Social and Behavior Change (SBC) Practice Lead

Location: Flexible, preference for proximity to MENA region 

Employment Type: Employment or Consultancy, depending on location and part-time/full-time basis 

Reporting Structure: Reports to the CEO 

Role Overview 

The Practice Lead for Social and Behavior Change (SBC) will provide strategic, technical, and operational leadership across the organization to develop and implement our SBC portfolio. This role will build on 20 years of Lapis experience and excellence in development and strategic communications and SBC to grow and diversify our programs. By designing and delivering powerful research, content, and engagement with our stakeholders, including communities, children, civil society organizations, and government partners we achieve measurable behavioral and social change. 

The SBC Practice Lead will collaborate with teams across the organization to formulate and implement tailored SBC strategies in a variety of geographic and thematic areas. This role will provide technical expertise in the design, execution, monitoring, and evaluation of SBC strategies. The SBC Practice Lead will spearhead the development of research initiatives, monitoring, and evaluation of behavior change outcomes, which include designing research protocols and offering global and regional best practices. The SBC Practice Lead works with colleagues, partners, and donors at the national and global scale. 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Strategic Leadership 

• Provide overarching strategic direction for the SBC portfolio, aligning organizational goals with opportunities. 
• Lead the development and diversification of SBC programs based on organizational expertise. 

2. Resource Mobilization 

• Work with colleagues and donors to secure funding for SBC initiatives in priority geographies and issue areas. 
• Develop proposals and reports that effectively communicate value and impact of SBC programs. 

3. Technical Expertise 

• Design, implement, and evaluate SBC strategies tailored to geographic and thematic contexts. 
• Provide technical guidance in the creation of effective communication materials and behavior change interventions and support staff and partner capacity in SBC principles and practices. 
• Promote knowledge sharing and best practices within the organization and with external partners. 

4. Stakeholder Engagement 

• Foster strong relationships with stakeholders, including communities, civil society organizations, government partners, and donors to enhance program impact. 
• Collaborate internally to ensure cohesive implementation of intiatives across the organization 

5. Innovation and Adaptation 

• Stay abreast of emerging trends and innovations in SBC and related fields to continuously improve program effectiveness. 
• Adapt strategies based on feedback and evaluation results to ensure relevance and impact. 

6. Research and Evaluation 

• Spearhead research initiatives to assess behavior change outcomes, including the design of research protocols and methodologies. 
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of SBC strategies, utilizing global and regional best practices to inform improvements. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral science, including sociology, anthropology, communication studies/communication for development, psychology and/or related field. Master’s degree or higher preferred 
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant progressively responsible professional experience at the national and international levels in developing, implementing, evaluating, and managing social and behavioral change strategies and content is required 
• Proven ability to work with internal and external stakeholders at multiple levels, including providing technical support and capacity building and establishing/ managing external partnerships 

Skills and Competencies 

• Demonstrated expertise in the application of social and behavior change science, theories, research, and analysis, to all stages of the program cycle 
• Proven ability to manage social research, including quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methods for formative assessments, identifying behavioral drivers and tracking, measurement and evaluation of social change is desirable 
• Demonstrated ability to stay current with new developments in the SBC field is required, familiarity with new and emerging approaches such as behavioral insights, human-centered design, and social listening, among others is a plus 
• Demonstrated experience working with a multicultural team and creating a collaborative, empowering environment and to set tasks and work independently to achieve goals and targets 
• Strong understanding of international development best practices in SBC and how they align with various donor approaches  

Women are strongly encouraged to apply.