Job Description

Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is an adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives. Since 2002, GRS programs have reached 18 million young people in over 60 countries with evidence-based adolescent health programs. GRS is looking to continue scaling its impact via technical assistance and partnerships over the next five years. Recognizing the need to create an ecosystem of support for young people that includes in-person program, print resources, and digital products, GRS is investing in building out its capabilities around digital health. In 2021, GRS launched its first ever Digital SKILLZ game product for adolescents xe2x80x93 and is on track to reach over 1 million young people with the game in 2023.

Role Overview

The Digital Health Specialist will be responsible for operationalizing GRSxe2x80x99s plan to bring its unique sport-based methodology for adolescent behavior change to millions of young people through digital platforms and networks across Africa. This will include leading the design, piloting, evaluation, and scale-up of 1) xe2x80x9cdirect-to-consumerxe2x80x9d digital programs for adolescent participants and 2) digital solutions that support the training and development of frontline field staff (GRS Coaches, Master Coaches, Trainers, etc.). As the organizational product manager for digital health, they will be a member of the Global Research & Development Department and provide cross-functional technical support to various GRS business units, with particularly close collaboration with GRS Impact Teams (GRS South Africa, GRS Zambia, and Global Partnerships), Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning (MEL), and Business Development. While this is a remote position, the Digital Health Specialist will be expected to regularly travel regionally in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide in-person technical support to GRS teams and implementing partners with various digital health initiatives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Digital SKILLZ products (50%)

• Lead all aspects of the product development process for interactive, direct-to-consumer adolescent health digital content and products modeled on the play-based GRS methodology and SKILLZ curricula through a range of delivery platforms (chatbots, WhatsApp, digital Interactive Voice Response games, videos, etc.)

• This includes managing backend digital health technology providers/partners.
• Lead updates of existing digital health products to reflect insights from both routine MEL data and formal research studies.
• Facilitate onboarding and training workshops for GRS teams on new products.

Digital training and development of field staff (20%):

• Lead the development, rollout, and management of new digital health solutions that support front line field staff delivering SKILLZ programs.

• This includes a new one-stop-shop Coach Development platform, which includes training videos, online courses, etc.

Digital health strategy (10%):

• Provide technical input to developing GRSxe2x80x99s new digital health strategy
• Keep track of GRS digital health dashboards, making recommendations for improved implementation and impact, and monitoring the reach of direct-to-consumer products and field staff training/development solutions.
• Lead quarterly digital health meetings, providing cross-functional updates and recommendations on digital health trends to GRS teams.
• Identify and track trends in digital health for development.

Other technical support (20%):

• Advise on select research studies and organizational learning activities related to digital health.
• Support the development of funding proposals, concept notes, presentations, and other technical materials required in fundraising efforts.
• Work closely with program and communications teams to develop digital health-related external communication materials in various formats.
• Manage internal communication and learning related to digital health, including conceptualizing and planning webinars, briefs, and newsletters.
• Remain informed on the digital health field, staying alert to developments that affect the organizationxe2x80x99s digital health programming.

Qualifications:

• 5 yearsxe2x80x99 experience in the tech sector with a strong understanding of the front and back ends of digital health solutions
• Experience working on content creation app development and digital storytelling
• Experience in adolescent health program facilitation and training preferred.
• Ability to travel regionally up to 10-20%

We are looking for individuals with the following key traits:

• Creative problem-solvers
• Data-oriented
• Flexible, team-oriented work style

Ideal candidates should also have exceptional skills in the following:

• Working knowledge of e-learning and/or digital health platforms
• Understanding of backend technology to troubleshoot product development challenges
• Managing change at an organization by building relationships with a wide range of staff and external partners, as well as operating within diverse social and cultural contexts, often virtually over multiple continents and time zones.

Benefits:

• Flexible remote schedule
• Generous Paid Time Off
• Affordable dental and vision coverage
• Significant employer health insurance contributions
• Opportunity to work on a global team and visit GRS sites
• 5 days of study leave and more!

Successful leaders at Grassroot Soccer are bold, yet humble. They are passionate about the mission of Grassroot Soccer and understand their role on the Grassroot Soccer team to achieve its mission.

Day to day, they arexe2x80xa6

• Proactive: can anticipate both opportunities and obstacles and take action
• Professional: level-headed; ability to de-escalate difficult situations, behave exceptionally, and manage/minimize distractions
• Problem Solvers: comfortable with ambiguity, can creatively unlock bottlenecks and turn problems into opportunities

xe2x80xa6they demonstrate lots ofxe2x80xa6

• Common Sense: prioritizing the right things at the right time; making good, quick, informed decisions balancing multiple issues and points of view
• Self-awareness: know where onexe2x80x99s blind spots are, recognize differences, and build a team to complement onexe2x80x99s skills and weaknesses

xe2x80xa6and a strong bias forxe2x80xa6

• Follow-through and Outcomes: deliver results, not just create lots of activity

Treating People Well: empathetic, kind, great listener, yet can make tough decisions and hold oneself/others accountable

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