Position: Program Officer

Organization: CHRI

Location: Kohima

Roles and Responsibilities:

The PO must have a strong foundation in SBC and working knowledge of food systems and/or private sector marketing approaches. The incumbent will be responsible for implementation of SBC and advocacy related strategies for rice fortification. S/he will ensure that all SBC activities support the achievement of health & nutrition targets in the project site.

The incumbent will be responsible for the timely implementation of SBC activities based on state-of-the-art SBC practices and capture lessons learned. S/he will work closely with project leadership and team members to generate stakeholder inputs, support in development of SBC implementation plans and suitable knowledge management and measurement.

• Design the overall SBC strategy using state of the art approaches and principles across multi-sectoral departments of the government and project for an umbrella campaign with stakeholder input and audience testing.
• Advocate and support the departments of PDS/ICDS/MDM/Health and Food Safety. Cultivate strategic relationships with government ministries, and other stakeholders for the smooth implementation of program activities.
• Support in provision of state of the art and evidence based technical inputs and guide priority setting for the research agenda and activities.
• Support in actively identifying direct technical inputs from all technical areas to ensure effective support for their targets; coordinate project SBC activities and provide direct technical support to other technical counterparts as needed.
• Support the development of SBC content and implementation (e.g. trigger videos, forum theatre, IEC material, community radio, experiential fairs, radio diaries) as appropriate.
• Coordinate monitoring of SBC activities with other staff according to the M&E framework and assess if targets are achieved and document results.
• Work and build capacity with Civil Society Organizations(CSOs)/ local NGOs, SHGs(e.g. Local implementing partners, community based organizations (CBOs) to define expectations, provide leadership and support as needed, and evaluate performance regularly.
• Document and share best practices and innovations for replication and advocacy together with national programme team.
• Ensure the timeliness and quality of SBC content for reports and meet all reporting requirements.

Qualification and Experience:
• Master’s degree in social science/communication or related field
• Experience implementing SBC, health promotion and communication, social marketing, child health, nutrition, and hygiene or similar programs.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in health communication, public health promotion, social marketing, fortification, health or behavioral sciences, or related field and demonstrated experience in community-based projects.
• Demonstrated ability to implemented effective behavior change campaigns, including community engagement and experiential activities
• Demonstrated abilities and experience in SBC strategy and materials development, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of SBC interventions; (innovative radio and experiential program design preferred, e.g., trained in radio diaries production)
• Experience of working with local/national governments and capacity building of systems, partners and staff
• Demonstrated problem solving skills, collaboration experience, creativity and willingness to innovate
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations

Requirements:

• Organize and accurately complete multiple tasks by establishing priorities while taking into consideration special assignments, frequent interruptions, deadlines, available resources, and multiple reporting relationships.
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders at multiple levels
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability.
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently.
• Be adaptable to various competing demands and demonstrate the highest level of end user and partner service and response.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve high performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.