Program Officer I at Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria

Breakthrough ACTION ignites collective action and encourages people to adopt healthier behavior - from using modern contraceptive methods and sleeping under bed nets to being tested for HIV and preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases - by forging, testing, and scaling up new and hybrid approaches to social and behavior change.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Program Officer 1 - Risk Communication & SBC

Location: Nigeria

Background
Breakthrough Action Nigeria (BA-N) is a USAID funded Social Behaviour Change (SBC) and Risk Communication Project with the goal of increasing practice of priority individual and household level health behaviors in target states on MNCH+N, FP, Malaria and Tuberculosis. Firmly grounded in proven practices, Breakthrough ACTION works in partnership with governments, civil society, and communities around the world to implement creative and sustainable SBC programming, nurture SBC champions, mainstream new techniques, and technologies, and advocate strategic and sustained investment in SBC.

Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria will be working with ministries of health, agriculture, environment, and other key stakeholders to build country capacity to implement the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and accelerate Nigeria’s progress toward implementation of the WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR).

Summary

• The Program Officer I - Risk Communication & SBC will provide technical support to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the BA-N GHSA project.
• She/he is expected to work in close collaboration with the ministries of health, agriculture, environment, and other GHSA implementing partners (in zoonotic diseases surveillance, emergency and pandemic preparedness and response, laboratory capacity building) at the national and subnational level to improve the risk communication capacity and address behaviors associated with high priority diseases.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
In addition to the overall technical inputs to the project as described above, specific duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned:

• Serve as a key liaison officer with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and GHSA Implementing partners;
• Provide technical support to Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) stakeholders, coordination structures and activities at national and subnational levels including development and dissemination of strategies, guidelines, toolkits, communication materials, scripts and job aid, content management, and capacity building;
• Participate in the drafting and implementation of approved work plans;
• Lead with preparation/writing, submission, and editing of timely and quality activity reports, including field notes, and collaborate with relevant MDAs to ensure documentation of all program-related activities;
• Monitor project events and stakeholder’s activities in coordination with project technical lead and capture lessons learned for adaptive management;
• Provide administrative support as needed;
• Provide technical assistance to IHR National Focal Point and National One Health Coordination Unit (NOHCU) for implementation of RCCE-related activities in national policies e.g. One Health Strategic Plan; National Action Plan for Health Security and Joint External Evaluation Report;
• Provide support to programmatic research processes such as desk reviews, gaps assessment, and Human-Centered Design;
• Other duties as identified by the supervisor or project director.

 Education and Experience Requirements

• Minimum of Bachelor's degree in Social / Health Sciences or related discipline is required. An advanced degree is desirable.
• Excellent organizational, communication (written & spoken) and problem-solving skills are essential.
• Excellent technical writing and oral presentation skills are highly desired.
• Demonstrated competence to assess priorities and manage a variety of activities in a time-sensitive environment and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Ability to travel and work within a cross-cultural, multi-sectoral, multi-project team-based environment.
• Working Knowledge of MS Office Packages and database software and applications.
• 5-7 years of previous experience carrying out the related tasks with donor-funded health projects is strongly preferred. Experience of working on a USAID-funded project an advantage.
• Experience working with varied stakeholders especially ministries, departments, and agencies in a multisectoral approach developing and implementing policies is desirable.
• Experience working on issues related to Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), Social Behaviour Change, or Zoonotic Diseases is preferred.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and Cover Letter as one PDF document to: [email protected] using the "Job Title" as the subject of the email.

Note: Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Deadline  16th December, 2020.