Social Advisor - Ethiopia

Job Description

Pathfinder Overview Pathfinder International is a global leader in sexual and reproductive health. We place reproductive health care at the center of all that we do—believing that it is not only a fundamental human right, but is critical for expanding life opportunities for women, families, communities, and nations, and paving the way for transformations in environmental stewardship, decreases in population pressures, and innovations in poverty reduction. Pathfinder provides women, men, and adolescents with a range of quality health services—from contraception and maternal care to HIV prevention and AIDS care and treatment. Pathfinder strives to strengthen access to family planning, ensure availability of safe abortion services and post-abortion care, advocate for sound reproductive health policies, and, through all of our work, improve the rights and lives of the people we serve. Program Overview Pathfinder is seeking a Social Advisor candidate for DFID’s Reducing Barriers and Increasing Utilization of Reproductive, Maternal and Neonatal Health Services in Ethiopia’s Programme. DFID wishes to engage a Technical Assistance Provider (TAS) to support the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health to manage the reproductive, maternal and neonatal health innovation fund (RIF). The RIF aims to increase the utilization of RMNH services, enhance accountability of service providers (civil society, regional development agencies) to the government and improve regional equity. Position Purpose The Social Advisor will promote increasing acceptability of, demand for, and the use of quality, acceptable RMNH services by poor and underserved women and girls in target regions. S/he will advocate to increase the utilization of RMNH services, enhance accountablility of service providers (civil society, regional development agencies) to the government and improve regional equity. She/he will play a key role in building strong relationships and influencing key actors in Ethiopia on programmes and policy issues. Key Responsibilities

• Provide social development advice and analysis for the programme.
• Play a leading role in generating and coordinating data and evidence on social development issues in Ethiopia, particularly on poverty and underserved women and girls.
• Support implementation and monitoring of the programme to increase the demand for and utilization of RMNH services.
• Collaborate with the Health Advisor, FMOH, and sub-recipients to ensure program interventions are responsive and acceptable to target populations.
• Ensure that sub-recipient interventions sufficiently emphasize the critical role of women’s and girls’ empowerment – particularly among rural women, within pastoralist communities, and women living with HIV.
• Identify socio-cultural barriers to RMNH service uptake, in collaboration with Health Advisor and sub-recipients.
• Effectively influence government officials, development partners, civil society and the general public through developing effective relationships and representing FMOH at high level policy and programme discussions in Ethiopia.
• Liaise with DFID and Pathfinder on corporate requirements for correspondence, briefings, reporting, preparations for high level visits, communications and core agendas.

Basic Requirements

• Minimum of a Masters degree in Gender, Social Development or related Social Policy field.
• At least 5 years’ experience of providing social development advice to programmes and policy with development partners and/or service providers.
• Experience of design, management budgets and results’ delivery of social development programmes.
• Proven cultural, social and political sensitivity of working in Ethiopia.
• Strong understanding of geographic, financial and socio-cultural barriers that limit RMNH services.
• Proven ability to create and maintain effective working relations with senior Government personnel, international organizations, NGO partners, and host country governments.
• Experience working with public and private partners and stakeholders at all levels (national to community).
• Excellent diplomatic, interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills.
• Fluency in English required.
• In-country travel to field operations required with occasional travel to headquarters as necessary.

Preferred Qualifications

• Comprehensive knowledge of the health context and structural issues in Ethiopia including socioeconomic, institutional and policy issues that are related to essential services in population, health, and nutrition.
• Working experience in Ethiopia.

Please Note: This is a 40 month’s (6 month inception followed by 3 years of implementation ending in December 2016 with extension options up to 24 months) position contingent upon project award and funding. Pathfinder International is proud to be an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer.

About the Organization

Since 1957, Pathfinder International has maintained an unwavering belief in the right of women and families to have access to contraception and to quality reproductive health care. Pathfinder’s founder Clarence Gamble, a pioneer in family planning and maternal health, introduced contraception to more than 60 developing countries, including some where Pathfinder is still engaged today.

Pathfinder works in remote locations, under the most difficult conditions, serving the most vulnerable people. We collaborate with governments, NGOs, and community- and faith-based organizations to make contraception available and provide the quality care needed to ensure safe childbirth and healthy families. Working in countries with high prevalence of HIV and AIDS, we provide a continuum of HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment services and are expanding the integration of these services into reproductive health and family planning programs. Though controversial, we support safe abortion care in countries where it’s legal, provide reproductive health services to commercial sex workers and adolescents, and advocate for sound reproductive health policies in the US and abroad.

Pathfinder’s work focuses on overcoming barriers and is based on developing long-term relationships, not only with clients, but with entire communities. Working in traditional societies, we understand that changes in attitude and behavior must have the support of religious and community leaders, the guardians of local culture. We train doctors, nurses, midwives, traditional birth attendants, community-based health workers, and teachers. At the same time, we build the capacity of our partner organizations to make them stronger, more effective, and able to thrive independently once our support has ended.