Community Engagement Officer at Pathfinder International

Job Purpose

• The Community Engagement Officer will lead community engagement, mobilization, demand generation, and accountability efforts, while ensuring these are underpinned by strong monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems for Scaling RMNCNH innovations in Humanitarian Settings Project. The role combines strong technical MEL competencies with hands-on experience in community mobilization and demand generation to ensure robust data collection, accountability to affected populations, and increased uptake of RMNCH services.
• The officer will support evidence-based and community-informed decision-making, systematically capture community voice, perceptions, and demand-side barriers, and strengthen alignment between community structures, health facilities, and government systems across supported states. The role ensures that community engagement and demand generation activities are intentionally tracked, analyzed, and used to drive adaptive programming and improved maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes.

Key Performance Areas / Major Activities / Responsibilities and Percentage Worked
Community Engagement, Mobilization, Demand Generation and Accountability / 35%:

• Lead and support community entry, dialogue sessions, town halls, and forums in displacement-affected and host communities.
• Design and implement community-based demand generation strategies to increase uptake of RMNCH services, including facility-based delivery, post-partum family planning, and healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. Support localized behavior changes communication (BCC) and social mobilization activities using culturally appropriate channels such as community dialogues, radio, loudspeakers, and interpersonal communication.
• Engage traditional, religious, women, youth, and community leaders as RMNCH champions to influence norms and strengthen trust in health services.
• Strengthen Ward Development Committees (WDCs) and community champions to participate in service monitoring, social accountability, and demand generation.
• Design, manage, and monitor community feedback, accountability, and complaint-response mechanisms.
• Ensure community insights, perceptions, and demand-side barriers are systematically captured and integrated into program decision-making.

Community Engagement, Accountability and Feedback Mechanisms / 15%:

• Support planning and monitoring of community dialogue sessions, town halls, and forums in displacement-affected communities.
• Design and manage community feedback, accountability, and complaint-response mechanisms.
• Engage Ward Development Committees (WDCs), community champions, and local leaders in participatory monitoring of service quality.
• Ensure community insights, concerns, and suggestions are systematically documented and fed into program decisions.

Community Outreach, Referrals, and Linkages / 10%:

• Participate in stakeholder meetings, consortium coordination sessions, and technical working groups.
• Strengthen coordination between community structures, hub-and-spoke facilities, and government stakeholders through shared data use.

Safeguarding, Inclusion, and Ethical Engagement / 10%:

• Ensure all community engagement activities adhere to safeguarding, protection, and accountability standards.
• Promote inclusive, gender-sensitive, and respectful engagement of women, adolescents, and vulnerable groups.
• Uphold ethical conduct and confidentiality in all community interactions.

Documentation, Reporting, and Learning / 20%:

• Document community engagement activities, outreach sessions, attendance, and feedback using approved tools.
• Capture community success stories, challenges, lessons learned, and good practices.
• Prepare and submit timely activity reports and summaries.
• Share community insights to support learning and adaptive programming.

Minimum Education and Work Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health, Monitoring & Evaluation, Statistics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or related field (master’s degree preferred).
• 5–7 years’ experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning within health or humanitarian programs.
• Demonstrated experience in community engagement, accountability to affected populations, or social mobilization.
• Experience working in displacement-affected or humanitarian settings is a strong advantage.
• Experience supporting integration of data into national or sub-national health information systems

Competencies/Attributes:
Minimally Required Organizational Competencies:

• Community Engagement and Mobilization: Ability to lead community entry, sensitization, and dialogue activities, and to work effectively with traditional, religious, women, youth, and community leaders to build trust and influence positive social norms related to RMNCNH services.
• Demand Generation and Social Behavior Change: Experience implementing community-based demand generation and social and behavior change activities that increase awareness, acceptance, and uptake of RMNCNH services using culturally appropriate approaches.
• Community Activity Monitoring and Documentation: Ability to document community engagement activities, outreach sessions, referrals, and feedback accurately and in a timely manner using approved tools.
• Community-Level Data Collection: Practical experience supporting community-level data and feedback collection, with attention to completeness, accuracy, and timely submission of information generated from engagement activities.
• Community Accountability and Feedback Mechanisms: Proven ability to design, implement, and manage community feedback, complaint-response, and accountability mechanisms to ensure community voices inform program actions and service delivery.
• Use of Community Insights for Program Improvement: Ability to synthesize community feedback and observations to identify demand-side barriers and service gaps and communicate findings to program teams for responsive action.
• Learning and Adaptive Community Programming: Experience contributing to learning processes by sharing community lessons, good practices, and challenges, and supporting adjustments to engagement strategies based on community feedback.
• Community and Stakeholder Coordination: Ability to coordinate with community structures, health facilities, local authorities, and partners to strengthen links between communities and health services.
• Planning and Implementation of Community Activities: Foundational skills in planning, organizing, and implementing community engagement and mobilization activities in line with program objectives and timelines.
• Reporting and Communication: Ability to prepare clear, concise activity reports and summaries that reflect community engagement outcomes, challenges, and key issues raised.

Minimally Required Organizational Competencies:

• PC Applications: Advanced knowledge of MS Office products, including MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint

  • Languages: Advanced writing and speaking skills using local language and English language.
  • Communication: Advanced oral and written communication skills
  • Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Right and Services : Foundational knowledge of interventions to ensure health pregnancy, healthy delivery and new-born care.
  • Passion for Maternal and Child health : Demonstrated commitment to family planning, reproductive health services, gender, maternal, child health services, and eradication of harmful traditional practices.
  • Influencing and Customer Service: Advanced influencing and diplomacy skills. Advanced customer service skills. 
• Organization, Planning and Multi-tasking: Advanced organizational and planning skills, project planning and management skills. Proven ability to set priorities, meet deadlines and multi-task with minimal supervision
• Self-Management and Teamwork: Ability to work independently or as a member of the team, ability to be detailed-oriented, and ability to manage stress effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Matrix Management: Ability to thrive in a matrixed organization.
• Confidentiality: Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information in a discreet and professional manner.