For over 50 years, The Manoff Group, Inc. (TMG), a woman-owned small business, has been an international leader in designing and assisting the implementation of social and behavior change programs that effectively promote healthy behaviors and allow populations to enjoy an improved quality of life. TMG’s innovative Behavior-centered Programming approach offers a practical methodology for realizing measurable and sustained behavior change at the individual, community and organizational levels. Our methodology is based on human-centered design principles and employs techniques from disciplines such as anthropology, behavioral economics, psychology, marketing and communications to strategically build programs that enable people to practice life–enhancing behaviors. All project work is carried out in the spirit of collaborative learning and co-creation.
DESCRIPTION:
USAID Advancing Nutrition is the Agency’s flagship nutrition project, led by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI), under which The Manoff Group, Inc. (TMG) is one of a diverse group of experienced partners. Launched in September 2018, USAID Advancing Nutrition implements and provides technical support to nutrition interventions across sectors and disciplines for USAID and its partners. The project’s multi-sectoral approach draws together global nutrition experience to design, implement and evaluate programs that address the root causes of malnutrition. Committed to using a systems approach, USAID Advancing Nutrition strives to sustain positive outcomes by building local capacity, supporting behavior change and strengthening the enabling environment to save lives, improve health, build resilience, increase economic productivity and advance development.
SUMMARY:
The Technical Advisor will provide technical leadership for curriculum design and implementation of capacity strengthening activities across the USAID Advancing Nutrition portfolio, including maternal and young child health, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, food systems, food security and country-specific work in both development and humanitarian contexts. S/he will provide technical leadership for designing and adapting courses for specific audiences and other types of capacity strengthening interventions, including distance learning and mentoring. Working collaboratively with other technical experts, s/he will also play a critical role in supporting the design of needs assessments and measurement approaches for capacity strengthening activates. The Technical Advisor will collaborate and coordinate with technical experts across project staff, host country counterparts, implementing partners and other global stakeholders to ensure expert implementation of project activities, ensuring quality capacity strengthening.
Capacity strengthening activities across our project are especially diverse, including initiatives that reach governments, civil society, national and international NGOs and staff from a range of disciplines, including nutrition, health systems, food systems, agriculture, and food security. The Technical Advisor reports to the Senior Technical Advisor, Strategic Learning and Capacity Strengthening, a TMG-held position, and is based in Arlington, VA.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Technical Advisor will:
- Identify promising innovative approaches to building knowledge and skills across the USAID Advancing Nutrition portfolio, providing technical assistance for the design of courses, trainings and other capacity strengthening activities for USAID Washington and priority countries.
- Bring innovative thinking, methodologies and approaches to a diverse set of capacity strengthening activities, including training, learning and mentoring programs.
- Set expectations for quality capacity strengthening activities, guiding others toward sound approaches for capacity strengthening that are measurable and yield lasting results.
- Propose quality approaches and measurement plans for capacity strengthening activities that are responsive to budget and time constraints.
- Design dynamic, innovative, evidence-based learning experiences for a range of audiences, including USAID staff, implementing partners and frontline health workers, based on a clear set of learning goals and objectives.
- Develop course content for capacity strengthening activities, including facilitator guides, slide sets, handouts, job aides and other materials as needed.
- Conduct needs assessments to determine the most effective approaches for achieving capacity strengthening outcomes in alignment with USAID goals, strategies, and plans.
- Facilitate learning sessions in both face-to-face workshops and virtual learning platforms.
- Work effectively with technical experts and consultants to develop capacity strengthening programs.
- With the Senior Technical Advisor, ensure that all capacity strengthening activities have clear measurement plans, including sound baseline needs assessments, monitoring plans and an evaluation of how well objectives were achieved.
- Ensure clear communication about the status and outcomes of capacity strengthening activities across technical teams, including the activity team, activity leads, directors and USAID counterparts.
- Manage consultants with specialized curriculum development skills, setting clear expectations and ensuring quality work is delivered and completed on time.
- Contribute to the development of team (both global and country) work plans and budgets, ensuring consistency with project direction and strategy.
- Supervise and mentor Technical Specialists and/or Program Officers to facilitate professional growth and development.
- Other duties as assigned.
COMPETENCIES:
- Strong interpersonal skills and social-emotional intelligence; experience working effectively in cross-sector teams and cross-cultural settings.
- Demonstrated ability to facilitate courses, design interactive learning experiences and curricula.
- Knowledge of the principles of capacity strengthening including adult learning, learning styles, participatory methods, instructional design, appreciative inquiry, whole systems design, e-learning and related areas.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple activities simultaneously and deliver quality results on time and within budget
- Demonstrated ability and affinity for delivering technical assistance in developing countries.
- Ability to develop and apply monitoring and evaluation plans to determine activity results and monitor impact.
- Strong planning, organization, and strategic thinking skills
- Exceptional communication (verbal and written) and presentation skills with a dynamic, engaging facilitation style
- Flexibility and ability to travel internationally for varying lengths of time
- Excellent time management and personal organization skills.
- Confident giving and receiving feedback in a direct, professional manner.
- Ability to direct multiple long and short-term activities simultaneously with minimal supervision.
- Comfortable working in a matrixed, integrated work environment.
- Skilled in word processing, presentation design, spreadsheets (Excel), and web-based programs.
- Past experience working with USAID preferred.
- Fluency in language(s) other than English and experience working or living overseas preferred.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Education: Master’s degree or advanced degree in instructional design, human-centered design, organizational development, international development or communication.
- Experience: 7 years of experience working with capacity strengthening programs in international development, ideally with an emphasis on health, nutrition, food security, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, HIV, livelihoods or a related field.
- Ability to undertake field travel (approximately 30%)
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. Fluency in French, Russian or Portuguese highly desirable.
The Technical Advisor, Capacity Strengthening is advertised through multiple USAID Advancing Nutrition consortium partners and is fully seconded to the project. Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply through the single (1) organization they are most interested in working for. Submitting applications through more than one (1) consortium partner is prohibited and could result in disqualification.