Senior Adviser Communication for Development - Social Behavior Change (P-5), FT, Health, Programme Group - NYHQ

Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 208,877 USD and 261,770 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

UNICEF Program Group is currently undergoing organizational changes; therefore, the exact location of the post has yet to be determined. Selected candidates may be required to commence duties remotely until the location is confirmed. If reassigned or relocated to New York, candidates may be expected to relocate to a new location again during the initial contract or assignment period. When working remotely, candidate will be expecting to fulfill their functions during NYHQ core working hours (10AM-4PM) unless agreed otherwise by Hiring Office

Generating demand for immunization is a pillar of the UNICEF Immunizations Roadmap and an area of UNICEF’s comparative advantage. UNICEF has extensive experience in providing technical leadership in social and behavior change and leading inter agency partnerships to address social and behavioral barriers to improving vaccination coverage and increasing equitable access to quality immunizations services. Effective Social and Behavior Change (SBC) communication encompasses a strategic and innovative mix of communication approaches, platforms and channels (mass, digital and social media, community and social mobilization and interpersonal). The overall goal and contribution of SBC is to increase demand for and utilization of immunization and other essential Primary Health Care services, promote the acceptance and uptake of new and existing vaccines, tackle equity related barriers including gender, and to focus on zero dose children in order to ensure that every child is fully immunized. UNICEF also emphasizes the importance of strengthening capacities of UNICEF Country Offices, government and civil society partners, strategic partnerships, improved evidence use and generation, and establishment of global goods and technical platforms to drive implementation of quality evidence-based programming at scale.

For every child, good health….

UNICEF is managing a grant of $44 million for COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Support (CDS) to 30 non-Gavi eligible Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) countries. This US$ 44 million grant is part of a larger investment from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ, to support in-country COVID-19 vaccine delivery and is being carried out in partnership with Gavi. The 30 countries are middle-income countries that are not receiving Gavi financial support but are now eligible for external support through the COVAX mechanism. As part of the CDS support, UNICEF aims to increase its capacity on immunization in middle-income countries.

You will provide overall technical leadership and strategic guidance in addition you will serve as the Immunization Team’s technical lead and overall manager of the demand for immunization function and oversees the development of global technical policy guidelines and tools, capacity development for programming, internal and external, in the area of behaviour and social change for immunization.

You will also take a leadership role in expanding and extending the application and innovative practice of behaviour and social change in immunization at global, regional and country levels through the establishment of strategic partnerships, development of global goods and platforms for field technical support, mobilization and leveraging of financial resources, and learning and sharing of good practices and lessons.

How can you make a difference?

Provide SBC policy leadership, vision and expert advice to support UNICEF's evidence-based programme and policy formulation, strategic planning & implementation guidance:

• Lead and guides the conceptualization and articulation of UNICEF's global policies and strategies as they relate to C4D, social and behaviour change, social mobilization and social transformation, linking community perspectives in upstream policy discussions and community participation in the context of the Strategic Plan 2018-2021 goals and the sustainable Development Goals.
• Advocate with UNICEF Senior Management for the integration, mainstreaming and strengthening of C4D principles and methodologies in development programmes supported by UNICEF.
• Promote programming based on human rights, gender equality and transformation and equity-based approaches to realize social change through innovations in SBC approaches, participatory methodologies and evidence-driven strategic interventions.
• Advocate for and provides guidance to integrate the principles of demand for immunization in key global guidance such as Immunization Agenda (IA) 2030.

Influences global policies through leading interagency partnerships, global collectives and funding mechanisms focusing on the achievement of the following results:

• Advocate for evidence-informed and innovative social and behavior change communication, community engagement and demand generation strategies to influence global, regional priorities and country programming.
• Provide thought leadership to the IA2030 Strategic Priority (SP) 2 working group on latest evidence on commitment and demand for immunization, sound demand generation & advocacy for immunization strategies and monitoring and evaluation for recommendation to member states through IA2030 and WHA processes.
• Advocate to Gavi and donor agencies to support investments in social and behavior change using the latest evidence on demand for immunization to sustain and enhance community health system strengthening, primary health care and community empowerment for immunization for inclusion in Gavi funding processes.
• Publish peer-reviewed articles and demonstrate UNICEF thought leadership on topics related to stimulating and sustaining community demand for immunization.
• Engage in broader social and behavior change and community engagement processes with primary health care partners such as WHO, USAID, BMGF, among others and use immunization as an entry point to strengthen other community primary health care services for child survival and development.
• Lead and oversee the development and maintenance of high level relationships with UN agencies, donor organizations, civil society organizations (including academic/learning institutions and professional networks) and global initiatives such as the Vaccination Demand Hub.
• Represent UNICEF at SBC and demand generation for Immunization policy and strategic planning meetings with UN and bilateral agencies, professional bodies and others. Promotes recognition of UNICEF’s leadership in the area demand for immunization, behaviour and social change, social mobilization and social transformation.
• Act as a spokesperson for UNICEF on issues related to demand generation, latest evidence related to vaccine acceptance and uptake, and advocate for the value of vaccines and investments in demand. Participate in technical and coordination discussions at inter-governmental and inter-agency fora, as well as with non-governmental and professional partners.
• Provide leadership in the demand generation for immunization component of special inter-agency initiatives, programmes and implementation These might include, but are not limited to, the joint UNICEF and WHO programmes and guidance on immunization, polio eradication, risk communication and community engagement in disease outbreak response, etc.

Strengthen human resource development and national capacity building in evidence-based approaches to demand generation:

• Provide overall direction and guidance for capacity building strategies in demand generation for countries and regions. Provides vision and expert advice on linkages with academic institutions in South and North to implement sustainable strategies to build national capacity in demand generation to support country programmes of cooperation.
• Foster and/or engage in the development of SBC 'communities of practice’ within and outside of UNICEF, with a focus on sharing of technical knowledge and ideas on SBC practice at all levels, collation of good practice and lessons learned in integrating C4D/SBC in programming and in measuring/showing evidence of C4D/SBC results and their contribution to programme results.
• Advocate for the strengthening and investment in dedicated C4D/ SBC capacity across the organization in both development and humanitarian response through regular assessment of capacity gaps and needs.
• Advise on the recruitment and selection of candidates for senior-level, international demand for immunization staff positions including conducting technical assessments and participating in interviews.

Manage, Administer & Support Resource Mobilisation:

• Responsible for the overall management and functioning of the Immunization/Demand team at NYHQ. Advocates with UNICEF Senior Management and Donors for resources and budget allocation for the function.
• Oversee the development of funding proposals, donor reports and other reports as required and consistent with UNICEF's SP and equity focus, in coordination with appropriate teams at HQ.
• Participate in the budget planning & review process, and ensures optimal resource allocation, deployment of allocated funds and compliance with rules and regulations.
• Establishes Unit staffing and structure, work plans, allocation of resources, and monitors progress and compliance.
• Take appropriate actions to optimize use of funds; improve work efficiency, quality and delivery through a rigorous and transparent approach to strategic planning, research, monitoring and evaluation.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in social behavioural sciences (Communication for Development; Communication Sciences; Child Development, Sociology, Anthropology, Public Health, Social communication). and/or in relevant field is required.
• A minimum of ten (10) years of solid professional work experience at the national and international levels leading the design and implementation of SBC programming in immunization and/or health including at least 8 years in developing countries, with emphasis on policies, participatory communication, communication planning, social mobilization, participatory research, training and impact evaluation of social change Interventions is required.
• Proven track record in leading and managing diverse teams, building capacity of teams comprising of national and international staff, mentoring of staff and conflict management is desired.
• Proven ability to lead long term partnerships and/or collectives with external partners including multilaterals, NGOs, academia, CSOs is desired.
• Strong field experience in planning and implementing strategic communication processes for behaviour and social change, social mobilization, advocacy participatory communication development of creative materials, research, training or facilitation of communication programmes/impact evaluation is an asset.
• Experience of providing training on SBC with a particular emphasis on evaluation and quality assurance of SBC interventions is desired.
• Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here and Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

• UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
• UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
• For more information on remuneration and benefits, please visit UNICEF’s Entitlements’ page. If you would like to find estimates for entitlements, you may use the online Salary Estimate Calculator
• “UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/”
• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.