Senior Community Engagement Officer

Organization Background

JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) is an international organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.  JSI works extensively with national and local governments, ministries of health, health care providers, traditional leaders, and communities to expand access to services for vulnerable populations. JSI is committed to improving the health of underserved populations through innovative approaches in a range of public health areas, including HIV, reproductive, maternal, and child health, technical and organizational capacity building, supply chain strengthening, strategic information management, and health systems management, and policy development.

Position:            Senior Community Engagement Officer

Reports to:        Technical Director

Location:            Vientiane Capital, Laos

Job Summary

JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) is seeking a Senior Community Engagement Officer for a five-year USAID-funded Maternal Child Health Nutrition project in Laos (LMCHN). The project aims to build upon previous USAID and Government of Laos investments to improve maternal child health outcomes among the most underserved populations in targeted areas of Laos. This will be achieved through a health system strengthening and community engagement approaches to ensure equitable access to quality services. This will be a full-time position based in Vientiane. The Senior Community Engagement Officer will report directly to the Technical Director.

Primary Responsibilities & Duties

The Senior Community Engagement Officer is responsible for the design and implementation of all activities related to the community in the LMNCH project. Key responsibilities include:

• Leads the design and implementation of peer-led activities at the community level to increase access to services for adolescents and excluded groups
• Leads “human-centered designed” activities – a problem-solving technique that puts people at the center of the design – with excluded communities, with village health volunteers and health center workers and leads the development of GESI awareness tools
• Supports activities at the community level to support women and families and generate networks of support for key behaviors during the 1,000 day period
• Supports activities at the community level to increase engagement between communities and the local health center

• Leads engagement with the MOH and key development partners on community engagement, supports the delivery of the National Strategy and Action Plan for Integrated Services on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (2021-2025) and participates in relevant national level forums and technical working groups.

• Works closely with the Provincial teams in the implementation of all community engagement activities, including frequent travel to Provinces and Districts and builds the skills of both program and Government staff as needed.
• Works closely with other LMCHN Technical Team members to ensure maximum integration, synergy, and sustainability across all program activities.
• With the LMCHN RMEL and Technical Teams implement any research activities needed to further improve community activities.
• Carries out any other additional tasks as needed and assigned by the Manager for LMG, Community and Nutrition.
• Awareness of child safeguarding principles and guidelines and an ability to apply these principles to day-to-day work, when interacting with communities and children and ensure compliance, including reporting any violations.
• Ensure that in your line of duty, you are aware of child safeguarding principles and guidelines and apply it in your day-to-day roles as you interact with communities and children;
• Ensure promotion of safe child practices and mitigation, prevention, and reporting of violations of children to ensure compliance.

Desired Qualifications

• A health professional, preferably with a master’s degree in public health or a related field.
• A minimum of 6 years of relevant experience in maternal child health and nutrition programs.
• Experience in working with government agencies, civil society, mass organizations or NPAs
• Good analytical skills and ability to apply evidence-based global best practice to the Lao context
• Excellent interpersonal skills, good team player and ability to manage multiple tasks
• Must be able to read, write and speak English well and have excellent written and oral presentation skills in Lao.

JSI is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer committed to workplace diversity. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, religion, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, genetic information, political affiliation, HIV status, or protected veteran status in any employment decisions. M/F/V/D.

JSI is a child-safe organization, and the safety and wellbeing of children is a priority of our organization. We have robust recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff are suited to work with the children served by our programs. A criminal record check will be undertaken for successful applicants.