Project Manager, Community Engagement At Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

About the Role

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Project Manager, Community Engagement to provide leadership on Community Based Nutrition focused component activities specifically focusing developing targeted social behaviour change campaigns to improve infant and young child feeding, and the implementation of emotional demonstrations (emo-demos) in Western Province in the districts of Rusizi, Nyamasheke, Karongi, Rutsiro, and Nyabihu at community nutrition centers, ECD centers and tea estates.

The Project Manager will collaborate with the partner organization on the ground in the five districts, community health workers (CHWs), ECD volunteers, health workers and tea estate workers. They will also ensure maintenance of relationships with partners and stakeholders like Rwanda MOH, National Child Development Agency (NCDA), district authorities, and close collaboration with other GAIN value chain activities in the districts to ensure complementarity, and synergies to maximize impact.

The Project Manager be responsible for liaising with other key stakeholders both at the district and national level, ensuring that project output and activities are successfully implemented within approved plans, budget, timeline, and quality standards. Specifically, the position holder will attend the national nutrition technical working group under NCDA and the Nutrition and Food Security Sub Sector Working Group under MINAGRI. This will be a fixed term contract running till December 2026, subject to availability of funding and will be based Kigali, Rwanda.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Lead the design and implementation of community mobilization strategies for maternal and early childhood nutrition.
• Oversee the development and delivery of tailored Social Behaviour Change Campaigns(SBCC) using GAIN’s ‘campaign in a box’ approach to promote optimal nutrition practices, focusing on maternal and child nutrition.
• Work with GAIN’s technical programme team to contextualise and adapt the emo-demos to the Rwandan context.
• Lead participatory processes involving local stakeholders to develop SBCC campaigns and emo-demos ensuring culturally appropriate and relevant messaging.
• Design and implement activities on tea estates together with relevant stakeholders.
• Build capacity of local leaders, community health workers (CHWs), and ECD volunteers to deliver project activities.
• Establish and maintain partnerships with local government bodies, health facilities, and community organizations.
• Actively engage in multi-sectoral platforms at the district level to align project activities with local development priorities.
• Manage the project schedule, activity plan and planning milestones, supporting the tracking of progress and deliverables from the contractor.

About you

The ideal candidate should have experience delivering innovative Social Behaviour Change and non-traditional nutrition education interventions. A local understanding of community mobilization strategies for maternal and early childhood nutrition and implementation of nutrition activities targeted to women and children is required.

You should have good understanding of current food systems and nutrition trends in Rwanda and able to identify knowledge and existing practice gaps. The project manager should have excellent training and facilitation skills combined with stakeholder management experience especially NCDA, MoH and district authorities. You should be an empathetic person who is able to understand community dynamics and working with the less privileged.

An education background with a degree or equivalent in nutrition, public health, sustainable development, Early childhood development, or related field is required.

About our Offer

The starting gross salary on offer for this role is from RWF 27,062,064 – RWF 30,886,512 gross per annum, depending on experience.

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance. We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible and hybrid working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments, and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

About GAIN

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with governments, businesses and civil society, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver healthier diets for all people, especially the most vulnerable.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has offices in countries with high levels of malnutrition: Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. To support work in those countries, we have representative offices in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

At GAIN, we believe that everyone in the world should have access to nutritious, safe, and affordable food. Today, one in three people – drawn from nearly every country on the planet – are unable to consume enough nutritious food. We work to develop and deliver solutions to this daily challenge.

Our Working Culture and Environment

We provide a flexible working environment that includes a combination of home and office working opportunities through our global hybrid working policy. This encourages our staff to have a healthy work-life balance and increases staff motivation, enriches employee wellbeing, and improves performance and productivity.

All of our positions are based in one or more of GAIN’s designated offices as stated on our job advertisements. Successful candidates will be based in one of GAIN’s country offices and must have the existing right to live and work within a reasonably commutable distance of the relevant city / cities in which the role is advertised. Please note, that GAIN does not sponsor working visas and relocations.

GAIN reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment for candidates who are considered to ineligible under the above conditions during or after the recruitment process.

Applicants must have the right to work and be currently based in the advertised country location, to be eligible to apply for this position.

This advert closes on 19th February 2025. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right to close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued. We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.