ABOUT VILLAGEREACH
VillageReach transforms health care delivery to reach everyone, so that each person has the health care needed to thrive. We develop solutions that improve equity and access to primary health care. This includes making sure products are available when and where they are needed and primary health care services are delivered to the most under-reached. Radical collaboration with governments, the private sector and other partners strengthen our ability to scale and sustain these solutions. Our work increases access to quality health care for more than 79 million people in Africa. VillageReach in incorporated in Washington State and has offices in Seattle (USA), Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Summary
VillageReach is seeking an experienced and passionate Community Insights Officer dedicated to health equity, to support the DRC Ministry of Health’s strategic and Special improvement plan aimed at stopping Polio (cVPDV1) transmission in Haut-Katanga province. We're looking for a dynamic individual with experience in mixed-methods research, data analysis and use, community engagement, and quality improvement, ready to challenge the status quo in the design and delivery of routine immunization outreach. Utilizing innovative community-centric data collection, engagement, and quality improvement techniques, this role will collaborate closely with the Immunization Technical Assistant to collect community data and seamlessly integrate it into decision-making to drive action and change (in practices or processes) within the program. The goal is to gather and integrate community feedback and insights on vaccination behaviour and social drivers from historically underserved communities, informing ongoing routine immunization (RI) and campaign activities. This integration, in coordination with government and partners, will be pivotal in routinely designing and delivering tailored polio campaigns and routine immunization outreach to historically marginalized communities. Working closely with partners, the Expanded Immunization Program, and local stakeholders in Haut Lomami, Tanganyika, and Haut Katanga, this individual will ensure the smooth integration of routine community appraisals and surveys into outreach efforts by measuring the right data points to equitably reach the most children with life-saving vaccines. Additionally, they will ensure that data is integrated into routine planning for the design and delivery of tailored outreach, as well as key monitoring indicators. This position will be based in Lubumbashi, Haut-Katanga and may require up to 40% travel within Tanganyika, Haut-Katanga and Haut-Lomami.
Description
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.
Key roles and Responsibilities
Technical Responsibilities
- Define and implement the creation of Community Insights to Action operational plan to elicit both quantitative and qualitative feedback and evidence from priority communities identified for tailored polio and routine immunization outreach
- Lead design and execution of routine community surveys and other creative rapid appraisal methods to be implemented by data collectors integrated into routine immunization and polio campaign outreach teams. Understand target communities deeply, and routinely uncover and translate data, to meaningful and compelling insights.
- Coordinate with program monitoring and evaluation team and technical advisors to support proposal development for resource mobilization in response to community insights.
- Coordinate with outreach teams and community engagement partners to ensure the routine collection of high-quality community insights data to inform tailored outreach plans.
- Develop compelling presentations and/or dashboards to visualize and communicate community insight and feedback data for incorporating into weekly and monthly data review meetings.
- Build community empathy and understanding across the program team by effectively communicating existing immunization access and uptake barriers and identifying actionable needs by the communities to effectively influence better immunization outcomes.
- Provide technical support and guidance for how to integrate community insights and feedback into tailoring the design and delivery of polio and routine immunization campaign outreach activities.
Coordination & collaboration
- Develop relationships with key immunization and community engagement stakeholders, including government public health programs such as PEV and DPS, community representatives and key opinion leaders.
- Continuously advocate for the voice of the communities the project aims to serve in an effort to know the communities deeply and make decisions in favour of communities needs and preferences.
- Attend partner coordination meetings, technical working groups, committees, government forums and conferences as appropriate.
- Routinely coordinate with VillageReach global staff on best practices and learns around integrating VillageReach’s Community Insights to Action strategy into program design and delivery
- Coordinate with DRC office M&E team and global Data Analytics team.
Documentation and Dissemination
- Produce monthly and quarterly reports that outlines all community feedback activities conducted.
- Design and execute a strategy for systematic and comprehensive documentation of insights collected, working with local communications team and local leaders where relevant to elevate findings and draw global attention
- Document and disseminate programme delivery experiences, lessons learned for capacity building, advocacy, policy-making and effective programming.
- Contribute to the promotion of technical knowledge, programme evidence, lessons learned, and success stories for use in improving programmes, maintaining accessible databases on best practices and innovations.
- Support proposal development for resource mobilization.
- Any other duties as required.
Competencies:
The following competencies reflect what is expected of all VillageReach employees; including examples of how one might demonstrate each of these competencies in one’s role.
- Personal Motivation and Drive: Is self-directed in one’s approach to work, but asks for help when needed; holds oneself accountable; undertakes self-development activities; seeks to build and master new skills; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities within the organization
- Collaboration & Effective Communication: Establishes and maintains effective relations with coworkers, partners & stakeholders and external parties; works collaboratively with others to accomplish organizational and team goals and objectives; works actively to resolve conflicts; expresses ideas and thoughts effectively; selects and uses appropriate communication methods and maintains meaningful communication with virtual coworkers and other parties to keep them informed
- Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: Takes personal responsibility for and supports others across the organization in creating and sustaining a diverse work environment where individuals are welcomed, valued, respected and supported; personally committed to attaining cultural competency including self-awareness of one’s own attitudes about culture and cross-cultural interactions; exhibits the willingness and ability to engage openly and respectfully around issues of race, colonialism, identity and culture; upholds equity in access to sharing of information, ideas, and opportunities throughout VillageReach
- Commitment to Excellence: Produces a high output of work, both in terms of quality and quantity; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; monitors work to ensure quality; has a personal commitment to the mission of VillageReach
- Solution Orientation & Innovation: Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how to best achieve them; gets the job done; sees opportunities for creative problem-solving while staying within the parameters of good practice; sees old problems in new ways and has novel approaches to solving those problems; contributes original and/or resourceful ideas to their area of responsibility; is able to consider and articulate risks and consequences of proposed innovations and factor these into decision-making
