Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Consultant for Behavior Segmentation

Who We Are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that builds media that girls want, trust and need.

From chatbots to chat shows and TV dramas to tech, our content helps adolescent girls in Africa and Asia make choices and changes in their lives, igniting their confidence to act differently at a time that can define their future.

We create safe spaces for girls, sharing facts, and answering questions about health, nutrition, education, relationships, and so much more. To arm girls with the skills to negotiate and redefine what they are told is possible “for a girl”.

Our reach is 50 million and counting. And we’re using technology to reach girls at scale so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, health, learning and livelihood.

Because when a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, community, and country.

That’s the Girl Effect.

Background

For over a decade, we have been building technology that aims to create a safer, more accessible world for women and girls, using the insights and experiences girls share with us. Innovation for us is about using the right tech in the best way to reach girls and meet their challenges. As technology evolves and girls’ habits change, we adapt and improve the platforms, processes, and infrastructure that underpin everything we do.

Context of Assignment

Girl Effect is on a transformative journey to leverage sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to revolutionize our data-driven services for adolescent girls globally. Our recent technological advancements, particularly the award-winning chatbots Big Sis and Bol Behen, have made significant strides in providing essential information on sensitive topics securely and anonymously via popular messaging platforms.

Building on this momentum, and in alignment with our ethical deployment of Generative AI-powered digital services, we aim to further enhance our impact through a new machine learning workstream. This workstream is designed to refine our data ecosystem for deeper behavioural insights, employing AI and ML for advanced user segmentation and interaction customization based on behaviour change theories.

We are now looking for a social and behavior change communication (SBCC) expert to help us define behavioral objectives and indicators associated with our chatbots.

Requirements/Description

The SBCC Consultant will play a pivotal role in integrating social and behaviour change communication strategies into our AI and ML initiatives, ensuring that these innovations are grounded in a deep understanding of our audience’s needs and behaviours. The consultant will work in collaboration with the Girl Effect data science and SBC teams to guide the design and development of new data systems and machine learning models to ensure they are informed by and conducive to effective behaviour change strategies.

Expected commitment:

• The consultant will be expected to be available for an estimated 15 days total on an ad-hoc basis through the project time period of June 2024 to August 2024. Please indicate your estimate of how long the deliverables below will take to deliver.

Location

The consultant will be remote and must be conducive to working with teams in the UK, USA, Sub-Saharan Africa & India synchronously and asynchronously.

Tentative Timelines:

● Terms of reference published: May 3, 2024

● Deadline for responses:May 17, 2024

● Project commencement: June 2024

Specific tasks/Deliverables

• Develop a deep understanding of Girl Effect’s change objectives and behavioural change theory.
• Develop a mapping of the behavioural change model along with its drivers and stages to specific characteristics and behavioural attributes in our chatbots.
• Behavioral Mapping Framework Document: Develop a comprehensive framework that outlines how user interactions with the chatbot can be mapped against specific stages in the behavioural theory of change. This document should include a detailed methodology for identifying and categorising user behaviours, insights extraction and the application of these insights to refine the chatbot’s content and interaction flows.
• Data-Driven Behavior Change Model: Collaborate with our data scientist and internal SBC team to create a model that integrates chatbot interaction data with behavioural change theories. This model will identify key behaviour markers and predict potential shifts in user behaviour based on interaction patterns. It should be designed to evolve with ongoing data analysis and findings.

Management

The consultant will report to Girl Effect’s Senior Director of Technology. They will work closely with the Fractional CTO, Data Scientist and SBC team. The language of the materials and reports shall be English. The contract supervisor shall approve all deliverables submitted by the agency before any payment is made.

Who You Are

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Strong background in applying behavioural science and SBCC principles/theory to practice, preferably from a multi-disciplinary lens.
• Experience designing and executing international development SBCC is essential. 5 years+ of experience is desirable.
• Experience working with digital media is highly desirable or, at the very least, familiarity with digital trends and emerging evidence.
• Good understanding of gender-specific issues affecting adolescent girls and how SBC interventions can contribute to girls’ empowerment.
• Effective communicator and writer with the ability to synthesize and communicate complex theories, policies and multiple perspectives.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and experience working in a multicultural team across multiple countries, including excellent coaching, training and facilitation skills. Sensitivity to cultural differences is essential.
• Ability to be flexible within a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Commitment to realising the potential of girls and to the vision and values of Girl Effect.

Nice to have:

• Strong ability to understand and interpret data analytics, with a keen eye for deriving actionable insights from large datasets.
• Familiarity with digital platforms and technologies, especially chatbots and messaging apps, and how they can be leveraged for behaviour change communication.
• Experience conducting behavioural research or experiments in digital contexts, including the use of digital tools for data collection and analysis.

Proposal submission

Your proposal should be 5 pages max and cover the following:

• Cover letter explaining why you feel you are well-placed to advise us on this
• Credentials/Profile/CV – Please showcase any previous work that you consider relevant to what we are trying to achieve, how we approach our work, and the audience we cater to. Describe the qualifications, experience, and capabilities of the firm or consultant in providing the requested services.
• Reference- Provide at least three references for similar contracts with a description of the service provided, the value of the contract, and the contract periods of performance.
• Breakdown of Costs with applicable taxes and other charges clearly identified in USD. Consultants should provide their daily or hourly billing rate or their proposed fixed fee for the requested deliverables. Please include an estimate of how many days the deliverables will take to complete. Payment will be by deliverable.
  • All applicable taxes should be quoted separately;

In their proposal, the bidder must demonstrate an understanding of the requirements described in the RFP and demonstrate how the bidder will meet the requirements of the evaluation criteria.

GE is not liable for any cost incurred during the award/contract preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of GE.

VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for 90 days from the date of bid closure

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are listed below.

Technical Evaluation

• Showcases relevant experience in having done previous similar work with relevant agencies or organizations – 10 %
• Demonstrates familiarity with behavior science in the geographies that we operate in – 10%
• Familiarity with designing and executing international development SBCC -15%
• Evidence of a minimum of three contactable references – 10%
• Experience and Qualification, share your CV/Profile – 15%

Financial Evaluation

• Value for money/proposed budget breakdown – 30%

Equal Opportunities

Girl Effect is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity, or expression. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is truly representative of the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy services of organizations and individuals with a deep understanding and experience of our programming markets and diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.

Safeguarding

You may be required to undertake safeguarding checks. Shortlisted consultants will be assessed on our organizational values at the interview stage. The successful consultant will be expected to adhere to our safeguarding policy. We encourage you to read and understand our safeguarding policy, the executive summary of which can be found here. We have zero tolerance for all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff.

Copyright

All materials/documents arising from this consultancy work shall remain the property of Girl Effect.

Tax

Girl Effect is obliged by the relevant tax authorities to ensure all taxes are charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of their local jurisdiction tax legislation when developing their proposals.

Disclaimer

GE reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GE shall inform the ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow.

Please note: We will evaluate only proposals submitted following the application process outlined in the TOR and using our specified email address ([email protected]).