Senior Communications Advisor – DHS Program

This position serves full time as aSr. Program Officer IIfor the Demographic and Health Surveys Program (DHS) based at the ICF office in Rockville, Maryland. The Sr. Program Officer II will manage and lead all aspects of increasing access to and use of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data to improve public health program planning among governmental and non-governmental organizations. The role is responsible for serving on The DHS Program senior management team, meeting regularly with USAID, and helping prepare annual management and reporting documents.

The Sr. Program Officer II oversees technical, programmatic, and administrative aspects of one or more large-scale programs and leads the development and implementation of programs independently. This person will also mentor staff and oversee teams, travel internationally to lead short-term technical assistance (STTA) in the areas of communication, dissemination and data use, and will oversee STTA trips of junior staff. They will lead technical work and center-wide initiatives independently and will lead proposal development and lead strategic partnership development and donor cultivation. This person will also lead and oversee high-level strategy design and implementation and proposal development.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

Program Management

• Design and manage the overall communication and data use strategy and activities for The DHS Program (2 of 5 project result areas).
• Serve as a member of The DHS Program senior management team working closely with project director and deputy director.
• Oversee annual core dissemination work plans and budgets.
• Develop national dissemination work plans, budgets, and subcontracts with host-country partner agencies conducting surveys and other groups in collaboration with USAID missions.
• Supervise activities of at least three DHS dissemination/communication specialists.
• Provide in country and virtual technical assistance and build capacity among survey implementing agencies and other groups to apply data to improve programs and policies. Represent ICF and JHUCCP and serve as liaison with key stakeholders, USAID, WHO, UNAIDS, the CA community and other organizations to collect and exchange best practices in the use of DHS/other data for program planning and implementation.
• Lead the preparation of annual reporting to USAID including the Award Fee Report, and Results Reporting, and support data collection and reporting of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plan.
• As needed, prepare dissemination materials including survey key findings reports, fact sheets, PowerPoint presentations, and policy briefs.
• Advise survey managers and the publications team on final report writing and production, particularly including data visualization, branding, and user-friendly language.

Technical Management

• Oversee high level strategy design and implementation independently.
• Lead and build staff capacity in technical work, including creation of product templates, curricula, strategies, toolkits, and all communication materials at the project and individual country level.
• Oversee the web and mobile communication and dissemination activities at The DHS Program including the website, STATcompiler, social media, blog, and User Forum. Provide strategic leadership, supervise development of new features, approve content, and manage activity budgets.
• Working closely with other project leadership, generate and envision new activities, ideas, frameworks, and strategies that further high-level goals within the dissemination team, and more broadly, at The DHS Program.
• Use, develop, and model tools, processes, best-practices and colleague review to ensure all products and documents are of the highest quality possible
• In collaboration with survey managers, analysis, and capacity strengthening teams at DHS, develop new tools to better disseminate DHS results and increase their use worldwide; and develop systems to better monitor and evaluate our reach
• Supervise/oversee STTA of junior staff independently
• Lead in-country STTA, including trainings, workshops, and program support through technical assistance to survey implementing agencies and other key stakeholders (MOH, USAID, other donors), independently
• Demonstrate technical expertise in relevant technical areas (i.e., knowledge management, data use, adult learning, topical demographic and health areas, etc.) and build capacity in others

People Management

• Design and manage effective team structure to meet program goals
• Supervise, coach, and mentor staff independently

Professional and Organizational Growth

• Initiate and lead DHS-wide initiatives, independently
• May include brown bags, communities of practice, etc.

Minimum Qualifications (Mandatory):

• Master’s degree in communication, public health or other relevant area.
• 6 years of related experience in managing communication and dissemination programs.
• On-the-ground experience in multiple developing countries, particularly in Africa.
• Experience in developing proposals, project budgets, and work plans.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Strong understanding of demographic and/or health survey data and basic statistics, and ability to communicate about these topics to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Working knowledge in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop), Excel, Word, and familiarity with social media platforms.
• Additional relevant experience and/or training may substitute for some education, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula

Special Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Fluency in English and proficiency in either French, Spanish, Portuguese preferred
• Knowledge of website content management systems and data visualization tools and best practices a plus

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to travel overseas up to 30% of time.

Classified Title: Sr. Program Officer II
Working Title: Senior Communications Advisor - DHS Program
Role/Level/Range: ACRP/04/MG
Starting Salary Range: $82,325 - $113,185 annually (commensurate with experience)
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: M-F, 8:30-5
Exempt Status: Exempt
Location: JH at 111 Market Place
Department name: ​​​​​​​Ctr for Communication Programs CCP
Personnel area: School of Public Health

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check.

If you are interested in applying for employment with The Johns Hopkins University and require special assistance or accommodation during any part of the pre-employment process, please contact the HR Business Services Office atjhurecruitment@jhu.edu. For TTY users, call via Maryland Relay or dial 711.

The following additional provisions may apply depending on which campus you will work. Your recruiter will advise accordingly.

During the Influenza ("the flu") season, as a condition of employment, The Johns Hopkins Institutions require all employees who provide ongoing services to patients or work in patient care or clinical care areas to have an annual influenza vaccination or possess an approved medical or religious exception. Failure to meet this requirement may result in termination of employment.

The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas, laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving community contact requires documentation of immune status against Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella (chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization documentation from their own health care providers. Any vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost in our Occupational Health office.

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