Job Vacancy @ Breakthrough ACTION – Malaria Program Officer

Job Description for Breakthrough ACTION:

Malaria Program Officer

Breakthrough ACTION is a cooperative agreement from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to lead USAID’s social and behavior change (SBC) programming around the world. Breakthrough ACTION is a partnership led by Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Breakthrough ACTION will facilitate improved coordination between malaria SBC stakeholders, including the national malaria control program (NMCP), the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) implementing partners, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s Health Education Division (HED), and others. Activities will support the engagement of partners for the identification of areas of complementarity, the harmonization of strategies and engagement activities, and advocacy for the adoption of standardized malaria SBC indicators.

Breakthrough ACTION is seeking applications from qualified individuals for the position of Malaria Program Officer. The position will be based in Freetown.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure SBC activities are implemented in coordination and harmonization with GoSL, PMI partners and other relevant platforms at all levels
• Coordinate multiple routine calls and/or meetings across SBC and malaria in Sierra Leone and globally and support participation by relevant stakeholders
• Support the design, planning, implementation and monitoring of social and behavior change programming
• Assist with research activities in country, including supporting IRB process, assisting with supervision of data collection, and engaging with stakeholders
• Assist with malaria SBC activity implementation, material and tool development, review and pilot testing
• Participate in global technical calls and present the updates to technical working groups throughout Sierra Leone
• Facilitate technical sessions on malaria and SBC
• Ensure gender integration is reflective in every activity implementation
• Support and build the capacity of partners and existing structures to design and implement social and behavior change activities
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) and partners at national and district levels
• Ensure timeliness and high integrity of activity implementation in accordance with the workplan
• Support SBC capacity strengthening of local structures such as Facility management committees, Community Health Workers and Traditional Healers to increase health facility utilization
• Monitor and ensure all SBC activities and any challenges are documented and reported on a regular basis
• Write, compile, edit, and revise media briefs, reports, success stories, and other program documentation
• Communicate with Breakthrough ACTION staff in Freetown, in the districts, and at headquarters in Baltimore, USA
• Represent Breakthrough ACTION at meetings
• Comply with USAID, Johns Hopkins University and Breakthrough ACTION processes and regulations

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Social Sciences or a related field
• Minimum of five years of experience in international programming; experience working with US Government-funded projects preferred
• Experience with programs in social and behavior change, material and message design, malaria, and capacity strengthening
• Strong knowledge of MOHS structures at national, district, and community level and a minimum of one year working experience for a public health issue at the national level
• Familiarity with malaria as a technical area
• Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills
• Experience planning and facilitating workshops and trainings
• Ability to work effectively in a rapidly changing, fluid environment, including possessing skills in strategic and innovative thinking, demand prioritization and flexibility
• Fluency in English and familiarity with any of the local languages in Sierra Leone
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Computer literate especially in Microsoft applications – Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Technical ability to set up web-based video calls using applications like Skype and Zoom

• Able and willing to travel within Sierra Leone, as needed

Interested individuals should send their CV, cover letter and 3 references, as one PDF document to [email protected] and copy [email protected] ‘Malaria Program Officer Officer’ stated in the email subject line. Do not send certificates. Applicants that do not follow the directions exactly will be discarded. All applications must be received no later than 20th July 2022 at 12pm, for consideration.