Community Engagement and Mobilisation Manager at Marys Meals Zambia

Mary’s Meals Zambia is part of the global Mary’s Meals International movement which is now feeding over 1,500,000 children around the world and is focused on achieving the goal that every child receives a daily nutritious meal in their place of education. Mary’s Meals Zambia school feeding programme (SFP) is currently reaching over 189,000 children with a daily meal in 366 schools in Zambia.

Marys Meals Zambia is currently looking for one (1) energetic candidate to fill the position below;

Position: Community Engagement and Mobilisation Manager

Reporting to: Head of Programme Delivery (HoPD)

Location: Country Office, Chipata

1.1 MAIN DUTIES:

The Community Engagement and Mobilisation Manager (CEMM) will play an important role in ensuring the successful implementation of Mary’s Meals SFP expansion activities, identification of training needs and capacity building of government officers and community members on an ongoing basis. The primary purpose of the CEMM’s community sensitisation, debilitation, engagement, training and networking activities is to build a greater appreciation of the value and benefits of education and by expanding local knowledge and skills, to build increased capacity to deliver sustainable, environmentally friendly, inclusive and efficient community-owned and led SFPs, which be easily replicated and scaled up.

1.2 SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Gather, analyse and present baseline data (eg. enrolment numbers and attendance levels) needed for the delivery of Mary’s Meals SFP in new target schools
• Assess stakeholder capacity and mobilise community and school support to participate in Mary’s Meals SFP and thereby promote greater community support for basic education
• Train and lead a team of School Feeding Managers (SFMs) and School Feeding Officers (SFOs) to undertake expansion activities
• Liaise and coordinate with the MoGE at local, district and zonal level throughout the SFP expansion phase to ensure Mary’s Meals activities align with government priorities and practices and help build local institutional capacity
• Plan, convene and deliver introductory and ongoing community sensitisation and best practice training workshops with all relevant stakeholders (topics to include: fopod preparation safety and hygiene best practices, child protection, gender equity, inclusion of hard-to-reach children {those living with disabilities, HIV and AIDS}, establishing SF committees, volunteer management, stock management, data collection and environmental conservation), in order build local and national capacity to manage and deliver an effective SFP based on Mary’s Meals best practice model
• Develop effective stakeholder feedback mechanisms
• As required, plan, convene and deliver ongoing training sessions for Mary’s Meals programme staff
• Provide progress reports on a regular basis to the Head of Programme Delivery (HoPD), highlighting the need for further capacity building activities
• Develop Mary’s Meals existing training modules and prepare new ones as required
• Attend key stakeholder meetings as requested by the HoPD.

2.0 QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• BA/BSc in a relevant discipline (e.g. Social Work, Community Development, International Development, Public Health). Post graduate degree an added advantage.
• At least three (3) years post qualification work experience (preferably within the NGO sector) in community engagement and mobilisation, including the delivery of structured training and capacity building programmes.
• Previous experience in developing training manuals highly desirable.

3.0 SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Robust data collation, analysis and interpretation skills.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English
• Able to communicate well across all levels.
• Report writing.
• Strong numeracy skills.
• IT skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Excellent attention to detail.

ESSENTIAL

• Creative and innovative
• Robust capacity and needs assessment skills
• Strong community mobilization, training and coaching/ mentorship skills
• Advanced networking and partnership development skills
• Advanced data collection/ analysis skills
• Fluent written and spoken English
• Able to lead on implementation of expansion and best practice training strategy
• Good communication skills across all levels and with a wide range of different people
• Good IT & report writing skills
• Strong organisational skills
• Ability to work under pressure and meet urgent deadlines
• Possess a valid driving licence.

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