Save the Children
Vacancy: Programme Officer – Community Health and Communication – Kenya Country Officer
2 Positions
Reference Code: PO/WAJ/CHC/SCI
Team / Programme: Programmes (UK Aid Match MNH)
Location: Wajir County
Grade: 4
Post Type: National
Child Safeguarding: Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people
Role Purpose: SCI Kenya is rolling out a three (3) year Maternal and Newborn health (MNH) programme in Wajir.
The programme is funded by UK Aid and is expectedly to increase demand for and utilisation of quality maternal and newborn health (MNH) services among pregnant women and new-borns leading to reduction in associated morbidity and mortality in Wajir County. It will directly benefit women, new-borns, and marginalised communities in target Counties.
The project will also empower communities to proactively address MNH issues and to demand increased government commitment for equitable delivery of quality health services.
The holder of this position will be core to ensuring delivery of a robust community MNH component backed by strategic health communication to influence behaviours and change the society to adopt better MNH practices.
Scope of Role: This job will play a critical role in ensuring effective community mobilisation in the MNH programme.
The officer is accountable for providing technical support and assistance to the programme and County Health team in the planning, execution, and monitoring of community health strategy for behaviour change for improved community MNH practices.
H/She works closely with C/SPHOs and CHEWS (CHAs) and other programme officers under the general guidance of the Programme Coordinator.
The HC&CH Officer is further expected to design, test and deploy health communication strategies to support all pillars of the MNH programme including health advocacy at grassroots and other levels.
Dimension: Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners.
Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH.
In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya.
In Feb 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own.
Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Turkana and Wajir and we work through partners in many other parts of the country.
We employ nearly 300 staff and will have an operating annual budget in 2015 of approximately US$20-25 million.
Staff directly reporting to this post: none
Key Areas of Accountability:
Support to Programme Delivery
- Effectively deliver community-based maternal and newborn health aspects of programme intervention in synergy with the facility-based aspects to address the demand side causes of poor maternal and newborn health in Wajir Provide effective technical support to county government counterparts and other partners in community health strategy for maternal and new-born health and health communication for social and behaviour change
- Planning and implementation of program activities including community engagement and mobilization and social dialogue
- Organizing and rolling out training and capacity building initiatives for community resource persons including community health volunteers, Muslim religious leaders, mother to mother support groups and facility health workers
- Champion innovative initiatives for community-based maternal and newborn health using the MoH’s revised community strategy and the community maternal and newborn health strategy.
Partnerships for MNH
- Maintain partnerships with religious leaders, politicians, women’s groups, and close-to-community health providers, health care workers, community health committees and other organised groups to orient and continuously involve them in programme implementation
- Ensure close collaboration with various professional groups and non-governmental organisations active in community health strategy and MNH to facilitate learning and model best practice.
- Foster partnerships with other programmes including ESHE-FP and Nutrition for an integrated approach to community-based MNH
- Provide on-going support to county government counterparts and other partners in community engagement and communication for behaviour and social change
Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL)
- Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of programme activities including preparation of monitoring reports and mainstreaming accountability mechanisms.
- Jointly conducting regular site monitoring visits to ensure quality programme implementation
- Developing and sharing periodic project reports including trip reports, distribution reports, activity reports, weekly reports, monthly and quarterly donor reports
- Ensure effective documentation of case studies, success stories or human interest stories
Key Competencies (our Values in Practice)
- Delivering results: Takes personal responsibility and holds others to account to deliver our ambitious Goals for children, continually improving own performance or that of the team/ organization.
- Problem solving and decision making: Takes effective, considered and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organization and making appropriate judgements.
- Applying technical and professional expertise: Applies the required technical and professional expertise to the highest standards; promotes and shares best practice within and outside the organization.
- Communicating with impact: Communicates clearly and confidently with others to engage and influence; promotes dialogue and ensures timely and appropriate messages, building confidence and trust with others.
- Working effectively with others: Works collaboratively to achieve shared goals and thrives on diversity of people and perspectives. Knows when to lead and when to follow and how to ensure effective cross-boundary working
SCI Values: Ambition, Collaboration, Creativity, Accountability and Integrity
Qualifications and Experience
- A University degree in Public Health, Community Health or related field with strong Health Communication, Health Promotion, Community and Social mobilization exposure.
- Minimum two (2) years post-training relevant mix of professional work experience in community health, community development and maternal and child health programmes.
- Experience in mobilizing communities for health and development in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands of Kenya is an added advantage.
- Proven experience working with the Kenya Community Health Strategy
- Demonstrable commitment to tackling social determinants of health and health inequalities, with a strong focus on equity in health and development, ensuring right of access to health for the poorest and marginalized
Important: Must be willing to abide fully by Save the Children Child Safeguarding Policy.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are required to submit a CV and mandatory Cover letter to Kenya.jobapplications@savethechildren.org indicating the Reference Code on the subject line by 4th May 2015
Applications will be reviewed as and when they are received.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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