Senior Regional Advisor, Safeguarding, Child Protection and Child Participation

Job Description

Employee Contract Type:

Local – Fixed Term Employee with Imprecise Term

The role has four core areas of focus:

• Serve as a business partner to Regional Office and National offices on WVI’s Safeguarding Management Policy implementation and ensure compliance with organizations expectations for keeping all children and adults in WV programming areas safe from exploitation and abuse by WV employees and affiliates.
• Represent and lead WV the Regional Office (RO) on strategic child protection & child participation networks, engaging as ‘thought leader’ and ‘technical expert’ with priority stakeholders (e.g., Faith Leaders, UNICEF, AU, IGAD, EAC, Joining Forces, etc.).
• Provide technical support and guidance to RO and Field Offices on design, monitoring and evaluation of quality Child Protection technical programmes, and Child Protection Minimum Requirements, the Operational Requirements on Child Participation in WV Decision-Making.
• Lead and initiate Child Protection and Child Participation related initiatives to build regional collaboration (research, advocacy, and programming) and positioning, including promising programming, advocacy practices, and lessons learned (this may include the establishment of a ‘Regional Knowledge Hub’ and/or ‘Community of Practice’).

In the area of Safeguarding, the Advisor provides strong safeguarding support to Field Office (FO) Safeguarding Focal Points, as well as FO and Regional Office (RO) leaders. They actively build a culture of safeguarding within the region and empower RO and FO leaders to become safeguarding champions on and for their teams.  They provide technical guidance to FOs on all aspects of safeguarding policy implementation and ensure RO safeguarding compliance and capacity building, in alignment with WV’s Child and Adult Safeguarding Policy. They also ensure timely safeguarding incident management in alignment with World Vision policy and guidance from safeguarding leadership.

1. Safeguarding Incident Management – 20%

• Ensure FOs are oriented on Ethics Point and understand reporting requirement.
• Support and encourage Field Offices (FOs) to report L3/L2 incidents in Ethics Point.
• Support the WVI Safeguarding Unit to clarify and manage new incidents reported in Ethics Point and help setup the global incident management call.
• Participate in the global incident management calls of the FOs in their region and provide practical support and guidance including follow-up on next steps agreed during the meeting.
• Conduct regular follow up with FOs on open safeguarding cases to ensure agreed actions are completed expeditiously, including but not limited to review of investigation plans, referrals of survivor support, completion of investigation reports, and disciplinary action
• Ensure L3 incidents are ready to close within 60 days and L2s within 30 days or agree with WVI Safeguarding Unit if more time is needed – highlight any concerns while supporting FOs on follow-up.

2. Child and Adult Safeguarding Policy Implementation – 20%

• Provide technical guidance and referrals on all aspects of the Child and Adult Safeguarding Policy Implementation Guidelines (i.e., policy contextualization, development of Safeguarding Incident Preparedness Plans, exemptions to background checks, etc.)
• Support preparation of the FO Action Plan after the Safeguarding Update Report process, addressing key areas of weakness and prominent safeguarding risk and submit FO/RO Action Plans to WVI Safeguarding Unit when prepared.
• Monitor progress made on community-based feedback and complaints mechanisms including the development of awareness-raising materials that inform children and communities about the behavior they can expect from WV employees or affiliates.
• Support Audit processes, including providing reports, action plans, and input.
• Engage governments & faith communities to develop and implement supportive structures and systems in Child protection and participation.

3. Safeguarding Programming Support – 20%

• Provide technical advisory support and guidance to RO and Field Offices on current and emerging child protection and child participation programming.
• Deepen and scale up quality child protection programming and advocacy efforts in WV operation areas. Act as Business Partner and Technical Leader to build the capacity and positioning of Field Offices.
• Provide technical guidance in the quality design and implementation of child protection interventions in alignment with WV’s global strategy, contextual field realities and promising global/regional/national promising practices, including CPHA.
• Provide guidance, capacity building and technical support to FOs in their implementation of the Child Protection Minimum Requirements and Operational Requirements for Child Participation in Decision Making.
• Champion innovative and effective responses to the growing needs of most vulnerable children and adolescents in the region.
• Support FOs in the establishment of community level accountability safeguarding, Child Protection and accountability mechanism across all WV programming.

4. Safeguarding Self-Assessment (Update Report) – 10%

• Support FOs to understand and properly complete their annual safeguarding self-assessment (i.e. Safeguarding Update Report) including orientation to the questionnaire, one-on-one support as needed, reviewing and working with every FO to correct update report inaccuracies before GC submission, and following-up on scores with the FO
• Lead a working group to complete the annual safeguarding self-assessment for the Regional Office and collect associated documents, which will form part of the RO’s Safeguarding Action Plan
• Lead the working group to develop a Safeguarding Action Plan for the RO based on results and feedback from the Safeguarding Update Report process; follow up with senior leadership on progress on the RO Action Plan.

5. Represent and Lead WV Regional Office (RO) on strategic Child Protection and Participation networks, engaging as ‘thought leader’ and ‘technical expert’ with priority stakeholders. – 10%

• Develop and nurture strategic partnerships with regional Child Protection and Child Participation coalitions, networks, and other Civil Society Organisations to raise the voice of most vulnerable children.
• Spearhead the development of a regional Child Protection and Child Participation Strategy roadmap.
• Lead child protection and meaningful child participation dialogue, external engagement and strategic positioning.

6. Lead and initiate child protection and child participation related initiatives to build regional collaboration – 10%(research, advocacy, programming) and positioning, including promising practices, and lessons learned (this may include the establishment of a ‘Regional Knowledge Hub’ and/or ‘Community of Practice’)

• Lead Child Protection and /or Child Participation learning and generation of promising practices, establishing systems and processes, and effective knowledge management across the Region.
• Support Advocacy and Grants team in developing Child Protection and/or Child Participation donor engagement products.
• Improve the evidence base on Child Protection and Child Participation in the Region through innovative research, data utilization, and thought leadership.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders to stay abreast and engage on new and emerging issues and opportunities in the CPP sector

7. Safeguarding Culture Building and Leadership – 5%

• Actively support building a culture of safeguarding, where staff are informed and empowered to discuss key issues, report, and take action on safeguarding violations
• Present to Regional and FO Senior Leaders on safeguarding compliance gaps, incident trends, and emerging risk when necessary
• Regularly (at least quarterly) interface with Regional Risk Primes, in order to build common understanding of safeguarding risks, and to support the region to pursue holistic risk management
• Build collaborative working relationships with FO Safeguarding Focal Points and other relevant staff in Field Offices
• Ensure FO have a culture that reflects our Christian ethos, to support child protection.

8. Safeguarding Capacity Building – 5%

• Ensure safeguarding capacity building has been coordinated for RO staff and affiliates (e-Campus basic safeguarding course – can be delivered online or through face-to-face)
• Orient new FO Safeguarding Focal Points on safeguarding policies and protocols, including incident management process, and provide ongoing coaching, as needed.
• Orient new regional staff through face to face or virtual meetings
•  Support build FO capacity of staff and partners on Channels of Hope for Child Protection.

Knowledge/Requirements for the Role

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in social work, Community/international development, Legal, or Child Rights-related field, or field/practical experience working with situations of policy formation, guidance and implementation on Child protection and Child rights issues
• 5 years of project management experience in an international NGO; +2 years’ experience in overseeing child protection, PSEA, GBV, or safeguarding work.
• Direct programming or management experience in child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), gender-based violence (GBV), child marriage, child labour, conflict-affected programming and/or safeguarding.  Strong technical expertise in meaningful child participation including methods such as child-led research, child-led mobilization, networking, and intergenerational dialogue Experience.
• Strong relationship building/network capacity, excellent communication skills, spiritual maturity in Christian faith, ability to influence, innovative, and proactive personality.
• Highly developed external engagement and networking skills
• Strong project management skills, including experience with research and development of programming models
• Excellent writing skills as shown through technical documents, thought pieces, and proposals
• Demonstrated willingness to be flexible and versatile in a changing work environment while maintaining effectiveness and efficiency
• Ability to motivate and develop staff
• Experience leading a task force or community of practice or learning
• Understanding of safeguarding risks and challenges (child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse)
• Strong understanding of global strategies and frameworks to end violence against children.
• Knowledge on legal international conventions related to child protection.
• Strong negotiation, collaboration, networking, liaison, and donor engagement skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency using Excel, Microsoft Suite of products, databases and statistical packages.
• Consistently demonstrates high-level influence and strategic engagement skills and tactical savvy in delivery of technical assistance.
• Ability to think broadly and look at the macro, strategic issues to inform strategy choices and management pre-critical thinking skills to relate to work performed to broader business context.

Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement: 30% travel

Physical Requirements: On site

Language Requirements: Excellent English skills, basic French is an added advantage ​

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only