Social & Behavior Change Specialist (Polio Outbreak Response), P-4, Polio Eradication Programme, Geneva - Remote, 364 days

Contract

This is a P-4 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 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 169,113 USD and 218,037 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.

********This position has the option for a fully remote work modality. This will be determined based on organizational needs, candidate's location, and availability to relocate. In the event a remote work modality is selected and approved, no installation to the duty station will be applicable for the duration of the appointment and relevant entitlements will be adjusted. The applicable post adjustment rate will be based on lower of the two between the remote work location and the recognized duty station******

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.

For every child, Health

As a key partner in the effort to eradicate polio, UNICEF has the lead role in strategic communications including Social and Behavior change (SBC), crisis communication and advocacy, to ensure a high demand for vaccination services and acceptance of vaccine. SBC plays a vital role in the polio prevention and response interventions, supporting the outbreak countries Ministry of Health (MoH) teams to plan and implement social and community mobilization activities to inform and convince communities about the reasons and rationale for oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaigns; supporting interventions that encourage community based surveillance of Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP); and supporting the improvement of immunization programmes, both through campaigns and through routine immunization.

The polio outbreak workstream of the UNICEF Global Polio Team provides oversight, quality assurance, technical assistance, and knowledge management to country offices, with particular emphasis on communication for social and behavior change and vaccine management within the outbreak response and preparedness context. To meet the expanding demands for rapid HR support in outbreak contexts, UNICEF is scaling up its SBC and Communication human resource capacity as part of a global rapid response team to support countries which must respond quickly to a polio outbreak.

The proposed TA position will work under the general guidance and supervision of the SBC Manager polio outbreaks, in collaboration with the Senior Manager, the regional and country teams. The position is home-based, but part of the Geneva-based outbreak team with an expectation that there would be a high component of travel. The incumbent would be subject to deployment to support outbreak response countries on short notice and will travel at least 80% of his/her time to support outbreak response and preparedness activities as required.

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance of the SBC Manager, polio outbreak response and in collaboration with regional and country teams, you will be working as a member of the global rapid response team (RRT) and be deployed to polio outbreak countries. Deployment and support to countries will be in accordance with the Global Polio Eradication global outbreak response standard operating procedures (SOPs) and as per the UNICEF Polio outbreak Team workplan and guidance of the direct supervisor. During your mission, you will be responsible for supporting the planning process of SBC outbreak response strategies, initial kick off of implementation and guiding the monitoring and evaluation of behavior change and social mobilization activities in support of the outbreak response effort.

Key responsibilities and tasks include the following:

1. Polio outbreak response SBC strategy

Supporting the development of Polio outbreak response SBC strategy and activities includes the assessment of qualitative and quantitative information, participation in outbreak response planning, review and preparation of high-quality educational materials, and collaboration with a wide range of partners and stakeholders.

2. Crisis & misinformation management activities

Contributing to the development of the crisis communication, misinformation management strategies, and implementation plans in the outbreak countries, which encompasses supporting the crisis communication assessment in each country as well as the development and implementation of the national crisis communication and misinformation management strategies; and analyzing and proposing appropriate new partnerships for digital engagement and misinformation management in each of the priority countries.

3. SBC outbreak response activities and communication materials

Supporting the implementation of SBC outbreak response activities by providing support to the country office team and partners during the response phase, verifying the technical quality, consistency, and relevancy of communications materials, recommending appropriate multiple media formats, and contributing to the implementation of SBC advocacy activities.

4. SBC outbreak preparedness activities

Coordinating and supporting outbreak response preparedness by planning and designing SBC outbreak preparedness activities in collaboration with regional and country offices at high risk of polio outbreaks, leading the design of special capacity building initiatives, and implementing capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of (government and non-government) organizations in SBC outbreak response and preparedness planning, implementation, and evaluation.

5. Knowledge management, M&E, digital communication

Contributing to knowledge management and capacity building by finalizing a special M&E framework for monitoring and reporting of SBC outbreak response and preparedness activities, developing and sharing periodic trend analysis of relevant social data, implementing innovative practices, approaches, and the latest technology on multiple media and social/digital platforms, and developing and sharing best practices and lessons learned from SBC outbreak response and preparedness with global and local partners and stakeholders.

6. Remote support to the outbreak and at-risk countries

Provide remote support to the outbreak and at-risk countries after the deployment mission by following up on the implementation of the recommendations, to ensure that all technical and strategic SBC aspects are considered; to provide support to the regional, countries offices in the planned remote training to strengthen the capacity of the SBC polio focal points; to participate in country GPEI, regional, and HQ coordination and strategic meetings with outbreak or priority countries (call) for planning and monitoring SBC activities; and supporting in online technical meetings related to training, document review, strategy documents, message development, and coordination of SBC activities to keep track of activities before and after polio campaigns.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in any of the following fields: Social and Behavioral Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Education, Communication, Public Relations or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the following areas: Social Development Programme Planning, SBC, Public Advocacy, or another related area.
• Experience working in polio or other outbreak response activities such as Measles, Ebola, COVID-19 at the field level, is highly desirable.
• Experience working in emergency contexts and humanitarian response would be considered an asset.
• Fluency in French and English are required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.