Department: Acopian Center for the Environment (ACE)

Contract type: Service contract

Job location: Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia

Application deadline: 03/01/2026

Project name: Waste Policy Armenia 

End Date: June, 2026  

Program background

Waste Policy Armenia is a 4-year Program aimed at improving Armenia’s waste management sector capacity to implement more environmentally sound waste management practices through:

Component 1. Providing technical assistance to the RA Government in developing and adopting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation for several specific waste streams in line with EU Waste legislation and best practices;

Component 2. Providing technical assistance to the RA Government in developing a national model on waste source separation and introducing it as a system in the town of Sevan and other pilot municipality; 

Component 3. Building sector capacities to implement Component 1 and Component 2, as well as to scale up the achieved results. 

The Program supports the implementation of several provisions set in the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between the EU and RA, as well as several provisions regarding “Waste management strategy and its implementation action plan” of the RA Government Program for 2021-2026.

The Program’s principal partners and beneficiaries are the RA Ministry of Environment (MoE), RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI), Sevan Municipality and other municipalities to be selected from Kotayk or Gegharkunik provinces.

Objective

To secure strong public participation and high purity rates of the source-separated waste system launched in Sevan on 26 July 2025, the assignment will conduct a rapid behavioral diagnosis to identify key barriers and drivers influencing household sorting practices, with particular attention to contamination and incorrect separation.

In parallel, the assignment will support the WPA team in testing and refining solid waste management and EPR-related public communication messages to enhance clarity, understanding, acceptance, and awareness, providing critical input for effective EPR-focused focus group discussions.

Scope of work

Under the supervision of the WPA Program team, the Behavioural Expert will be responsible for the following tasks:

Sevan waste source separation (WSS) related messaging and behavior change

• Support the WPA team in conducting a rapid behavioral diagnosis of waste source separation (WSS) practices in Sevan to identify key behavioral barriers, motivators, and contextual factors contributing to contamination and incorrect sorting (may include: desk review, focus visits, short surveys)
• Provide technical guidance to the WPA team on the design and implementation of an intervention that supports sustainable behavior change in Sevan WSS
• Advise on and co-develop practical, low-cost behavioral interventions (e.g. targeted messaging, nudges, visual cues, and prompts) tailored to the Sevan context to improve WSS performance and participation
• Support the assessment of results and contribute analytical input to the preparation of the report to be made available publicly
• Travel to the town of Sevan for field visits, when necessary
• Contribute the WPA team to design and deliver two half-day capacity-building workshops and provide hands-on coaching to Sevan Municipality staff, the Sevan youth eco-club NGO, and regional waste operator crews
• Contribute to documenting lessons learned and developing actionable recommendations for extension to other municipalities

EPR-related messaging and attitude change

• Support the WPA team in testing and/or assessing public understanding, perceptions, and attitudes related to solid waste management (SWM) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
• Support the WPA team in testing, refining, and validating SWM and EPR-related public communication messages, to improve clarity, comprehension, public acceptance, and overall awareness
• Contribute in pilot testing of selected behavioral interventions in close coordination with the WPA team, municipal authorities, and relevant local partners
• Support the WPA team with additional data collection tasks related to behavioral assessment and intervention testing

Deliverable

• Behavioural Assessment Note, that may include
• Analysis methodology and intervention design (for both interventions)
• Report on collected data and analysis
• Report on findings from message testing and identified interventions (Sevan component)
• Report on findings from message testing and identified interventions (EPR component).

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in behavioral science, behavioural economics, social psychology, sociology, public policy, or related field
• Minimum three years’ applied experience in applying behavioral insights or behavioral change approaches to environmental, waste management, or public service contexts
• Proven experience in conducting rapid behavioral diagnostics, field research, surveys, focus group discussions, and/or observational studies
• Experience in designing, testing, and evaluating low-cost behavioral interventions (e.g. nudges, messaging, visual cues, etc.) in real-world settings
• Analytical and reporting skills, with the ability to translate behavioral findings into practical, actionable recommendations
• Strong facilitation and training skills
• Strong communication skills in Armenian; working knowledge of English is required

Additional Information

Please submit your resume and cover letter via our platform. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

AUA is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to an active non-discrimination  program within the institution.

---