Social & Behavior Change Specialist, Polio Outbreak Response

The Social and Behaviour Change Specialist supports planning, implementation, monitoring, quality improvement and coordination of SBC/ACSM interventions focused on polio vaccination acceptance, reducing missed children, addressing refusals and hesitancy, countering misinformation, strengthening community engagement, and improving community mobilization performance. The role involves providing national-level technical and operational support to government and partners to enhance polio eradication efforts in Nigeria.

Responsibilities

• Support planning, implementation, monitoring, quality improvement and coordination of SBC/ACSM interventions to increase caregiver acceptance of polio vaccination and reduce missed children.
• Address refusals, hesitancy, counter misinformation, strengthen community engagement, and improve community-based mobilization structures.
• Provide national-level technical and operational support to the Government of Nigeria and partners including NPHCDA, WHO, AFENET, Solina, Rotary and the Gates Foundation.
• Work closely with State Emergency Operations Centres and partners to improve quality of polio eradication activities and linkages with routine immunization and primary health care.
• Engage in strategic planning, programme development and outbreak response.
• Support microplanning, operational readiness and campaign preparedness.
• Oversee campaign implementation, field supervision and quality improvement.
• Lead community engagement, social mobilization and trust building.
• Manage refusal conversion, misinformation management and missed-children reduction.
• Utilize data for monitoring, reporting and knowledge management.
• Coordinate, build partnerships and advocate for polio eradication efforts.
• Contribute to capacity building, innovation and continuous improvement.
• Ensure accountability and perform additional duties as required.

Requirements

• Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in social and behavioural science, communication for development, public health, health promotion, sociology, anthropology, psychology, development studies or another relevant field is required.
• At least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in social and behaviour change, health communication, community engagement, immunization, public health, emergency response or related areas is required.
• Experience in SBC/ACSM planning, implementation, monitoring and coordination is required.
• Experience supporting immunization, polio eradication, outbreak response or other public health campaigns is required.
• Experience working with community mobilizers, civil society organizations, religious and traditional leaders, and local influencers is required.
• Experience addressing vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, refusals, missed children or low service uptake is required.
• Advocacy, interpersonal communication, campaign preparedness, monitoring, reporting and problem solving skills are required.
• Proficient/Fluent level of English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish), or a local language (Hausa or another language spoken in polio priority states in Nigeria) is an asset.
• Experience in social data, community feedback and monitoring findings for programme improvement, experience working with government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs and development partners, experience in routine immunization, zero dose programming or integrated PHC services is an asset.
• Relevant experience at country level, Northern Nigeria, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts is an asset.

Skills

• Social and Behavior Change
• Health Communication
• Community Engagement
• Vaccination Campaigns
• Emergency Response
• SBC/ACSM Planning
• SBC/ACSM Implementation
• SBC/ACSM Monitoring
• Coordination of SBC Interventions
• Polio Eradication
• Outbreak Response
• Vaccine Hesitancy Addressing
• Misinformation Countering
• Social Mobilization
• Advocacy
• Interpersonal Communication
• Campaign Preparedness
• Monitoring and Reporting
• Problem Solving
• Social data analysis

Languages

English