UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.
At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.
For every child, the right to health,
Social and Behaviour Change in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, their values, the socio-cultural norms and the economic and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change. SBC brings social and behavioral evidence generation together with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around behaviors like immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline, as well as transformations across sectors needed to make societies more inclusive, equitable and peaceful.
UNICEF SBC employs a mix of approaches including risk communication and community engagement, strategic communication, applied behavioral science, service delivery improvement, systems strengthening, social mobilization and policy advocacy to advance child rights, survival, development, protection and participation. UNICEF Cameroon operates in a complex and evolving humanitarian landscape marked by conflict, epidemics, forced displacement, and climate shocks. To deliver on its Core Commitments for Children (CCCs), the office has prioritized the integration of behaviorally-informed, community-driven responses across emergency and epidemic preparedness and response programs. Strengthening Social and Behavior Change (SBC), including Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), is central to ensuring inclusive, adaptive, and context-specific interventions. The country’s polio eradication efforts further demand a robust and coordinated SBC approach that engages communities, counters misinformation, and drives vaccine uptake.
The position is based in the Cameroon Country Office and supports both central and field-level operations. The incumbent will lead the SBC emergency portfolio with a strong focus on institutionalizing AAP as a core pillar of humanitarian response. This includes providing technical and strategic guidance to national and subnational teams, ensuring that community voices and behavioral insights inform all stages of program design, delivery, and adaptation. The role fosters strong cross-sectoral collaboration and leverages partnerships with social science actors, academic institutions, and frontline responders to enhance trust, accountability, and community ownership across UNICEF’s development, emergency, and public health programming.
How can you make a difference?
Under the supervision of the Chief of SBC, the SBC Specialist for Emergency RCCE, AAP, and Polio will provide technical leadership and coordination to ensure the design, implementation, and monitoring of timely and community-driven behavior change strategies across emergencies. He/She will also coordination RCCE preparedness and response by helping to strengthen and sustain national RCCE interventions, processes, and capacities with specific focus on participatory community engagement and mainstreaming of AAP principles and processes.
The role supports the institutionalization of AAP and feedback systems into national governance structures and supports multi-sectoral preparedness and response plans through robust integration of community insights. The Specialist will promote evidence-based decision-making by drawing on a range of community-level data sources—including community feedback systems, social listening, rumor tracking, monitoring data, and operational social science research.
The Specialist also leads SBC contributions to the Polio Eradication Initiative, reinforcing microplanning, vaccine confidence, and cross-border coordination. This position further supports systems strengthening through costed SBC planning, disaggregated data use, and participatory budgeting processes with government and civil society.
Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:
- Advisory, Technical guidance and support
- Capacity-Building
- Partnership
- Coordination
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: ToR_P3 SBC Specialist.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social and Behavior Change, Communication for Development, Public Health, Epidemiology, or a closely related field. Specialized training or certification in emergency communication, risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), humanitarian coordination, or health promotion is a strong asset.
- Work Experience: A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in Social and Behavior Change programming, with a strong focus on emergency contexts—including public health emergencies, complex humanitarian crises, or disease outbreaks.
- Language Requirements: Fluency in French and good knowledge of English is required. Knowledge of a local language spoken in Cameroon is an asset.
Desirables:
- Demonstrated experience in designing, implementing, and coordinating RCCE strategies, AAP mechanisms, and/or community engagement components of immunization campaigns, particularly polio eradication efforts.
- Proven ability to manage community feedback systems, lead rumor management strategies, and apply real-time social data and behavioral insights to shape response planning.
- Solid experience in working with government structures, inter-agency coordination platforms, and subnational emergency response mechanisms.
- Track record of building and maintaining partnerships with civil society, media, frontline responders, and local actors to drive behavior change in high-risk and fragile settings.
- Experience in training and mentoring field staff, community networks, and partners on participatory communication approaches, AAP principles, and SBC tools in emergencies.
- Prior experience working with UNICEF or other UN agencies, INGOs, or emergency coordination mechanisms (e.g. RCCE Pillar, AAP Task Teams, Health Clusters) is a strong advantage.
- Strong analytical and communication skills, including the ability to produce high-quality strategic documents, social listening reports, and presentations for a range of stakeholders.
- Excellent interpersonal, facilitation, and negotiation skills, with a demonstrated ability to navigate complex coordination processes and foster collaborative environments.
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others
[add the 8th competency (Nurtures, leads and manages people) for a supervisory role].
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.
UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.
Remarks:
As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.
UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable female are encouraged to apply.
Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.
All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.
Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.
This position is no longer open.
