The Academy for Educational Development

Senior

Washington, DC, United States

Driven by Passion. Guided by Respect. Focused on Results. We believe these values are essential to the Academy for Educational Development’s (AED) ability in making a difference in individual lives. The Academy for Educational Development (AED) is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to addressing human development needs in the United States and throughout the world.

AED seeks a Senior Communication Specialist, Malaria (7.2) C-Change, Center for Global Health Communication & Marketing

Project Summary:  
Communication for Change (C-Change) is USAID's flagship program for improving the effectiveness and sustainability of communication programs across multiple sectors: population, health, environment and civil society. The program is designed to: 1) implement evidence-based health and development communication programs at scale, applying best practices for behavior change; 2) strengthen the capacity of developing country institutions to carry out social and behavior change communication; and 3) generate and share knowledge about applying effective social and behavior change communication to address emerging health and development issues. More information is available at www.c-changeproject.org

Position Summary:  
The C-Change Senior Communication Specialist for Malaria will provide technical support in malaria control and coordinate activities with the President Malaria Initiative (PMI) program goals. S/he will assist in the development of strategies relevant to malaria to scale up delivery of existing and new effective interventions and will participate in conducting operational research. The post involves the coordination of activities with relevant partners including, Roll Back Malaria (RBM), and other stakeholders involved in malaria control.

Essential Job Functions:  

Technical Support:

• Provide direct technical assistance and support to the USAID President Malaria Initiative to devise appropriate social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) strategies, interventions, tools and training to support its global programs.
• Provide technical guidance and support C-Change country programs working in malaria control.
• Support country level programs to address malaria control and assist with the design and development of appropriate interventions and tools.
• Help country programs build technical capacity at the national, regional, and district levels.
• Function as part of the C-Change team and provide guidance and technical support to the Deputy Director, Director, the Country Managers, and research, monitoring and evaluation specialists on issues related to malaria control and ensure that all activities are consistent with accepted best practices.
• Participate in international technical networks, working groups and meetings to represent C-Change in malaria-related meetings.
• Contribute to the development of the C-Change technical strategy and keep C-Change staff abreast of new developments in malaria control.
• Assist in providing monthly activity updates, quarterly and annual progress reports and as needed technical reports.

Program Administration and Management:

• Ensure that the C-Change program attains its goals, meets its deliverables, and produces the results required as outlined by work plans and USAID in a timely manner.
• Coordinate program activities according to the approved project work plan and in consultation with Project Director and Deputy Director and C-Change staff.
• Assist in providing, coordinating or arranging technical assistance, capacity building, and administrative support activities under the project.
• Assist Project Director and Deputy Director in the development in the production of yearly work plans, quarterly/monthly reports and operational budgets.
• Review and revise approved work plans, timelines, and objectives for all project activities.
• Provide technical input for program activities and ensure effective collaboration across all project activities.
• Monitor the performance of implementation of program activities and ensure timely submission of deliverables.
• Build and maintain cooperative and professional relationships with all malaria stakeholders.
• Support the Project Director and Deputy Director to represent C-Change at meetings with donors, government ministries, core partners, UN agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
• Develop a pool of technical experts in Africa that can support malaria control programs.
• Track project deliverables and recommend steps to ensure targets are met.
• Track and report monthly/quarterly on programmatic achievements and challenges.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the C-Change Deputy Director.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Masters in one of the following or related fields: Community Health Education, Health, Health Ed. & Behavioral Science and Health Promotion required.
• 10 year(s) of relevant experience required
• Experience (at least 10 years) within the health sector with optimal understanding of key malaria issues.
• Significant experience (at least five years) working in malaria control in the health sector.
• Country-level experience (at least five years) with designing, implementing and monitoring behaviour change programs related to malaria control.
• Experience with programs supported by international agencies such as WHO, World Bank, Global Fund and bilateral agencies such as USAID preferred.
• Demonstrated managerial and organizational skills in a developmental setting with flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and deadlines.
• Experience of working with Ministries of Health, international agencies and non-government organisations.
• Demonstrated experience with training and capacity building related to behaviour change programs.
• Successful experience in proposal development.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to interact professionally with staff, partners, and consultants.
• Proficiency in English including speaking, writing and reading with the ability to write technical reports and documents in English is required.
• Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• This position is based in the C-Change Office in Washington, D.C. Travel to support country programs is required. Travel is anticipated to be 30% of time.

#CB9439

Interested applicants should apply online or send resume with cover letter referencing position #CB9439 to: AED/HR, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009; or fax: (202) 884-8413. For additional information, visit the AED website at http://www.aed.org

We thank all individuals for their interest in AED, however only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Individuals responding to job postings are considered applicants if you meet the following criteria: (1) have expressed interest through the Internet, email or other related technologies, (2) are considered by the AED for a particular position, (3) possess the basic qualifications for the position and (4) do not at any point remove yourself from consideration.

AA/EOE/M/F/D/V