Social and Behaviour Change Specialist - Harmful Norms and Practices

The UNOPS Africa Regional Office, based in Nairobi, Kenya, oversees the delivery of over 250 projects across 40 countries, with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings. Supported by more than 1,000 personnel across five multi-country offices—spanning North, West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa—the office advances national priorities through strategic initiatives in Climate Action, Health, Infrastructure, Peace and Security, Middle-Income Country Support, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Regional Office provides strategic leadership, operational support, and oversight in key areas including Partnerships, Communications, Management and Oversight, Infrastructure and Project Management, Health and Safety, and Security. By promoting excellence in project delivery, fostering knowledge sharing, and driving continuous improvement, the office contributes to sustainable infrastructure, transparent resource management, and a better quality of life for communities across the continent.

Based in Nairobi, UNOPS East and Southern Africa supports sustainable development across 14 countries, including Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe. Since 1995, UNOPS has expanded its footprint in Kenya, delivering services in project management, infrastructure, procurement, and financial management. Across the region, the office implements diverse, partner-funded initiatives that respond to national priorities. In Mozambique, this includes delivering specialized equipment (EU), supporting health services (UNICEF), promoting agro-processing (KOICA), and advancing peacebuilding efforts through a Multi-Donor Fund. UNOPS also supports agricultural input distribution and the Northern Crisis Recovery Project, both funded by the World Bank. In Malawi, efforts include developing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres in partnership with the EU and the British Council. These initiatives reflect UNOPS’ commitment to strengthening national capacities, enhancing service delivery, and supporting progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region.

Malawi continues to face one of the highest child marriage rates globally, with drivers rooted in  poverty, harmful social norms, limited access to services, and weak case-management  systems. The practice disproportionately affects rural and poorer households, where  multidimensional deprivation is most severe, and contributes to school dropout, adolescent  pregnancy, and intergenerational cycles of poverty. Despite national progress, the scale and  persistence of child marriage require targeted prevention responses focusing on challenging  and responding to the deep-rooted beliefs, social acceptance and empowerment of adolescent  boys and girls. Community-led system change strategy through the mobilisation of different  influential groups and individuals as a change agent is needed to accelerate the momentum  gained in ending child marriage.  

UNICEF in Partnership with Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is implementing a  five-year End Child Marriage (ECM) programme. The programme in Malawi builds on existing  government structures, aligns with the National Strategy to End Child Marriage (2024–2030),  and complements ongoing capacities across social welfare, police, judiciary, and community  based mechanisms. 

The five year ECM programme has four components: Preventions, shifting norms and mobilising communities pillar under end child marriage programme aims to create and sustain national and community-level momentum to end child marriage by  increasing political will and fostering social norm change. The community centered and rights  based approach will target decision-makers at national and community level to denounce child  marriage, development, implementation and monitoring of the by-laws, strict implementation of  the Marriage and Family Relations Act. and denouncement of other harmful  practices perpetuating inequalities for girls and boys.  

The norm-shift pillar is designed as a single, integrated package in which each intervention  complements and reinforces the other to achieve results and contribute to the number of child  marriage cases reported. Multi-pronged approach - mass sensitization, peer influence, advocacy, leadership engagement, and capacity strengthening within a single, coherent  package, ensures that interventions do not operate in isolation but instead mutually reinforce  one another for the norm-shift and access relevant services. Along with the policy influence the  interventions will simultaneously focus on creating awareness and ownership among families  and adolescents about the consequences of child marriages, risk of early cohabitation,  continuation of education, reporting mechanism, use of available health and legal  services and support for the ending child marriage community led efforts. The Social and  Behaviour Change (SBC) Specialist provides technical leadership for the norm-shifting and  community mobilization component of the ECM Programme.

Institutional Framework & Recruitment Context

This position is being filled as a Partner Personnel role. The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is supporting UNICEF Malawi as a UN partner, providing dedicated recruitment and administrative support for this position.

The selected candidate will be recruited  by UNICEF using UNOPS recruitment rules and regulations. Upon completion of the process, the incumbent will be engaged directly as personnel of UNICEF Malawi, not as UNOPS personnel. Consequently, the selected professional will work under the effective management, day-to-day oversight, and supervision of a designated supervisor within UNICEF.

The Specialist will be responsible for design and implementation of evidence based culturally appropriate, gender sensitive, community owned SBC interventions to address harmful social  and gender norms, strengthen community engagement, and promote sustainable behaviour  change to prevent child marriage. This includes working with government, civil society organisations, community leaders, and adolescents to increase awareness, strengthen reporting and service uptake, support enforcement of by-laws and legal frameworks, and build  community ownership to end child marriage.The SBC Specialist will lead evidence generation,  strengthening partner capacity, coordination, monitoring of the results and strengthening community engagement to ensure effective implementation and measurable social and  behavioural results to ECM.

Generate & Use Evidence: 

Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of end child marriage programme and link with the overall national level end child marriage strategy.

Design, Plan and Implement: 

Design, plan and implement norm shift activities for ending child marriage programme that are backed by social and behavioural data and evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms based on cultural contexts.

Advocate & Build Partnerships: 

Support operationalization of norm shift interventions for ending child marriage by mobilizing local resources, coordinating across national and community level stakeholders, sectors and teams, and building partnerships.

Build Capacities:

Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up through capacity building for government, civil society partners and other community-based structures.  

Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of end child marriage programs and outcomes to build the evidence base for SBC.

• Lead the generation and use of social and behavioural community-based evidence to inform/adjust the design, implementation, and monitoring of planned end child marriage interventions.
• Develop/adjust monitoring and measurement frameworks, including indicators, tools, and feedback mechanisms to track changes in social norms, behaviours, and service uptake.
• Support integration of SBC indicators into programme monitoring systems and national data systems where possible.
• Lead documentation of good practices, lessons learned, and evidence on what works in shifting harmful social norms and preventing child marriage.
• Facilitate dissemination of evidence and learning through reports, briefs, presentations, and knowledge-sharing platforms at district, national, and global levels.
• Build the capacity of government and partner organizations in rapid data collections, data analysis, use of behavioural insights, and evidence-based programming.
• Promote the use of community feedback and participatory monitoring to inform adaptive programming and improve accountability to affected populations.
• Contribute to evidence generation by documenting programme results, innovations, and learning related to social norms change and child marriage prevention.

Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence with strong engagement and participation mechanisms.

• Lead the design, planning, and implementation of integrated SBC interventions for ending child marriage, with a strong focus on shifting harmful social and gender norms at community and national levels.
• Ensure all norm-shifting interventions are grounded in robust data and evidence, including research findings, community insights, and programme data.
• Develop and implement community-led strategies that promote dialogue, reflection, and collective action to challenge and transform beliefs and practices that sustain child marriage.
• Facilitate meaningful engagement and participation of key stakeholders - including adolescents, parents, traditional and religious leaders, community groups, and civil society partners - as agents of change. 
• Strengthen partnerships with government, NGOs, and community-based organizations to ensure coordinated, scalable, and sustainable implementation of norm-change interventions.
• Integrate participatory approaches and community feedback mechanisms to enhance accountability, ownership, and responsiveness of programmes.
• Ensure SBC interventions are inclusive, gender-responsive, and tailored to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, particularly in high-prevalence settings.
• Support alignment of community-level interventions with national policies, legal frameworks, and advocacy efforts to accelerate progress in ending child marriage. 
• Monitor implementation quality and support adaptive management to strengthen effectiveness and achieve measurable social and behavioural change outcomes.

Support operationalization of ECM programmes by advocating and mobilizing local resources, coordinating national district and community based structures, and partnership building.

• Support the operationalization of the ECM programme by facilitating implementation of the norm-shift and community engagement components across district, and community levels.
• Advocate for ending child marriage and addressing harmful social and gender norms with government counterparts, traditional leaders, civil society, and development partners to strengthen political and community commitment.
• Coordinate with government ministries, district councils, community structures, and implementing partners to ensure harmonized planning, implementation, and monitoring of ECM interventions.
• Strengthen partnerships with civil society organizations, youth networks, women’s groups, and community-based organizations to expand outreach and community-led action.  - Develop strong data collection and monitoring framework for awareness, engagements and behaviour change data.
• Facilitate coordination platforms, review meetings, and joint planning sessions among stakeholders at national and district levels.
• Contribute to strengthening systems and structures that support prevention, reporting, referral, and response to child marriage cases.
• Support documentation, reporting, and sharing of programme progress, lessons learned, and good practices with donors, government, and partners as agreed.

Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up of ECM programmes  through capacity building for partners and UNICEF staff.

• Coordinate and develop and/or apply tools, guidelines and training materials to build capacity among country office staff, implementing partners and other relevant community-based structures.
• Develop capacity development initiatives for partners, including new approaches such as behavioural analysis, behavioural insights, human centered design, social listening, digital engagement, and social accountability mechanisms.
• Plan and implement national capacity development activities for community, women, adolescents and youth engagement and addressing harmful social norms and practices.
• Identify and mobilize local resources to support capacity development across relevant and applicable modalities.

Required

• A Master’s degree in  one of the following fields: social and behavioural science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, development communication, public relations, or another relevant field is required.
• A combination of a Bachelor's degree with an additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of the education requirements outlined above.

Required

• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant work experience at the national level in developing, implementing, monitoring and managing social and behavioural change strategies and contents is required with a bachelor's degree, OR a minimum of five (5) years of work experience at the national level in developing, implementing, monitoring and managing social and behavioural change strategies and contents is required with a master's degree. 
• Demonstrated expertise in the application of social and behavioural science, social norms programming, SBC theories, research, and analysis to all stages of programme cycles.
• Familiarity of new and emerging approaches such as behavioural insights, human centered design, social listening and gender analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in the execution of time sensitive complex priorities, processes and projects.

Desired

• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization.
• Experience managing the analysis, synthesis, documentation, and dissemination of lessons for a range of stakeholders.
• Strong organizational skills, analytical capabilities, and the ability to handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced emergency environment.

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