Social Norms Expert

Job Description

Title: Social Norms Expert

Company Name: CARE Bangladesh

Vacancy: --

Age: Na

Job Location: Anywhere in Bangladesh

Salary: --

Experience:

• At least 10 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency

• Master of Development Studies (MDS)

• Master’s degree in Sociology, Social Work, Anthropology, Gender/Women’s Studies, Development Studies, or related field.

• At least 10 years
• The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s): NGO, Development Agency

• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in mainstreaming gender within development programs, particularly in skills development, employment, or social protection.

• Proven expertise in gender and youth analyses, gender program integration, and development of GESI guidelines.

• Experience in GBV prevention and response, including SEA/SH safeguarding, grievance redress, and referral mechanisms.

• Strong skills in participatory training, facilitation, and capacity building.

• Experience in designing monitoring strategies, tools, and reporting frameworks.

• Excellent analytical, documentation, and report-writing skills.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with fluency in Bangla and English.

• Proficiency in MS Office applications.

• Candidates need to be highly motivated and committed to CARE Bangladesh’s vision, mission, and long-term development work to significantly improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized people. Candidates must be capable of displaying great learning agility, support and encourage knowledge sharing across projects, for the ultimate benefit of all of CARE’s mission wide initiatives.

Project name: Economic Acceleration and Resilience for Neet Project (EARN)_SNSA

Location: Anywhere in Bangladesh

Duration: Duration of the contract will be 30 months from the date of joining.

I. Job Summary:

Who are we?

As a global leader, CARE is shaping the future of the humanitarian and development sector. Each year, we deliver support and services to millions of people in over a hundred countries. We do this by focusing on our mission and living the values that drive our organization. A career at CARE is an opportunity to be part of a movement that brings communities together to solve complex problems and foster lasting change throughout the world. We seek individuals who are passionate about humanitarian and development work, collaborate well with others, embrace learning and innovation, and deliver results.

What it’s like to work at CARE?

CARE is a mission-driven international humanitarian aid and development organization that offers an opportunity to work with people across the world. Not a day will go by that you won’t learn something profound, meet an expert, or write a sentence that can change a life. We are committed to an environment where everyone can succeed.

Bangladesh has made notable progress in social and economic development, achieving lower middle-income status in 2015 through stable macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction. Despite navigating COVID-19 with positive GDP growth, challenges remain, especially among youth. About 27% of those aged 15–29 are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), with nearly 90% being female reflecting restrictive social norms and low female labor force participation.

The EARN Project addresses these gaps by promoting economic engagement of NEET youth, particularly women in rural and semi-urban areas. It provides education, skills training, employability support, enterprise development, and incubation facilities, while also fostering family and community involvement to create an enabling environment for women. Key measures include childcare facilities, communication campaigns to challenge restrictive norms, and safeguards against SEA/SH/GBV risks.

Additionally, the project integrates climate resilience by strengthening institutional capacity and embedding climate adaptation and mitigation modules into training. Innovation funds will support climate-responsive initiatives and awareness, ensuring long-term sustainability.

As the key technical lead for the EARN Project, the Social Norms Expert will make sure that women's rights and social norms are successfully addressed in every aspect. The Expert will analyze community dynamics, cultural practices, and leadership structures that influence behaviors and project outcomes, using these insights to guide responsive program strategies. By working closely with gender, youth, and other technical teams, the position will ensure that approaches remain relevant to diverse social and cultural contexts.

Core responsibilities include developing and rolling out social norms strategies, producing training materials, conducting workshops, and strengthening the capacity of staff and partners to apply norm-shifting approaches. The Expert will also facilitate community engagement, support youth and women’s empowerment initiatives, and document lessons learned to build evidence and share good practices for wider impact.

• II. Responsibilities and Tasks: % of Time
• Responsibility #1: Lead strategies to address harmful social and gender norms and ensure inclusive project implementation 35%
• Lead the design, adaptation, and implementation of strategies to address harmful social and gender norms restricting NEET youth participation.
• Conduct assessments and studies to understand social dynamics, cultural practices, and power relations influencing project outcomes.
• Mainstream social norms approaches across all interventions, including skills training, employment pathways, entrepreneurship, childcare facilities, and community engagement.
• Provide technical guidance, tools, and mentoring support to project teams, partners, and stakeholders to strengthen their capacity on norm change.
• Facilitate participatory workshops, dialogues, and campaigns that challenge restrictive practices and promote positive behaviors.
• Foster community ownership by engaging youth, families, leaders, and influencers in promoting norm change.
• Document and share learning, success stories, case studies, and innovative practices to strengthen evidence and inform future programming.
• Collaborate with gender, youth, livelihoods, and climate experts to ensure cohesive, gender- and inclusion-responsive interventions.
• Monitor emerging trends, risks, and opportunities related to social norms, and provide adaptive recommendations.
• Support advocacy efforts by showcasing the role of social norms change in achieving inclusive development outcomes.
• Responsibility #2: Development and Capacity Building on GESI and Technical Resources 25%
• Lead the design and adaptation of training manuals, guidelines, curricula, and toolkits aligned with the EARN project’s objectives to promote gender equality, youth empowerment, and social transformation.
• Ensure all technical resources are context-specific, culturally sensitive, user-friendly, and integrate climate resilience and safeguarding principles.
• Provide ongoing mentorship and coaching to staff, implementing partners, and community facilitators on gender-transformative, youth-focused, and norm-shifting strategies.
• Design and facilitate participatory training, workshops, and learning events to strengthen capacity on gender equality, social inclusion, and behavioral change approaches in collaboration with Training Expert.
• Support planning and execution of awareness campaigns, advocacy initiatives, and commemorative events to promote positive gender and social norms.
• Regularly review and update technical resources based on monitoring, field feedback, and best practices to maintain relevance and effectiveness.
• Document and disseminate innovative tools, case studies, and learning resources to enhance organizational knowledge and scale successful approaches.
• Responsibility #3: Community Engagement and Advocacy on Social Norms 20%
• Develop and implement Social Norms (SN) plans that promote gender equality, inclusion, and community ownership for NEET youth.
• Support PMU in designing and executing SN-related communication strategies and behavior change campaigns.
• Facilitate participatory community engagement with families, peers, leaders, and institutions to increase youth and women’s participation in training, employment, and entrepreneurship.
• Strengthen partnerships with local influencers, educational institutions, and youth networks to amplify advocacy and sustain norm-shifting efforts.
• Mobilize communities, build capacity of local organizations, and support high-visibility advocacy events to promote positive gender norms, social change, and climate-sensitive awareness.
• Responsibility 4: Monitoring, Learning, and Knowledge Management 10%
• Develop and implement strategies, monitoring frameworks, supervision mechanisms, and reporting templates for SN and GESI activities.
• Develop and adapt tools and indicators to track social norms changes, measure progress, and capture both quantitative outcomes and qualitative shifts in community attitudes and behaviors.
• Produce bi-annual progress reports, provide technical support to PMU and partners, and ensure findings guide continuous improvement.
• Gather, document, and disseminate lessons, success stories, and promising practices to strengthen the project’s evidence base and inform decision-making.
• Develop and operationalize SEA/SH risk mitigation plans, Codes of Conduct, grievance redress mechanisms, and referral pathways.
• Build capacity of PMU, implementing partners, and stakeholders on SEA/SH prevention and response.
• Organize learning sessions, reflection meetings, and knowledge-sharing events to promote cross-team and partner collaboration.
• Work closely with MEL staff to align SN indicators with broader monitoring and evaluation systems and support knowledge products, donor updates, and advocacy initiatives.

General Responsibilities on Safety and Security, and Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults % 5

As part of this role, the job holder must adhere to and support CARE Bangladesh’s Safety and Security policy and systems as part of their day-to-day duties and comply with safety & security protocols and directives, including reporting. Staff must maintain situational and self–awareness and be aware of the safety – security-related consequences of their actions upon themselves, their team, and the organization.

CARE is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct, and expects staff to promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults always. CARE expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us.

All CARE staff must uphold ethical standards, following codes of conduct to prevent abuse, including sexual harassment, exploitation, and neglect. Regular monitoring ensures accountability to uphold these principles and support our mission of social justice and poverty alleviation.

III. Reporting to

Team Leader

IV. Work Location:

To be declared

• Attractive remuneration package will be offered to the deserving candidates. In addition, CARE offers Provident Fund, Gratuity, Festival Bonus, Leave Encashment, Life and Health Insurance, Working Mother Benefits and Day Care Facilities etc.