Behaviour Change Communication Specialist

Health NGO

Location: Uganda - Kampala

Malaria Consortium is an international organization working in Africa and Asia as well as globally on communicable disease control.

The Malaria Consortium manages a considerable portfolio of large scale communicable disease projects in a number of countries in across Africa and Asia.

Malaria Consortium recognises the vital importance of behaviour change in our work.

We are seeking an ambitious and dynamic individual to manage and further develop the BCC elements of programmes and to provide the strategic lead for the organisation’s BCC work.

The post holder should be able to represent the organisation in national and international fora and contribute to international debate and development of BCC as an exciting, dynamic and invaluable tool to facilitate better health.

Main Tasks

1. Support the implementation of current Malaria Consortium communicable disease control projects in Africa by providing high quality technical inputs on information – education – communication and behaviour change methodologies and approaches
2. Provide timely technical assistance to country offices in designing and implementing communication and behaviour change strategies on malaria and other communicable diseases
3. Utilise research methodologies in conducting needs assessments and carry out KAP studies and use the results to develop high-quality evidence-based interventions that will produce measurable changes in the behaviour of target populations. Interventions will utilise multiple communication channels adapted and tested for country context and cultural appropriateness
4. Monitor and evaluate activities on the basis of applied communication research with frequent visit to project sites
5. Develop training materials, education tools and materials (print and multi –media communication materials) and test new models/approaches which can be adapted to the local contexts, with special attention to low-literacy populations
6. Document best practices and lessons learnt from current Malaria Consortium communicable disease projects in Africa in the sphere of behaviour change and apply lessons to ongoing programme design
7. Develop training materials and activities to build capacity of MC staff and partners in participatory and behaviour change communication approaches at regional and national levels, in support of programme
8. Develop partnerships with various civil society organisations at the national, sub-regional and regional level with the aim of establishing and scaling up a coordinated communication programme on communicable diseases
9. Contribute to the development of programme reports and other documents such as abstracts and articles for publication
10. Prepare reports to suit different audiences and publish articles on the basis of research findings
11. Represent Malaria Consortium at regional and international meetings on behavioural change communication
12. Contribute to resource mobilisation and new project development for Malaria Consortium including providing communication and behaviour change technical input in the design process of new communicable disease control projects
13. Coordinate with MC Head Office in standardising internal communications including branding and publicity materials and support public and media relation activities of MC at the regional level

Skills/Experience

- Minimum of Masters degree in health communication, public health, or relevant discipline
- Proven track record of developing successful behaviour change communications campaigns, preferably using social marketing approaches in the African context
- Understanding of behaviour change and other communication methodologies and approaches
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Marketing and advertising/media planning/strategies, production and creative experience desirable
- Background and experience in public health and communications
- At least eight years of relevant work experience
- Experience working with Ministries of Health and international organisations an advantage

This position requires up to 40% regional and international travel

How to applyInterested individuals should submit an up-to-date CV and covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the job as described above to:

applications@malariaconsortium.org
by Sunday 1st March 2009.
Reference Code: RW_7P6DW7-96

Closing date: 01 Mar 2009