USAID Nawiri Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) Advisor, Save the Children International

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Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH. In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya. In Feb 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own. Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Turkana and Wajir and a footprint in Kakamega, Kisumu, Migori and Kitui. In 2016, Save the Children established a new project office in Madagascar whose operations are managed by the Kenya CO. In total, we employ around 250 staff in both countries and had an operating annual budget in 2017 of approximately US$22million.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The USAID Nawiri project aims to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition in Turkana and Samburu counties. The project is led by the Mercy Corps with other consortium partners including Save the Children. USAID Nawiri has generated evidence on feasible and scalable approaches (that work) in Turkana and Samburu to reduce malnutrition both in the short and long term. The specifc focus of Nawiri is to understand the complex causality of malnutrition, develop homegrown solutions and align the evidence thereof generated to the  project and Counties plans through a multi-sectoral approach.

USAID Nawiri’s support for adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) will support the program in implementing adolescent, youth health responsive services, utilize the findings on risks, vulnerabilities, and capacities at individual, interpersonal, community, and policy levels influence early, unintended pregnancy among adolescents to implement interventions high impact that will address acute malnutrition among adolescents in Turkana and Samburu.

The ASRH Advisor, in collaboration with the Gender, youth and social dynamic lead and Social and Behavior change advisor and in close collaboration with Nawiri team in Turkana and Samburu will give technical support to the county counterpart and Nawiri field teams in  scaling up ASRH interventions, utilizing the findings of the Adolescent lines of inquiries and human centered design process. He/she will also be the country office ASRH focal point representing SC at national technical working group. He/she will represent Nawiri at county technical working groups and committees.

The ASRH Advisor will work with the county learning coordinators and the strategic learning lead to document learning and adaptation processes and ensure ASRH is well layered and integrated with other adolescent outcomes of financial and social assets building.

The ASRH Advisor will be based in Nairobi with frequent travel to Turkana and Samburu counties. On a day-to-day basis, he/she will work under the direction of the Health and Nutrition Lead with a dotted line to the country Head of health and Nutrition. The ASRH Advisor will be supported by the Save the Children US ASRH technical Advisor based in the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional office (ESARO).

Contract Duration: 12 Months (Renewable)

Location: Nairobi

Reports to: Health and Nutrition Lead

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Technical assistance and capacity building

  • Lead USAID Nawiri ASRH  scope and cross-sector collaborators to articulate ASRH program strategy and Theory of Change.
  • Provide technical leadership to support high-quality, implementation, monitoring, learning and evaluation of ASRH programs,
  • Strengthen the capacity of USAID Nawiri Staff, and County Government MOH Staff to implement quality ASRH programming using evidence-driven interventions and identify opportunities for innovation, learning and scale up.
  • Lead and facilitate the rollout and scaling up of the the ASRH activities based on human-centered design key findings.
  • Coordinate with GYSD lead and SBC lead in sense-making,  iteration, and learning feedback loops of scaled up ASRH interventions scale-up
  • Support in the development of reports, learning briefs and dissemination of the same.
  • Develop a county engagement plan and strategy that includes skill transfer and capacity improvement of government counterparts.
  • Work with Institution and System Strengthening Lead to ensure uptake of evidence generated from the project implementation at the policy and practice level.
  • Contribute to the development of donor reports
  • Ensure collaborative working relationships within Save the Children team and with Nawiri consortium partners.
  • Support the development of ASRH concept notes and proposals

Representation and advocacy

  • Represent Save the Children in relevant internal and external fora including donor meetings (as appropriate)
  • Represent Save the Children at national and county technical working groups and committees.
  • Work closely with the Head of Health and Nutrition, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns, PDQ and operations teams to develop policy research and advocacy strategy in child survival and nutrition in line with the Country Strategic Plan and the global strategy of Save the Children
  • Work with consortium members to further Save the Children’s mission for children

Partner Management

  • Work closely with other consortium partners to ensure all advocacy and policy work is coherent and complementary.
  • Strategically engage with the government and other key stakeholders to ensure the project is meaningfully influencing government priorities in ending malnutrition.
  • Actively identify and follow up on opportunities to leverage support and resources for the project that will contribute to, or further the objectives of the project.

Assessment, monitoring, evaluation and documentation

  • Participate in the annual work planning process in close collaboration with USAID & BHA, MOH and County health teams and the project staff.
  • Prepare narrative reports for the donor(s) and Save the Children as required, ensuring these are of high quality and submitted for review promptly. This will involve the compilation of information from a range of project staff and MoH partners
  • Monitor program outputs, results and work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Research team to ensure that results are documented, reported accurately and promptly.
  • Facilitate appropriate dissemination of research findings and good practices documentations in the project internally and externally to donors, governments, consortium partners and other key actors strategic for immediate and sustainable development of children in Kenya

Knowledge management

  • Serve as a technical knowledge, skills and experience hub for the ASRH component in Nawiri in documenting and sharing best practices and innovations for replication.
  • Work with technical resources among Save the Children members to facilitate sharing and learning in child survival and nutrition  good practices and leverage their support for strengthening ASRH and CHS-related studies, assessments, innovations, advocacy and capacity building in favour of children in Kenya

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

  • Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
  • Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

  • Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
  • Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
  • Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

  • Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
  • Values diversity sees it as a source of competitive strength.
  • Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

  • Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
  • Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

  • Masters-level degree in Public Health, Development, Social Science, or relevant field;
  • 5-10 years of demonstrated technical experience and expertise in evidence-based RMNCAH&N interventions and best practices, specifically for youth
  • Demonstrated  experience working with communities and county health management teams to improve the quality and responsiveness of ASRH services and, the demand for and use of services by adolescents and young people;
  • Must have experience leading a large ASRH learning project.
  • Basic understanding of Human- centred Design as a participatory approach to co-creating solutions with end-users is desired.
  • Demonstrated ability to link ASRH outcomes with nutrition and system thinking approach to nutrition.
  • Familiarity working on USAID programs and with multilateral agencies, academic institutions, and Kenya’s health and nutrition CSOs;
  • Familiarity and understanding of USAID & BHA policies and procedures, those of other donors, or those of donor-funded projects or community-based projects.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English required;
  • Highly organized and able to work successfully in a team that is geographically dispersed;
  • Demonstrated problem-solving skills, collaboration experience, creativity and willingness to innovate;
  • Willingness to be based in the Samburu and Turkana for months at a time, with frequent travel to project offices and field sites within the county.
  • Highly developed organizational, interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching with demonstrated ability to challenge existing mindsets
  • Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international and matrix management environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
  • Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, the definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in and presenting complex information in a succinct, compelling manner.
  • Demonstrates Save the Children’s core values of accountability, collaboration, integrity, ambition, and creativity.
  • Self-starter who is willing to go the extra mile to get the job done
  • Excellent understanding of computerized accounts packages, Excel, PowerPoint and Word
  • A full appreciation of the value of co-operation, both internationally and within a team environment.
  • Understanding of Save the Children’s vision, mission, and a commitment to its objectives and values.

THE ORGANIZATION

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

 We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

  • No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday.
  • All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
  • Violence against children is no longer tolerated.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply in English saving your CV and covering letter as a single document, including your salary expectations for this role. To see a full a job description, please visit our website at https://kenya.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse. Employment is subject to our Child protection standards including background checks and adherence to our Child Safeguarding Policy.

Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best-qualified talent.

Female Candidates are encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer: Save the Children International does not charge any kind of fee at whichever stage of the recruitment process and does not act through recruitment agents.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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