Regional Risk Communications and Community Engagement Advisor, TDDAP2

Regional Risk Communications and Community Engagement Advisor, Tackling Deadly
Diseases in Africa Programme 2 (TDDAP2)

About
Palladium:

Palladium
is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on
the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health,
water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and
transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges;
and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a
workforce of 2,100 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions,
races, languages, and gender identities.

Palladium is part of GISI's Consulting Group, which aims to create solutions for the world's most complex challenges. With annual revenues of $14 billion, GISI's approximately 15,000 employees are engaged in projects across 100 countries worldwide providing construction, program/project management, and engineering consulting services.

This
Opportunity:

In
September 2024 Palladium was awarded the Tackling Deadly Diseases in Africa
Programme Phase 2 (TDDAP2) programme National and Community Technical
Assistance Component contract, TDDAP2, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office (FCDO), will enhance health security across Africa,
building upon African successes. The programme will contribute to the reduction
of illness and death from infectious disease threats in African populations and
globally, with a particular focus on women and girls.

The
Palladium-led National and Community TA Component of TDDAP2 is providing
long-term technical assistance to DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda to
ensure that national and community systems are better prepared and able to
timely prevent, detect and respond to public health threats and outbreaks. It
supports national capacity building to implement National Action Plans for
Health Security priorities within the context of a multisectoral One Health,
climate-informed approach that ensures gender equity and social inclusion at
national and community levels. Palladium's contract for the TDDAP2 National and
Community TA Component commenced in September 2024 with a four-month inception,
and following a 36-month implementation, expects to close-out in 2028.

Palladium is in search of a Regional Risk
Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Advisor who will be
responsible for providing overall strategic technical leadership and oversight
in the implementation of the Community Engagement Component (Component 4) of
the TDDAP2 National and Community TA programme. The focus will be on
strengthening community engagement and participation on prevention; detection;
and response to emerging infectious disease threats and health emergencies.
Effective Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is essential to
the success of public health emergency preparedness and response because it
builds trust, ensures dissemination of accurate information, promotes early
disease detection and promotes preventative health behaviours.

Please note that this is a full-time, one year fixed term role, with
the possibility of an extension.

Location:

The position will be based in one of the TDDAP2 National & Community Component programme countries: Kinshasa, DRC, Accra, Ghana, Nairobi, Kenya, Lilongwe, Malawi or Kampala, Uganda and will be a hybrid working schedule. Only candidates with current working rights in one of these countries will be considered. Visa sponsorship will not be considered.

Reporting Lines:

• The Regional RCCE Advisor will report directly to the Team Leader
• The Regional RCCE Advisor will provide technical support and mentoring to the programme team and partners and will provide quality assurance of the work of national RCCE TA providers

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership and stewardship of design and implementation of Palladium's strategy for the Community Component of the TDDAP2 National and Community TA programme, including accountability for quality delivery of activities and results under Output 4.
• Develop tools and processes for identifying, engaging community groups and civil society organisations in TDDAP2 countries and building their capacity to implement best practice strategies in outbreak and health emergency prevention, detection, and response
• Provide regular support and quality assurance to Country Leads and national RCCE experts in the design, implementation and monitoring of RCCE activities.
• Organise and lead the related Output 4 strategic direction, project work plan development and implementation focusing on evidence-based community-based surveillance, risk communication, community engagement and other innovative approaches to enhance community engagement and participation
• Bring technical expertise in the following technical areas:
  • Risk Communication: Providing technical leadership in developing and delivering timely, accurate, and actionable health messages during outbreaks, ensuring alignment with needs of marginalised populations
  • Community Engagement: Leading the implementation of inclusive, participatory approaches that empower communities to co-create solutions, provide actionable feedback loops and strengthen trust in health systems
  • Infodemic Management: Leading the monitoring and analysis of rumours, misinformation, and public sentiment across media and community channels to inform response strategy
  • Health Advocacy: Leading health advocacy efforts to influence policy and sustain long-term domestic health investments, especially in under-resourced settings
  • Community-Based Surveillance: Leading community-based surveillance to enable early detection of health threats and timely linkage between communities and formal health systems
  • Capacity Strengthening: Designing and delivering adult learning programmes that build RCCE competencies, leveraging digital tools and innovative methodologies to ensure sustainable local capacity

• Provide mentoring and technical support to national RCCE consultants to ensure harmonised and high-quality implementation across the portfolio
• Provide thought leadership on RCCE by guiding country teams, synthesising lessons learned, documenting success stories and innovations, and promoting cross-country learning through regional forums, conferences, and strategic dissemination effort

Essential Criteria:

• Advanced degree in public health, communication, social/behavioural sciences, international development, or a related field
• At least 8-10 years of relevant experience in risk communication and community engagement, preferably in outbreak preparedness and response settings in Africa
• Demonstrated expertise in designing, implementing, and evaluating RCCE strategies in complex, multi-stakeholder environments
• Proven experience with RCCE frameworks, including at least one of the following: WHO RCCE Competency Framework, UNICEF People-Centred Approaches, IFRC CEA Framework, CDC CERC Framework, Africa CDC RCCE tools
• Excellent mentoring and coaching skills, with a demonstrated ability to support staff in a matrixed supervision structure across different countries
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with experience in documenting success stories, contributing to technical reports, and presenting at regional or global forums
• Cultural competence and sensitivity, with experience working across diverse linguistic, ethnic, and socio-political contexts in Africa
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities, while ensuring high-quality, harmonised technical support across countries
• Fluency in English required; proficiency in French is a strong asset
  
  

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion
into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and
actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success, and good
practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our
workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair
treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These
include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender
identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability,
nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a
disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please
email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we
will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding

We dene Safeguarding as "the preventative action taken by Palladium to
protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm". We are
committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with
Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful
candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including
safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.