Project Officer – Gender and Community Health at United Purpose (UP)

The Project Officer (PO) for Gender and Community Health is responsible for ensuring the project develops effective and relevant connections with public and private health entities for the delivery of quality health behaviour change communication and service delivery. The PO will implement the health market assessment, develop and/or adapt relevant communications material and strategies with community and government partners, coordinate the interface with digital health service providers, and ensure seamless coordination between project stakeholders. The PO will also be responsible for gender mainstreaming and proactive technical support to the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Key responsibilities include (not limited to)

• Plan, design and ensure delivery of project activities in line with the Project Activity Implementation Plan (PAIP) and United Purpose’s Operations Guideline.

• S/he will work with all departments and partners to ensure that gender equity principles are incorporated into all policies and activities.
• S/he will plan, implement and follow up on gender-related activities and provide support to Counterpart staff, partners and grantees on mainstreaming gender in their programs and activities, including design and implementation of trainings on gender-related topics.
• Monitor and ensure planned activities are implemented as per PAIP and budget allocations
• Engage directly with project stakeholders, including women’s clubs, PHCs, LGAs, private sector, health customers.
• Support data gathering and management, analysis, and provide insight on findings/learnings throughout the project period.
• Support PO Business Development & Marketing with health business plan development of women’s clubs
• Conduct trainings on health and wellbeing promotion for women’s club entrepreneurs
• Coordinate with regional health officials
• Support training of PHCs on digital health tools by private sector actors
• Facilitate field teams and build network and work with local government authorities and line departments (such as health and agricultural facilities, etc.) market actors, and local community leaders, and other stakeholder counterparts to facilitate activities at local level
• Provide strategic and technical support to field teams in ensuring timely implementation of activities around health, nutrition, WASH, agriculture, strengthening the capacity of Women Business Centres (WBC), and business development and market linkage of WBCs
• Develop training modules, SBCC (Social Behavior Change Communication), IEC (Information, Education and Communication) and promotional materials on health, WASH, nutrition, COVID-19 prevention, livestock services, and agriculture especially agroecological activities
• Provide strategic and technical support to field teams in strengthening the capacity of Women Enterprise Groups  
• Coordination and provide support to MEAL team (especially MEAL Coordinator) in tracking and monitoring of progress, data collection, database administration, documentation of the project’s impacts and results, and M&E related coordination with counterparts, as required
• Assist Project Manager in ensuring smooth management and implementation of the project, and team dynamic to achieve the project’s targets and purpose
• Conduct regular visits to fields, documentation on field activities including project’s impacts and results, and submit timely reports to line manager timely.
• Other duties as assigned by the line manager and UP management.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

Support women’s clubs to produce quality health and hygiene products

• Entrepreneur identification and women's club strengthening workshops (Vision Sessions, business development workshops etc) Organise workshops with Department of Health for the engagement of government social protection schemes.
• Design and implement the community-led market assessment in coordination with the project team
• Targeted skills training on production/processing of identified products
• Review policy regarding telemedicine service and reading glass through discussion with relevant personnel

Develop a health-focused social marketing strategy for women’s clubs that promotes products and services using digital tools & linked with government health programming

• Coordinate field facilitator activities around courtyard session formation and customer outreach
• Organise Training of women entrepreneurs on health & wellbeing promotion.
• Planning and monitoring of Demonstration on digital health resources.
• Facilitate coordination with PHcs and women’s clubs for health outreach.

Project Management

• Plan, design and ensure delivery of project activities in line with the Project Activity Implementation Plan (PAIP)
• Support PO-Business Development and Marketing on project implementation plan design, implementation, and review.
• Implement project activities according to individual work plan and building on project set objectives.

Knowledge management, monitoring and reporting

• Identify learnings from data review and analysis and make recommendations to the Project Manager regarding the PAIP.
• Develop monthly, quarterly and annual progress reports and report to Project Manager according to set format on the progress of work plan objectives and activities.
• Conduct periodic collaborative learning and adaptation meetings with stakeholders at LGA level.
• Document case studies/lessons learnt/change stories from beneficiaries as evidence to measure project impact
• Represent the learnings and project activities to colleagues in other RWE countries and participate in joint learning sessions.

Finance & team management

• Oversee the activities of the Field Facilitators, providing guidance, mentorship, and direct support as required.
• Support the Field Facilitators in the realisation of their work plans through guidance, regular one to one meeting, joint field visits, mentoring and monitoring of their work plans.
• Participate in the establishment of a project procurement plan in compliance with project’s requirements and provide necessary follow-up.
• In coordination with Project Manager, Country Office Coordinator and Finance and Compliance Manager, ensure appropriate budget monitoring procedures are in place and contribute to timely financial reporting.

Representation and Visibility

• Develop/maintain strong working relationships with different relevant stakeholders at community level.
• Communicate regular with partners and women’s clubs
• Ensure project material, project staff and partner’s staffs comply with donor’s visibility rules.
• Represent SHA/UP in external fora
• Promote positive communication about SHA/UP.

 Key Relationships: Internal and External

Knowledge, Experience & other Requirements:

Education and other qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Community Health, Gender studies or any relevant social science subject.
• Skills on ICT operation, and proficiency in using MS Office
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Respect to cultural diversity and gender sensitivity
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Commitment to Safeguarding

Experience:

The successful applicant MUST have experience and skills in the following:

• At least 4 years’ working experience with INGO/NGO in the same or equivalent position
• Community-level health promotion using participatory methodologies.
• Community organising, particularly with women’s groups
• Planning, implementing and monitoring community-level health/health system assessments in Nigeria.
• Knowledge & exposure to a range of gender mainstreaming & gender development issues
• Ability to evaluate and integrate gender equality strategic objectives into broader program strategies
• Survey tool development
• Working with the Nigerian health system, including PHCs
• Design and review of health behaviour change and communication materials
• Working with women’s groups
• Budget management, monitoring, and implementation
• Be willing to travel to the field
• Be willing to learn and implement new methodologies
• Is self-driven and a creative problem solver
• Is a strong communicator with good report-writing skills
• Works well with a multicultural team
• Written and oral proficiency in English

It is also a benefit if the applicant:

• Has experience working with health-related enterprise
• Has worked on health system evaluations and/or design
• Has experience in the digital health space and with telemedicine services in particular.

Skills:

• Excellent planning, coordination, and prioritisation skills.
• Strong facilitation, community implementation and interpersonal skills.
• Good written and verbal communication skills- listening, presenting, discussing, reporting, putting views forward and negotiating with confidence.
• Adaptable and responsive disposition relative to the demands and operations of the project.

Language Requirements:

• Written and oral proficiency in English and relevant local language (Tiv and pidgin English) is a plus.