Community Engagement Assistant, FSM WASH

The Pacific Community (SPC)·Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Office & Admin·Contract

Band 7 position in SPC's 2026 salary scale, with a starting taxable salary range of USD 32,652-40,815 per year, plus local staff benefits.·Posted 1 day ago

Overseas role, based in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

About the company

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, supporting development since 1947. It is an international development organisation owned and governed by 27 country and territory members, working across more than 25 sectors. SPC is known for its knowledge and innovation in areas such as fisheries science, public health surveillance, geoscience, and conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The Geoscience, Energy and Maritime (GEM) Division, which includes the Disaster and Community Resilience Programme, provides technical assistance and training to Pacific Island countries and territories on disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, and access to water and sanitation.

About the role

The Community Engagement Assistant (CEA), FSM WASH is responsible for planning and implementing community-level engagement, communication, awareness, and behavioural change activities under the FSM WASH project. The role ensures WASH governance reforms and policy development are informed by, and accessible to, communities across all four FSM states, with particular attention to outer island, rural, and marginalised populations. The CEA acts as the primary interface between the project and communities, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, and local champions, embedding community voice into national policy processes. The role works in collaboration with the National Capacity and Facilitation Adviser and GESI Assistant on community consultations for national policy and governance processes, and contributes to the project's monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) framework.

Key responsibilities

• Support community consultations and outreach activities across all four FSM states, with dedicated plans for outer island communities.
• Build and maintain relationships with community groups, village councils, church networks, women's groups and youth organisations across Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Kosrae.
• Assist with travel and logistics for community engagement activities, and collect and share community feedback with the project team.
• Prepare and distribute culturally appropriate communication and awareness materials, including radio programmes, print materials, social media content and audio-visual resources.
• Support WASH awareness campaigns, community events and media activities, and coordinate with national media outlets and community radio stations to disseminate WASH messages.
• Support engagement with traditional leaders and civil society organisations, assist with community meetings and stakeholder events, and support mapping of traditional leadership structures in all four states.
• Maintain accurate records of community engagement and communication activities, including consultation records disaggregated by state, sex, disability and community type.
• Document lessons learned from community engagement activities and share these with the broader project team.

About the successful candidate

• Tertiary qualification (diploma) from a recognized institution in a relevant discipline such as community development, social sciences, communications, development studies, public health, environmental studies or equivalent body of knowledge and experience.
• At least 3 years of experience in community engagement, communications or social mobilization in a development context.
• Experience working with Pacific Island communities, including outer island and rural populations.
• Experience in facilitating community consultations, focus groups and participatory planning processes.
• Experience producing multilingual or culturally adapted communication materials for low-literacy audiences.
• Understanding of GESI principles and inclusive engagement approaches.
• Fluency in English.
• Knowledge of Pacific Island countries and territories is an advantage.