About Lapis Afghanistan

Lapis is a leading media, education, research, project management, and strategic communications company operating throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, South and Central Asia. Lapis supports local and global efforts to bring about positive change in frontier markets and challenging environments. From delivering education projects to strategic communications and project design, for nearly two decades, Lapis’ work has framed how individuals, communities, and nations see their world. We employ an unparalleled understanding of complex media and sociopolitical environments. We stay at the forefront of changes in audiences’ media and technology consumption and combine this systems-level knowledge with our on-ground expertise to tailor carefully analyzed and creatively engaging products. Our clients include governments, foundations, international organizations, and the private sector.

Job Description: Social and Behavior Change Expert

Job Summary

The primary role of the Social and Behavior Change Expert is to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate behavior change interventions that address key social issues and drive positive changes within the target population.

Duties & Responsibilities

Role Overview

The SBC Expert will collaborate with Lapis’s SBC Practice Lead and teams across the organization to design, implement, and measure multi-channel SBC interventions across various thematic areas, including health (especially reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health; nutrition; and mental health) and education. The SBC Expert will serve as Lapis’s primary technical resource for behavior change in Afghanistan and will lead SBC projects or SBC-focused components of larger projects. In this capacity, the SBC Expert will advance critical partnerships at the national and provincial levels, including relationships with funders, government entities, and specialized sub-contractors. The SBC Expert will support monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) relating to SBC, including the design of studies and monitoring and evaluation systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct systematic, theoretically informed assessments of target population behaviors and the drivers of those behaviors to inform the development of effective SBC strategies.
• Design evidence-based SBC interventions that are culturally relevant, sensitive to local contexts, and tailored to the needs of the target audience.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders, including government agencies, community leaders, NGOs, and local partners, to ensure the successful implementation of SBC interventions.
• Develop monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track the progress and impact of SBC interventions and make data-driven recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Provide technical assistance and capacity-building support to local staff and partners to enhance their knowledge and skills in SBC.
• Stay abreast of the latest trends, innovations, and best practices in SBC to inform program design and implementation.

Job Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree in public health, communication, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating multi-channel SBC interventions in a developing country context. Experience in reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH), nutrition, and/or mental health preferred.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data and research findings into actionable insights for SBC programming.
• Awareness of emerging practices in SBC and key sources of technical information.
• Demonstrated understanding of best practices in SBC and proven experience in key elements of the SBC program cycle, including:
• Design and implementation of mixed-methods formative research for SBC.
• Audience segmentation and profiling.
• Development of project- or national-level SBC strategies.
• Message development, testing, and harmonization.
• Participatory design of SBC activities and tools.
• Concept testing and pretesting.
• Identification and management of specialized subcontractors, including creative agencies, research firms, and community-based organizations.
• Implementation support, including ongoing data review and adaptive management.
• Preparation of project documentation, including case studies and reports.
• Capacity strengthening for SBC, including activities developing the capacity of colleagues, government counterparts, and local organizations.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders and teams.
• Fluency in English, Dari, and Pashto languages.

Submission Guideline

Interested candidates are encouraged to send their resumes to Jobs@Lapis-group.com.