Community Engagement and Advocacy Director 111 views

Job Summary:

The Community Engagement and Advocacy Director will be responsible for providing strategic technical leadership to the design, implementation, and monitoring of health literacy and community engagement activities. S/he will also be responsible for leading capacity strengthening activities with NSAs (i.e., private organizations, FBOs, CBOs, CSOs) to engage in advocacy and community mobilization towards improving engagement, ownership, and functionality of community systems/platforms to drive greater social accountability and ultimately, improved health outcomes in target communities. This a senior technical leadership and key personnel position. This position is subject to project award and funder approval and will be based in Ethiopia.

Accountabilities:

·       Provides technical and programmatic leadership and oversight to all community engagement activities undertaken and planned by the project to empower individuals and communities to create a well-informed (health literate) and demanding society.

·       Provides technical and programmatic leadership and oversight to all activities to strengthen the capacity and skills of NSAs in advocacy, accountability, transparency, and policy engagements, particularly for RMNCAH-N services.

·       Develops evidence-based strategies and innovative interventions to: (1) improve access to and utilization of health information, (2) improve health literacy, and (3) increase community engagement in the design, planning, governance, and delivery of health services.

·       Develops evidence-based strategies and innovative activities to improve NSAs’ capacity and skills for: (1) community mobilization and engagement; (2) advocacy; (3) monitoring of transparency and accountability of the health system; and (4) basic data collection, analysis, and synthesis to identify drivers of disease burden(s) and prioritize health needs to engage policymakers, service providers, and community members.

·       Works with technical leads and project partners in each location to ensure a shared vision for health literacy, community engagement, and capacity strengthening activities and outcomes, address implementation challenges, and encourage the sharing of best practices and project successes.

·       Ensures the quality, equity, scale, and sustainability of technical approaches and document experiences/lessons learned from activities, including production of case studies, white papers, etc.

·       Ensures high quality technical deliverables—including workplans and annual reports—are developed, submitted, and approved on schedule and within budget parameters.

·       Develops and implements processes and procedures to achieve strategic technical goals of the project.

·       Provides direction to ensure technical activities are compliant with client agreements, government regulations, and the organization’s policies and procedures.

·       Responds to client requests and questions on technical matters and ensures timely drafts and submissions of consents, approvals, and/or waivers.

·       Manages the learning, monitoring, and evaluation of relevant technical activities, including contributing to the finalization of project work plans and performance monitoring plans (PMPs), and ensures alignment with the project’s theory of change and uses data and learnings to make course corrections as needed.

·       Manages the relationship with all subcontracted organizations/consultants on technical matters.

·       Promotes project success by collecting, writing, and distributing success stories, case studies, photos, and outreach at events.

·       Attends informative events related to health literacy, community engagement, and capacity strengthening of NSAs to network and learn information that could be valuable to project activities.

·       Supports knowledge management within the project, including the capture and articulation of success stories, best practice and lessons learned.

·       Represent the project’s community engagement and NSA capacity strengthening work to internal and external stakeholders via knowledge management processes as appropriate.

·       Directs and guides staff with training and developing process improvement initiatives to ensure compliance with company and government standards.

·       Supports performance management and professional development of direct reports, including ongoing feedback, coaching and career support.

·       Engages in writing publications and may contribute to developing proposals for new projects.

·       Identifies and consults with executive management on technical recommendations to make better business decisions.

·       Performs other duties as assigned.

Applied Knowledge & Skills:

·       Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, practices, and procedures with project management and technical development.

·       Excellent and demonstrated organizational, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

·       Excellent and demonstrated project management and technical skills.

·       Ability to influence, motivate, negotiate, and work well with others.

·       Ability to exercise judgment within generally defined practices and policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions and results.

·       Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, practices and policies related to health literacy, community engagement, and capacity strengthening of NSAs.

·       Proven ability to ensure budgets, schedules, and performance requirements are met.

·       Excellent and demonstrated leadership skills.

·       Excellent oral and written communication and analytical skills in English.

• Demonstrated learning agility, pro-activeness, and openness to embrace new technology and approaches at work.
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders and implementing partners.

Supervision Given/Received:

·       Provides direct supervision of a team of technical staff.

·       Leads and directs staff to achieve strategic project goals.

·       Coordinates with project lead to set budgets, goals, and develops procedures and training for project.

·       Develops and recommends project management solutions.

·       Reports to DCOP or COP.

Education: 

·       Master’s Degree or its International Equivalent in Public Health, Civil Society, Communication, Social and Behavior Change, or a Related Field.

·       Project Management (PM) Certification preferred.

Experience: 

·       Requires a minimum of twelve (12) years of relevant technical experience in community engagement and capacity strengthening activities in Ethiopia or other similar environments (including 8+ years of leadership, strong business acumen and/or line management experience).

• Strong understanding and previous experience in the design, implement, and monitoring of strategies and interventions to increase access to health information, improve health literacy, and increase community engagement in the design, planning, governance, and delivery of health services.
• Strong understanding and previous experience working with, advising, and providing capacity strengthening to NSAs, including private organizations, FBO, CBOs, CSOs, and/or other formal and informal community platforms and other local non-state organizations.

• Demonstrated knowledge of health literacy and community engagement methodologies and approaches
• Demonstrated knowledge of capacity strengthening methodologies and approaches at the system, organization, and individual level.
• Strong understanding of working with marginalized and vulnerable population segments, including rural poor populations, women, youth, populations living in hard-to reach areas, religious and ethnic minorities.
• Demonstrated understanding of the RMNCAH-N sector in Ethiopia.
• Experience working in and familiarity with the local context of Ethiopia.

·       Prior work experience in a non-governmental organization (NGO) is preferred.

·       Prior work experience with USAID-funded projects preferred.

Typical Physical Demands:

·       Typical office environment.

·       Ability to spend long hours looking at computer screen and doing repetitive work on a keyboard.

·       Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time.

Technology to be Used:

·       Personal Computer/Laptop, Microsoft applications (i.e., Office 365, SharePoint, Skype/Zoom/Teams), cell phone/mobile technology, and standard office equipment.

Travel Requirements:

·       15-20%, or as per requirement.