Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries, including the United States. 

POSITION : Social Behavioral Change Communication (SBCC) Specialist 

DESCRIPTION

• Responsible for providing highest level strategic SBCC technical and program guidance to the National cash transfer Programme. The National Cash Transfer Programme (NASSP) is targeted at the absolute poor to improve their nutrition by providing consumption support to their households as well as increase human capital through their compliance to the co-responsibilities. This will ensure that beneficiaries do not plunge back to their former poverty status since Government has indicated its commitment to promote social protection as a key priority to fight poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion.
• The Cash transfer programme seeks to deliberately provide cash benefits to various categories of the poor and vulnerable, some with expectations to fulfilling co-responsibilities to make the project achieve goals of reducing maternal/child mortality, increase school enrolment and engagement in sustainable livelihood activities will likely address poverty and vulnerability challenges.
• Compliance to the co-responsibilities will guarantee that the programme impacts on beneficiaries. However a number of conditional cash transfers (CCTs) ran in Nigeria were not designed with the recognition that conditionality requires special strategies to influence the behaviours of the beneficieries. There is also the  challenge of demands for the supply side to fulfill the conditions. This has posed a major threat to the effectiveness of such programmes. Consequently, implementing CCT under such circumstances would require carefully planned strategies that would circumvent limiting issues.
• Therefore this position will support in the design, implementation, monitoring, and improvement of an SBCC framework for  the National cash transfer programme. The position is to assist the programme  to develop the capacity to effectively develop and  implement key initiatives as indicated in the project design documents in line with the coresponsibilities.
• The objective of the assignment is to facilitata and lead on the design and development of SBCC strategies for effective delivery of the cash transfer services to address the needs of the poor as relates to human capital development.
• Provide high quality technical assistance, training, and program oversight on the planning, development, implementation, and reports on SBCC advocacy, interpersonal communication, community mobilization, mass communications, and strategic collection and use of data (e.g., formative assessments; landscaping; rapid in depth/FGD interviews; media monitoring)

Accountabilities
The Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Specialist is employed by Save The Children and seconded to the NCTO and will be responsible for developing and or adopting the SBCC framewiork/strategy including messages, materials and trainings for the National Social Safety Nets Programme. Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for performing the following activities;

• Lead the design, development, planning, implementation and reporting of the National BCC strategy for the cash transfer programme.
• Coordinate trainings on BCC processes as necessary, including the adjustment/development of relevant training materials.
• Provide technical support on BCC:
  • To the State cash transfer Units (SCTUs) in each state participating in the NCTO on the options for services for the co-responsibilities.
  • On the Development of TORs for engaging service providers for fulfilling the soft conditions by CCT beneficiaries that could be used by SCTUs.
  • On the Development of Training of Trainers’ guide on delivering of co-responsibilities trainings/workshops.
  • to SCTUs in the development of design mechanisms to track beneficiary compliance as well as the effectiveness of co-responsibilities, including training as well as other possible options, and to develop the required modules in the state information systems to support the gathering and transmission of the related data.
  • In Monitoring  and supporting state activities in order to ensure states comply with CCT implementation plans
  • To Monitor state performance on tracking compliance to co-responsibilities (both completeness of reporting as well as beneficiary performance) and identify challenges and suggest remedial measures.
• Support the design, implementation of the BCC monitoring and evaluation process including data use to inform program changes, data collection oversight and build the capacity of staff in BCC M&E.
• Facilitate learning across states through experience sharing of best practices and training materials on the implementation of the co-responsibilities
• Lead the design , development and roll out (deployement)  of BCC materials such as success stories, newsletters, BCC messages and other IEC for effective programme implementation

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in the Social Sciences, such as Economics,Geography, Development Studies, Rural Development/Sociology or other related fields.
• Any training on BCC will be an added advantage

Skills:

• Five years professional experience in working on SBCC preferable in the field of social protection with conditional cash transfer project and/or programming with a focus on cash-based interventions and targeting of assistance and services.
• Able to use project management tools in planning.
• Experience with cash-based programming in Sub-Saharan Africa is an asset.
• Have strong research, advocacy, communication skills, facilitation and materials development.
• Strong collaboration and networking skills.
• Experience with data driven decision making for BCC
• Experience using Political Economy Analysis (PEA) that informs on-going program iteration
• Experience interfacing with feedback loops and using context specific infographics to communicate the project with internal and external stakeholders..
• Excellent written and spoken English is required, fluency in at least one or more major Nigerian language(s) is an advantage.