Social & Behavior Change Officer (NO-2) at United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Social & Behavior Change Officer (NO-2)

Job no: 586094
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Job type: Temporary Appointment
Level: NO-2
Categories: Programme Management

Purpose for the job.

• Under the general guidance of the Health Manager and in close coordination with SBC Section, contributes to/responsible for the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based, inclusive and innovative SBC strategies in support of the country programme.

Key Function, Accountabilities And Related Duties / Task

• Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC.
• Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building.
• Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners.
• Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC.
• In collaboration with sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, design, implement, and/or participate in SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers.
• Initiate, commission, manage and/or utilize qualitative and quantitative research on social and behavioral drivers that include behavioural analysis, human centred design, social listening, behavioural insights, participatory research and/or RCT.
• Support data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting SBC results and prepare syntheses of results.
• Collate and summarize data, evidence and trends for social and behavioral issues to inform evidence-based SBC strategies, plans and activities
• Assist in establishment of community feedback mechanisms and use feedback to inform community engagement and SBC actions for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience. Generate and use SBC evidence, data, and assessments for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience.
• Contribute to terms of reference, research tools, frameworks and protocols for generating evidence to inform SBC initiatives and apply tools, methodologies and frameworks for data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting and disseminating SBC results.
• Conduct and/or participate in country programme monitoring and evaluation exercises and make recommendations on workplan revisions based on the results.
• Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, provide technical and administrative support for the development, implementation and monitoring of evidence-based SBC strategies and activities, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches.
• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral colleagues and implementing partners, select appropriate SBC activities and platforms for engagement, ensuring quality and integration of the latest evidence and science-backed approaches.
• In this process, oversee coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities.
• Identify/propose actional evidence-based programme/strategy recommendations from current data, evidence and trends for priority social and behavioral issues and ensure the integration of latest innovative approaches and technology in SBC in programme approaches and advocate for their adoption among internal and external stakeholders.
• Apply the above skills of designing, planning, implementing and monitoring of community engagement and SBC interventions in the context of humanitarian emergencies.
• Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and building alliances and partnerships.
• Represent UNICEF’s interests in partnerships and manage development of and progress against joint project agreements with relevant partners; represent the UNICEF CO and SBC Section in national and international level fora and among partners as relevant and necessary.
• Collaborate with national, regional and/or global partners to link and coordinate SBC approaches.
• Cultivate resource mobilization opportunities and contribute to proposals, reports and other materials to support resources mobilization.
• Contribute to mobilizing human resources for SBC, including staff, consultants and external vendors.
• Identify, recruit and collaborate with onsultants, vendors and other technical expertise to support delivery of SBC activities. Plan, use and track the use of resources and verify compliance with organizational guidelines and standards.
• Contribute to financial planning, budget planning and tracking and financial management for SBC.
• Advocate for the inclusion of community engagement and social and behavioral approaches in sectoral workplans based on active participation in sectoral programme planning and reviews and viable recommendations for the integration of SBC.
• Advocate internally and externally for integration of SBC in national systems, in the country programme, and in sectoral plans.
• Identify, disseminate, and adopt best practices and innovative approaches and technology in SBC, integrate them in programme approaches and support SBC and sectoral teams in implementing them.
• Coordinate with stakeholders and partners for the implementation of community engagement and SBC in humanitarian actions.
• Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff, partners and implementers.
• Identify, design, and/or organize SBC training materials and opportunities for staff and partners, including on new approaches such as behavioural analysis, behavioural insights, human-centered design, social listening, and social accountability mechanisms.
• Use and adapt existing UNICEF learning resources, guidelines and training materials to build SBC capacity among staff, implementing partners and relevant government and non-government counterparts.
• Contribute to the development and institutionalization of best practices, facilitate the exchange of experiences and provide technical assistance for the uptake of new SBC methods and knowledge internally and externally.
• Coordinate and provide inputs into SBC capacity assessments
• Identify and mobilize resources to support capacity development internally and externally and provide SBC technical support and capacity building to government counterparts.
• Identify and contribute to the development of mechanisms to strengthen systems for community engagement in humanitarian contexts.
• Develop and/or adapt capacity development tools and activities for humanitarian programming with a focus on preparedness, response and recovery.

Minimum Requirements
Education:

• A University Degree (Bachelor’s or Higher) in a Social and Behavioral Science, including Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Studies / communication for development, Psychology and/or related field is required.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: social development programme planning, communication for development or social and behaviour change, public advocacy or another related area.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English (and other language(s) for the region/country if relevant) is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Desirables:
Skills:

• Good analytical skills and negotiating skills.
• Ability to manage and monitor the effective use of resources.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious working relationships, both within and outside the organization.
• Fast learner, adapts and responds to change, tolerates ambiguity.
• Ability to contribute to formulation of strategies and policies.
• Good knowledge of latest developments and technology in the construction industry.
• Good understanding of construction project cycles, from program needs assessment, through planning, procurement and contracting, monitoring the execution of work and evaluation of project outcomes.
• Good knowledge and understanding of UNICEF programs, public procurement principles, financial and legal aspects of construction issues, ethics and risk management of construction projects.

Application Closing Date
12th December, 2025.