Adolescent, Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Advisor at Save The Children

Job ID: sav-75293
Location: Abuja

Role Purpose

• Save the Children is seeking an Adolescent, Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Advisor will provide leadership in the development, implementation and monitoring of all ASRH interventions and activities under the REACH project in the Nigerian country office.
• The REACH project aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and boys in hard to reach communities in Gombe, Zamfara, and Katsina states.
• S/he will focus on the improvement of quality of sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents including young mothers/parents at the community and facility-levels to receive the knowledge, skills and services they need to delay early childbearing and/or care for a healthy pregnancy, care during birth and postpartum period, practicing healthy timing, spacing of subsequent pregnancies and being informed of available modern contraceptive methods.
• The ASRH Advisor will work under the direction of the REACH Project Director, but will also work closely with ASRH officers in the field offices, as well as the Head of Unit- Health at the country office in Abuja, and colleagues at Save the Children Canada.

Duties and Responsibilities
Programme Development and Implementation:

• With the direction of relevant thematic leads, s/he will support the development of concept notes, work plans, budgets and other related activities of REACH within the programme in liaison with the Head of Health
• Ensure all ASRH plans and activities are properly coordinated  with the field staff, and within the SCI management & operation systems
• Lead and coordinate the implementation of  ASRH activities in close collaboration with the Gender Equality Advisor  
• Ensure conduct of quality trainings on ASRH to target health providers and partners towards improving the quality of health facility services to adolescents (Use of the Age & Life-stage Counselling Tools, Youth-Friendly Health Services,  Interpersonal Communication Skills, Organizing Young Mothers’ Support groups, others). It is envisioned that this will include developing and/ or adapting training materials and tools as necessary.
• Work with the state ASRH officers, Implement the Mothers support group series of activities of the Adolescent First-time mothers/parents intervention
• Work with SCI communications unit to develop and adapt relevant ASRH IEC materials for the target facilities as well as ensure re-printing of important ASRH publications for dissemination to stakeholders/ partners (e.g. the Age & Life-stage Counselling Tools, the Nigeria National Adolescent & Youth friendly Job Aids and Cue cards, First-time Mothers/Parents curriculum for Mothers support group, others)
• Work closely with the  REACH Senior Health and Gender Equality Edvisors to ensure that gender transformative approaches are implemented and that gender equality is mainstreamed throughout allactivities and interventions
• Emphasize the importance of normative change at implementation level in order to achieve project outcomes
• In collaboration with the Head of Health, ensure that quality quarterly reports and other documentation of ASRH interventions and activities are written in a timely manner and submitted to the Head of Health for vetting.
• Work with the business development team (and member RH technical advisors, where applicable) to make technical contributions to proposals which have an ARSH component and ensure high quality narratives for submission.

Advocacy and Coordination:

• S/he will take a lead on ASRH networking, and in close collaboration with health advocacy coordinator, work towards strengthening linkages/coordinating with relevant stakeholders and government agencies (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Youth and Development at national level, as well as other INGOs implementing ASRH activities), mobilizing partners and stakeholders in the establishment of technical working groups for ASRH at both Federal and State levels.

Qualifications
Essential:

• A Master’s degree in Public Health or a related field
• At least five years of working experience in ASRH (specifically normative change and understanding adolescent behaviors) and family planning  in developing countries
• Strong understanding of gender equality principles
• Experience in monitoring programs and participating in evaluation
• Knowledge of the Nigerian health system with in depth familiarity and knowledge about ASRH in country activities
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team setting with minimal supervision
• Excellent planning and organizational skills with the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced work environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Fluency in English
• Ability to travel within the country

Desirable:

• Fluency in Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba will be ab added advantage
• Programming experience in the North of Nigeria
• Experience in implementing gender-transformative approaches to health