Social and Behavior Change Strategy Advisor

Description

Social & Behavior Change (SBC) Strategy Advisor

Location Tshikapa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Position Status Short-term Assignment (STA)

About Mercy Corps in the DRC

Mercy Corps (MC) is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster and hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

MC has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007. MC’s national office is in Goma, with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Kasai provinces. MC DRC’s key programming includes immediate humanitarian response and longer-term development efforts—with a goal of supporting vulnerable communities through crises while building resilience and promoting long-term change.

About the GAINS Activity

MC signed an agreement with the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) to implement the Graduating to Sustainable Agriculture, Income, Nutrition, and Food Security (GAINS) Program. GAINS, a five-year Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA), began in October 2023 and will conclude in September 2028. GAINS, locally knowns as Tuya Kumpala (“Lets advance together” in Tshiluba) aims to sustainably improve food, nutrition, and economic security (FNES) in selected areas in the Kamonia and Luebo territories in Kasai Province.

MC is leading the consortium in collaboration with World Vision, AVSI Foundation, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, International Potato Center, Action pour la Paix et la Concorde, Inter-Actions, Social Development Center, Soins de Santé Primaires en Milieu Rural (SANRU) and VIAMO.

Position Summary

MC is seeking a Short-Term Assignment (STA) Social and Behavior Change (SBC) Strategy Advisor to provide technical leadership on and ownership of the design and implementation plan of GAINS’ SBC strategy. This work builds on the results of a Behavioral Barrier Analysis (BBA) and related assessments completed through the program’s Refine and Implement phase (which concluded in October 2024).

SBC components under GAINS are intentionally cross-cutting. The SBC Strategy Advisor (STA) will be responsible for identifying the SBC entry points across sectors and stakeholder groups. They will play a leading role in finalizing the design of an SBC strategy to achieve the following priority behaviors:

• Households plan for and increase savings. (GAINS Purpose 1)
• Agricultural producers use productive and environmentally friendly farming technologies. (GAINS Purpose 1)
• Mothers exclusively breastfeed infants for the first six months. (GAINS Purpose 2)
• Household members—particularly pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and young children—consume safe, diverse, and nutrient dense food. (GAINS Purpose 2)
• Households adopt hygienic food and water handling, preparation, and storage. (GAINS Purpose 2)
• Households properly use and maintain new and improved sanitation infrastructure. (GAINS Purpose 2)
• Communities protect, maintain, and properly manage water points. (GAINS Purpose 2)

The Advisor will be directly responsible for providing technical leadership on how to sequence and layer SBC activities with the program’s investments to confront structural barriers to FNES. This includes political and market systems, conflict, and climate change. The Advisor will train other staff in SBC and support the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of the SBC strategy. They will also make recommendations for ongoing capacity building and the program’s learning agenda. Finally, the Advisor will directly collaborate with other USAID implementers working on similar programs in Kasai and across the DRC.

This position is open for both international and national recruitment.

Essential Job Responsibilities

SBC STRATEGY

• Lead the finalization of an evidence-based and contextually appropriate SBC strategy building on completed assessments and draft strategy.

Depending on the recruitment timeline, this is expected to include the following steps:

• Finalize selection of audience groups for SBC activities, aligned with GAINS detailed implementation plan

• Propose and/or finalize concrete set of sub-behaviors

• Propose and/or finalize indicators and benchmarks against which to measure progress

• Recommend a functional team structure for carrying out SBC activities under the program

• Facilitate a series of participatory workshops with partners and stakeholders to present the draft strategy

• Complete and submit a report after each workshop

• Revise draft of the SBC strategy after the workshops.

• Organize a final validation session.

• Submit the final strategy to the GAINS team in both English and French.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT & EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Share real-time updates to program team and global support staff on progress related to SBC activities, in writing and through regular meetings

• Provide capacity building — through training and refresher sessions to team members through the “Make Me A Change Agent” course

• Actively participate in coordination meetings with GAINS SBC stakeholders

• Assist in responding to donor requests for technical information and guidance

FINANCE, OPERATIONS AND COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT

• Contribute to quarterly and annual donor reporting, alongside other team leads
• Ensure the filing and archiving of relevant technical, administrative and financial documents

ACCOUNTABILITY TO PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

• MC team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries, and adhere to all standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in designing, monitoring, and evaluating our projects.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

To achieve all of the above, the SBC Strategy Advisor must demonstrate flexibility, resilience, and the ability to maintain positive relationships and composure. They must maintain ethical standards and sustain a work environment of mutual respect and dignity. MC also empowers all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to ongoing learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Accountability & Supervisory Responsibility
Reports directly to: GAINS Deputy Chief of Party

Works directly with:

• GAINS COP and DCOP
• GAINS GYSI, P1, P2 and Governance Leads
• GAINS SBC Strategy Working Group
• GAINS MEL Director & CLA Manager
• GAINS Finance and Operations teams
• East and Central Africa Regional Program Team
• Global Technical Resources and Quality Unit (TRaQ) and Evidence and Learning Team

Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and measuring innovative and effective SBC strategies. Experience applying SBC approaches beyond communications and to FNES programs is a plus.
• A systems thinker experienced in social science research methods
• Experience developing and delivering effective SBC capacity strengthening support for fellow team members and community partners
• Demonstrated success building and managing relationships with community stakeholders, development partners, and donors
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and French
• Ability to intervene in a complex environment, adapt to stressful situations, and make quick and effective decisions with respect for procedures and deadlines.
• Experience working in the DRC, Central Africa or Francophone countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Ability to travel for field missions in remote rural areas as needed.
• University degree in international development, behavioral or social sciences, communication, public health, community development, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

Living and Environmental Conditions

Mercy Corps offers a competitive benefits package for positions based in the Kasai province, which is an unaccompanied duty station. Tshikapa is the capital of the Kasai Province, a lively rural city of 971,000 inhabitants where a number of humanitarian actors are present. Housing will be provided by Mercy Corps in either a self-contained apartment at its Guest House which includes cooking facilities, or in one of the local hotels, depending on availability. In the city center water and power are fairly stable and hotels, small restaurants, shops and banks are reasonably accessible. There are 3 main hospitals which provide adequate health care services, with evacuation options to Kinshasa or  Kikwitas required. Internet and mobile network capacity exist. The temperature is often between 30-35 degrees Celsius.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDT to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respect local laws, customs, and MC’s policies, procedures, and values, all the time and in-country.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving 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 can better 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 Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal-opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills to 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 based on 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 & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we meet 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 the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary-General and 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 professionally, respect local laws and customs, and adhere to Mercy Corps’ Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Keywords

Social BehaviorChange StrategyAdvisorSBCStrategyTechnical LeadershipImplementation PlanBehavioral Barrier AnalysisSBC Strategy AdvisorCapacity BuildingMonitoring and EvaluationCapacity StrengtheningSocial Science ResearchCommunity StakeholdersPublic HealthFrancophone CountriesSub-Saharan Africa