universities; firms; consultants; and donors.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
Qualifications:
PhD or equivalent degree (e.g., MD, DrPH, EdD) strongly preferred, or Master's degree in related field with significant experience.
Eight to 15 years of relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role at the country and regional levels, preferably with five to seven years’ experience working in the field contributing to or managing projects in multiple regions.
Track record of publications in peer reviewed journals.
Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) Certification a plus.
Ability to apply theories of communication, behavior and social change to the design of projects, M&E frameworks, operations research, and impact evaluation.
Demonstrated ability to design curricula and facilitate learning opportunities for adults through training, mentoring, and other formal and non-formal methods.
Proven ability to communicate technical information clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical colleagues both orally and in written format.
Ability and willingness to conduct operations research and to submit abstracts to professional conferences, professional journals and through other networks.
Demonstrated experience developing SBCC approaches in line with best practices and the frameworks used by international donors such as USAID, Food for Peace, PEPFAR, CDC, and the GFATM.
Proficiency managing complex sets of quantitative data, including data collection, conducting data quality checks, and analyzing data.
Proficiency in the use of qualitative methods including a proven ability to identify determinants and key factors that influence behaviors at different levels.
Proven leadership and management skills in coordinating project teams and/or consultants in SBCC activity implementation and evaluation.
Ability to engage, manage and motivate staff.
Ability to articulate the Agency’s principles, including respect for and willingness to work within the CRS HIV/AIDS policy and Catholic Social Teaching.
Willingness to travel frequently—up to 30% of time.
Mastery of Microsoft Office Suite products: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Internet Explorer. Proficiency with SharePoint a plus.
Expertise with data analysis software for quantitative and qualitative data analysis e.g., Epi Info, Stata, SPSS, NVivo, or similar databases.
Fluency in English; functional ability in French, Spanish, or Portuguese required.
Excellent interpersonal, organizational and written/verbal communication skills, including in cross-cultural settings.
Ability to work effectively in a team-oriented environment as well as the ability to work independently.
Physical Requirements/Environment:
• Normal US office environment conditions.
• Requires overseas travel to sometimes difficult and challenging regions/countries.
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
NOTE: All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application.
To apply, please visit http://crs.org/about/careers/ Reference requisition D659
EOE/M/F/D/V
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