Social / Behavior Change and Communication Specialist – The Manoff Group, Inc. (TMG)

Deadline: 26 February 2021

Location: Lupane, Zimbabwe

About The Manoff Group, Inc.
For more than 50 years, The Manoff Group, Inc. (TMG) has been an international leader in designing and assisting the implementation of programs that effectively lead to desired social and behavioral outcomes, allowing populations to enjoy improved livelihoods, health and nutrition. TMG is a leader in social and behavior change (SBC). Its innovative Behavior Integration approach is a practical methodology for realizing measurable and sustained behavior change at the individual, community and organizational levels. Integral to our work is policy advocacy, capacity development among stakeholders, and behavioral monitoring and evaluation to strengthen program management and impact.

Project description
Amalima Loko – a five-year (2020-2025) USAID-funded Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance program is designed to improve food security and elevate the livelihoods of more than 67,000 vulnerable households across five districts of Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North: Binga, Hwagne, Lupane, Nkayi, and Tsholotsho. Implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), the $75 million Amalima Loko builds on the legacy of its predecessor Amalima, that worked to sustainably improve food security and nutrition for vulnerable Zimbabwean households. To accomplish Amalima Loko’s outcomes, the program utilizes a unique Community Visioning approach designed to strengthen community and household-level resilience, promote nutrition-sensitive initiatives including a blanket food distribution program, and improve watershed infrastructure and practices that provide long-term foundations for improved resilience and agriculture-based livelihoods.

Position background
Social and Behavior Change is a pivotal requirement for Amalima Loko to succeed since all program actors from policy makers to family members must do something differently than what they are currently doing to achieve the development outcomes that should define Amalima Loko. Fortunately, there is a rich legacy to build from. Amalima had a number of successes with key behavioral shifts in nutrition and agriculture and importantly in social change related to gender norms. For example, two activities seen as best practices were the Male Champions and the development of the Village Agriculture Coordinator (VAC) as a behavior change agent explicitly invested to work as a peer educator, going beyond demonstrating recommended practices and helping farmers work through barriers to adopting new practices.

It will be that ability of all Amalima Loko actors to resolve the factors that inhibit their practice of desired behaviors that is the work of the Social and Behavior Change team. The team will integrate behavior considerations in Activity planning and throughout implementation so that Amalima Loko enables people to shift social norms and change practices to realize program goals. The SBC team will work across all three project purposes and with cross cutting activities. In this work critical behaviors for the Activity will be prioritized and defined, pathways to change illuminated including the factors to address and actors to support change. Inclusion of behavioral metrics within the Activity’s MEL Plan will support the alignment of inputs for behavior change, monitoring efforts and adaptive management. The SBC work should be enhanced with a strong partnership with all Community Visioning activities.

Position summary
The SBC and Communication Specialist will: Be a member of the SBC Team and will contribute to the strategic vision for social and behavior change linked to improved community governance, livelihood, natural resources management and health and nutrition outcomes; Support SBC strategy design, SBCC plans and implementation; Oversee and/or coordinate the formative and operations research (as needed); Develop and help track the critical behavioral metrics across project activities focused especially within the geographic area of one’s duty post; Within the SBC team take leadership responsibility for one of the technical area’s SBC work while contributing to the overall SBC and Communication programming; Advise on communication activities and methods; Support the development and/or adaptation of communication materials required for the program within your technical area; Coordinate SBC Communication activities with other entities working in the Amalima Loko catchment area; Participate in curriculum design and development of job aides for trainings especially as they relate to communication and behavior change advocacy; Supervise the activities of field agents supporting SBC and SBCC activities; Manage capacity strengthening and supportive supervision in the effective use of SBC approaches by front line workers and volunteers; Integrate monitoring of SBC activities with overall activity monitoring and collaborative learning and adaptation; Contribute to Activity quarterly and annual reports as requested.

Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree a must, Master’s degree preferred in one of the following or related fields – Applied Agriculture, Community Development, Extension services / Communication’ Anthropology or other social sciences; Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience working locally with government entities, UN agencies, PVOs and NGOs, including at least three years at the field level; History of engagement with USAID-funded initiatives is highly desirable; Demonstrated success in applying behavior change theory and approaches in applied field settings; Demonstrated experience working as part of a team while being a self-starter and initiative-taker; Problem solving especially demonstrated in work in support of vulnerable populations; Fluent in Ndebele; Excellent written and verbal English language skills. Proficiency in at least one local language desirable.