Climate Sensitive Food Security & Livelihood Advisor

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children is a leading NGO working at the cutting edge of addressing major food security and livelihood challenges of the region – including climate change. We work across the spectrum of humanitarian response to development action – addressing children’s rights in an integrated way.

The Multi country Climate Sensitive Food Security & Livelihood Advisor Advisor will use their in-depth contextual understanding, technical expertise, and relationship building skills to provide a critical link between the Save the Children’s global and country level technical work, strengthening our technical offer at the regional level. The role will contribute to building capacity and fostering networks across country office technical experts. The role supports regional advocacy and influencing, and contributes to strategic partnerships for new business development. It provides input into the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across country offices, and ensuring quality of our programmes. The role provides support to the sourcing of technical assistance for country office in both emergency and development programming. This role includes a strong focus on internal coordination and external representation. Technical areas of particular focus for this role include:

• Climate sensitive food security and livelihoods programming aimed at resilience building and impacts for children, including graduation approaches
• Shock responsive child sensitive social protection and Cash and Voucher Assistance to mitigate climate and other shocks

Use of analytical tools (such as HEA) to i) understand the root causes of food insecurity, livelihood vulnerability and economic exclusion and ii) inform anticipatory action

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY :

1. Technical Leadership:

• Provide overall thought leadership for Poverty Reduction and Resilience work in West and Central Africa, including monitor food security, poverty and climate change trends and forecasts in the region, supporting countries to plan, take early action and respond with a clear plan.
• Lead the development and monitor the implementation of a Regional Climate Sensitive Food Security and Livelihood Strategy in consultation with other Technical Advisors.
• Bridge the Global-Country divide by supporting technical experts to understand and contextualise global guidance, technical standards, learning and evidence and ensure that learning from the region informs our global evidence and strategic direction
• Capacity build, mentor and build networks across Country Office technical experts in the region; identify top talents, capacity gaps and facilitate opportunities for learning
• Maintain an overview of all country offices programmes and evidence generation in FSL, Child Poverty and Livelihoods Resilience within the region and facilitate Cross-Country Office learning identify creative ways to share learning, best practices and collectively address challenges
• Supports uptake of Household Economic Analysis (HEA) by country offices working with government, donors and partners as part of building local and national FSL information systems, and to inform policies and programmes (e.g. social protection, resilience building, climate adaptation).

1. Programme Quality in Design & Implementation:

• Support Country Offices with the design, proposal development and donor engagement for key strategic programmes and opportunities; and Support Country Offices to develop concepts that can be ‘pitched’ to donors.
• Promote a Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework, that supports working in collaboration and partnership with governments, the private sector and regional bodies, working towards impact, scale and sustainability.
• Support Country Offices in their implementation and monitoring of key strategic programmes, to ensure high quality delivery, monitoring and evaluation.
• Oversee the design, implementation & monitoring of climate sensitive FSL programmes; ensure that sectoral and internal technical best practice (including Save the Children’s Common Approaches) is applied in collaboration with relevant Country Office technical colleagues
• Ensure that gender, inclusion, climate sensitivity and resilience considerations are reflected in our programme design and implementation. Promote facilitation of and design around gender and inclusion analysis for girls’ and women’s economic empowerment.
• Explore innovative opportunities and trends which could be applied and build synergies across FSL, Climate Change and social protection programming in the region and support country offices to pilot, and document new or updated tools and guidance, especially with a focus on gender equality, inclusion and resilience building.
• Work with Child Rights Governance colleagues to ensure that a rights based approach is reflected in our programme design and implementation (in line with our ), with a strong focus on child participation and in supporting those children most impacted by inequality and discrimination
• Support Emergency preparedness, recovery, and where/when possible response, including country office capability building for humanitarian response, emergency preparedness planning.
• work closely with regional CVA technical lead to scale up use of CVA as a famine response tool and across livelihood / Income generating activities

1. External Engagement:

• In collaboration with regional New Business Development, contribute to regional strategic partnerships; identify partners and donors to strengthen our Food Security and Livelihood portfolio in the region and maintain an overview of the sector at regional level.

In collaboration with Child Rights and Advocacy colleagues, influence key regional stakeholders and policy-makers to ensure they reflect the needs of children in the countries where we work. such as the Regional Food Security and Social protection Working Group and CO cluster

QUALIFICATIONS

• Master degree in economics, agriculture and food security, or equivalent experience.

Certified CaLP trainee (preferable)

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• At least 7 years’ experience of working internationally in Food Security and Livelihood with an understanding of the impacts of the climate crisis on community livelihoods and how livelihoods programmes can be adapted to promote greater resilience to climate change
• Ability to analyze national social protection systems and experience with cash “plus” and graduation approaches to maximize impact on children and community resiliency to shocks
• Proved experience with a range of climate-sensitive livelihood interventions such as community risk management fund,
• A strong understanding of nutrition-sensitive approaches, financial inclusion, market-based programming, value chains approach, youth and women economic empowerment, Household Economy Approach (HEA) and graduation/livelihoods resilience building approaches.
• Track record in successful business development/fundraising and donor engagement especially with ECHO, FCDO/DfID, USAID, WFP, DEVCO
• Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children
• Experience with Cash and Voucher Assistance tools and standards across various cash and voucher modalities (eg digital, mobile, card, paper voucher etc) including operational aspects of cash and voucher delivery

Languages

Fluent in Spoken and written French and English. French language is mandatory.

Desirable

• Significant experience in training, capacity building, and mentoring
• Experience of context, capacity and policy analysis, and influencing and advocacy at regional/ international level in order to hold duty bearers to account to realise children’s rights.
• Experience of strategy development and planning

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. Please also include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply

Applicants are advised that Save the Children International does not require any payment or expense during the entire recruitment process. Any request in this direction should be immediately reported as contrary to the values and practices of our organization.