Communication and Behavior Change Team Lead - Jordan

Description

**About Mercy Corps
**Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To create a better world, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives and skills so that we can be stronger and have long-term impact.

**The Program
**Mercy Corps has been operating in Jordan since 2003. In partnership with civil society organizations, the private sector, and the government, Mercy Corps Jordan has reached more than 3.4 million Jordanians and displaced populations in the country. Working throughout Jordan Mercy Corps is driven by the mission to contribute to the emergence of a peaceful, resilient and prosperous Jordan which is inclusive of youth and women. We seek to build a future for Jordan in which all people feel secure, believe in the goodness of communities and institutions around them, and are on a sustainable path toward economic self-reliance. Our strategic directions focus on promoting strong communities and governance, peace and social cohesion and environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Mercy Corps is seeking a Communication and Behavior Change Team Lead to lead design and support social and behavior change (SBC) and communications approaches and execution for a USAID funded $27 million, five-year Tawazon - Promoting the Voice and Leadership of Women (PVLW) Activity. The program intends to create transformational changes in gender relations at the family, community and national levels to enhance gender equality and advance women’s leadership in Jordan.
This will be achieved through:

1. Strengthening the enabling environment and institutional capacity and addressing structural barriers for women to fully exercise their rights, express their agency and freely lead and participate in society without restrictions;
2. Partnering with local stakeholders to counter prevailing prohibitive social norms that perpetuate gender inequality, undermine women’s agency to exercise their rights, and prevent transformative change in gender relations; and
3. Advancing the inclusive and transparent leadership and decision-making participation of girls and women.

**The Position
**The Communication and Behavior Change Team Lead will provide technical leadership on integrating social and behavior change communications (SBCC) techniques throughout Tawazon - PVLW. They will be directly responsible for supervising activities under Tawazon which focus on reducing the social, normative, and behavioral factors that contribute to gender inequality in Jordan–within households, the workplace, at the community and national levels in formal and non-formal institutions, and  online.

The Team Lead will work closely with the Tawazon - PVLW team (inclusive of all partners), Mercy Corps’ global Technical Support Unit and a dedicated SBC firm to develop high-quality and contextually appropriate SBCC activities and interventions. They will support the development, monitoring, and implementation of the SBCC strategy across all the program objectives. Special attention will be given to the progress of activities to positively shift personal behaviors and beliefs as well as spark measurable progress on social norm change related to gender dynamics and women’s empowerment.

Finally, the Team Lead will develop a program wide outreach and communications strategy and implementation of traditional communications related to activities and learning. This includes management of platforms to disseminate SBCC materials, and build public awareness of the program and coordinate strategic and harmonized communication campaigns across consortium partners and USAID.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Manage the completion of the formative research process to better understand current norms and behaviors of target audiences, using methods such as KAP surveys, barrier analyses, social media scans, etc.
• Provide high level technical oversight of SBC strategy development, with specific focus on methods including community engagement, social mobilization, and communications campaigns to promote gender equality and the advancement of women’s leadership.
• Develop and drive the implementation plan for the SBC strategy – working with the Tawazon team to ensure a focus on engaging diverse audiences and changing attitudes and behaviors is integrated into all activities.
• Lead SBCC learning and dissemination activities (e.g., document successes and challenges, prepare reports, presentations, short articles for publication, etc.) to support programmatic and sector-wide learning.
• Ensure timely and quality completion of all SBCC program deliverables and reporting.
• Support selection of effective Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) indicators and evaluation designs.
• Make recommendations based on regular monitoring of program activities to inform adaptation, as needed.
• Contribute to design of formative assessments and research to further SBC learnings within activity’s objectives.

PARTNERSHIP AND CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

• Develop and implement capacity strengthening plans for program staff and partners’ staff to advance knowledge and skills in SBCC.
• Provide training, mentoring and technical guidance for the implementation of the SBCC strategy to assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.

INFLUENCE AND REPRESENTATION

• Develop linkages with organizations implementing other donor-funded programs focused on behavior change/SBCC in Jordan.
• Collect and disseminate learnings from Tawazon internally and externally.
• Maintain collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, USAID, and relevant government stakeholders such as IMC-W and JNCW.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

Supervisory ResponsibilitySocial Behavior Change Coordinator, Social Behavior Change Officer, Social Behavior Change Assistant, Capacity Building Coordinator, Communications and Content Creator Coordinator

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Chief of Party, Tawazon

Works Directly With: Activity team members, MEL and Research teams, partner organizations, HQ Regional Program Team, HQ Technical Support Unit

Accountability to Participants and StakeholdersMercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our projects.

Minimum Qualifications and transferable skills

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, media, marketing, journalism, public relations, and/or behavioral science/social sciences (e.g., anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, and economics) or a related discipline. Advanced degree or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in senior technical direction and project management of strategic communications, social marketing, and/or SBC projects/programs.
• Experience in SBC methods and approaches, including human centered design, digital media, and mixed method testing and evaluation.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead formative research and use information from a broad range of sources to ensure effective integration of SBC principles and approaches throughout program duration.
• Foster and demonstrate a workplace of building trust, serving others, and inclusion.
• Prove ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Strong written and oral presentation skills in English.
• Excellent computer skills and ability to use information technology as a tool and resource.

Preferred Qualifications

• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic.
• Prior experience working in Jordan and/or the Middle East.
• Subject-matter expertise in gender dynamics, women’s empowerment, and/or gender-based violence.
• Familiarity with USAID regulations and program administration, management, and reporting procedures and systems

Jordanians and women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Success FactorsA successful candidate will have a demonstrated ability to lead and communicate effectively with team members and other stakeholders of varied work styles and cultures, follow procedures, and meet deadlines independently and with flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving. This position requires an ability to think creatively about changing norms that lead to greater opportunities for women’s engagement and leadership at household, community and institutional levels. They will have a proven ability to learn quickly, multi-task, prioritize, take initiative, and be accountable for results, understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, problem solving, work within a complex and sensitive setting and to follow established protocols. The most successful Mercy Corps team members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.

**Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
**This position is based in Amman, Jordan and is an accompanied post. Jordan is a middle income country with excellent education, medical, and other facilities in the capital Amman. Jordan is a very safe country with excellent communications, transportation, and housing infrastructure. Although neighboring countries continue to experience political unrest, Jordan has been a stable monarchy for over 30 years and the destination preference for many people from the Middle East to relax or gain access to available services.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/temporary duty (TDY) to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps’ policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Ongoing LearningIn support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & InclusionAchieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment OpportunityMercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & EthicsMercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.