United States of America: OVC Advisor, Child Protection


Summary


The child protection team leads Save the Children’s efforts across a range of issues relating to children in adversity including programs for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and children without appropriate care (CWAC), combatting child labor and stopping violence against children. We support work across the continuum of development and humanitarian contexts.


Provide technical services and leadership for Save the Children’s work in Child Protection, focusing on OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) and children without appropriate care (CWAC) programs including the Essential Package signature program. Contribute to strategic directions and plans, and develop and maintain key external partnerships with the other SC members, donors, and others to advance and expand our work for children without appropriate care, including children affected by AIDS Maintain links with other technical team (including HIV/AIDS, education, ECD and livelihoods) to strengthen and expand the care and protection of children. Provide comprehensive technical assistance to country offices to develop, implement, improve, and evaluate child protection programs, and contribute to program learning and innovation. The position will support funding strategy development and implementation and proposal development, including leading on new business development opportunities and providing quality technical assistance to programs within the portfolio.


Essential Duties, Responsibilities and Impact


1.Global Program Strategy and Market Position (10%)**


  • Contribute to vision and goals for SC’s global Child Protection portfolio, liaising with other program colleagues, other departments, and country offices.

  • Contribute to multi-year strategic, and supporting operational, plans to achieve agency objectives and expand our reach to children.

  • Engage with the Child Protection Initiative and its working groups such as the one on Children without Appropriate Care.

  • Represent Save the Children to external audiences and networks, especially those prioritized by the department, and play key role in linking with USG opportunities.

2.Technical Leadership and Quality Programming (50%)**


  • Provide advanced technical assistance to country offices in formulating child protection-related programs and country strategies, including large scale Orphans and Vulnerable Children and systems strengthening programs focused on child protection.

  • Support Country offices in developing strategies and proposals suitable for USG and private donors, including capacity building of staff at the field level.

3.Program Learning and Innovation (15%)**


  • Support the development of signature programs, including the Essential Package within the Department along key priorities

  • Document successful approaches in OVC programs, child protection and systems strengthening

  • Monitor new developments in areas of technical specialization as prioritized by the department and seek funding opportunities to scale up best practices.

  • Identify best practices from field programs, test/evaluate/help to document them, and promote uptake more widely among partners and program community including identifying key resource.

  • Participate in efforts to secure resources and identify potential partnerships to support learning and innovation.

4.Resource Mobilization (25%)**


  • Support the development of long-term funding strategies for child protection programming priorities.

  • Establish/maintain new/existing relationships with key donors (headquarters and regional/country level) and relevant SC colleagues.

  • Contribute to agency knowledge and decision-making concerning pursuit of funding opportunities.

  • Play leadership role in development and submission of quality proposals in response to identified opportunities.

Required Background and Experience, Skills and Behaviors


Required:


  • Masters degree required in relevant field.

  • 7 – 9 years field-based technical experience in working on child protection programs in development settings, including orphans and vulnerable children programming, quality improvement, social welfare and child protection systems strengthening, early childhood development and other related fields.

  • Experience designing, implementing and evaluating child protection/OVC programs with children, youth, and families in difficult circumstances or who are without appropriate care.

  • Experience in program design, proposal development, and reporting for bilateral donors and private foundations.

  • Experience in multi-cultural training using basic principles of adult learning and developing programming guidelines.

  • Experience in identifying, supporting, implementing the transfer of ideas and approaches from one context to another and advancing innovation in the field of child protection.

  • Experience in working with communities and partners to facilitate ownership.

Preferred:


  • At least 2 years overseas project experience in a developing country context

  • Proficiency in French, Spanish, or Arabic

Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors


  • Excellent writing and communication skills in English essential.

  • Ability and willingness to travel up to 40% of time, often to complex and fragile environments.

  • Uses interpersonal styles to gain acceptance of ideas or plans, modifies behavior to accommodate tasks, situations, and individuals involved.

  • Able to give effective presentations to groups and individuals.

  • Works well with others and facilitates collaboration and trust. Ability to build/contribute to effective partnerships.

  • Able to establish course of action for self and ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

  • Actively identifies area for learning, creates and takes advantage of learning opportunities, uses newly gained skill and knowledge appropriately on the job.

  • Ability to manage a changing workload including accountability for providing costed technical support to a portfolio of awards/

  • French language skills strongly desired

Save the Children invests in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we are dedicated to ensuring every child has the best chance for success. Our pioneering programs give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Our advocacy efforts provide a voice for children who cannot speak for themselves. As the leading expert on children, we inspire and achieve lasting impact for millions of the world’s most vulnerable girls and boys. By transforming children’s lives now, we change the course of their future and ours.


Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom Save the Children is in contact. As a humanitarian agency, Save the Children is obliged to create and maintain an environment that aims to prevent the sexual exploitation and abuse of children and promote the implementation of its child safeguarding policy. All representatives of Save the Children – employees, volunteers, interns, consultants, Board members and others who work with children on Save the Children’s behalf – are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.


Save the Children provides an attractive benefits package including competitive salaries, a matching retirement plan, health and welfare benefits, life insurance, an employee assistance program, generous time off and much more. We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.





EmoticonEmoticon