Safeguarding Advisor

TITLE: Safeguarding Advisor

REPORTS TO: Team Lead, Ukraine Crisis Response and Director, Safeguarding and Protection

LOCATION: Poland

POSTION: Full-time (Immediate through end of August)

ABOUT AMERICARES

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Each year, Americares reaches more than 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states with over $600 million in innovative health programs and quality medical aid. Americares is the world’s leading non-profit provider of donated medicine and medical supplies.

Americares global health programs seek to confront crisis and create change by creating pathways to health and opportunity. We aspire to support individuals, families and their communities to realize improved health outcomes that lead to years of good health, so they can reach their full potential.

POSITION SUMMARY

In response to the Ukraine Crisis, Americares is addressing health needs of individuals and families inside Ukraine, fleeing Ukraine and host communities. Americares programming focuses on delivering medicine and medical supplies, reinforcing health services and addressing mental health and psychosocial support of affected populations.

The Safeguarding Advisor will lead safeguarding and protection-mainstreaming planning and implementation within Americares regional Ukraine Crisis response. The officer will support capacity building and compliance with Americares Safeguarding and Protection standards and will contribute to strengthening those standards locally and globally.

Responsibilities:

• Champion safeguarding policies and practices across programs and operations and with partners.
• Provide advice, support and guidance to managers and staff and partners to ensure safeguarding measures are understood and integrated into office operations, processes and programs.
• Support program teams in building partner capacity in the areas of safeguarding.
• Provide advice, support, tools, and guidance to managers and staff, and partner staff where appropriate to effectively mainstream protection throughout the program cycle, including ensuring protection sensitive, age, disability and gender disaggregated data collection.
• Provide technical support to project design, proposal development and donor compliance regarding safeguarding
• Support the team to develop, maintain and use safe referral pathways.
• Collaborate with and provide advice and support to managers and staff to develop and regularly review safeguarding and protection risk assessment and mitigation plans.
• Collaborate with Program and M&E staff to develop and manage local complaint and feedback mechanism, or work with interagency mechanisms.
• Deliver safeguarding and protection-mainstreaming training for all new personnel; regularly provide refresher training and workshops.
• Accompany staff in their work to understand potential safeguarding concerns, and opportunities for better protection mainstreaming.
• Conduct site and partner visits to support and monitor compliance and support strengthening safeguarding and protection mainstreaming practices.
• Serve as local focal point for safeguarding related issues, concerns or experiences and foster an environment where all potential misconduct is reported in a timely and confidential manner.
• With respect to safeguarding investigations, provide advice on case assessment and recommendations, and support fact-gathering, as needed based on consultation with the investigations team, provide relevant information to the Global Safeguarding Team
• Represent Americares at relevant cluster and working group meetings – including, but not limited to Protection, GBV, Child Protection; the PSEA network, AAP working group or an anti-trafficking working group. Attend other cluster and working group meetings as appropriate and needed – including MHPSS and Health

Requirements

• University degree in international development or related technical field (e.g., public health, human rights, social work, etc.)
• 5+ years of safeguarding experience or experience in a similar field such as protection, child protection, gender-based violence, ideally in humanitarian settings
• 3+ years of safeguarding investigation experience, preferred
• Excellent English and Polish – required.
• Ukrainian or Russian – strongly preferred
• Experience in protection/gender mainstreaming with a non-protection agency.
• Experience working with refugee populations in emergency settings, and coordination in refugee settings.
• Understanding of partnership and able to maintain respectful, collaborative relationships with partners.
• Experience with and good understanding of accountability to affected persons; in particular setting, up and running complaints and feedback mechanisms.
• Experienced trainer, facilitator, and mediator.
• Adaptable, collegial, and able to work independently and as part of team.
• Experience dealing with sensitive matters – highly confidential and discrete – and ability to build/maintain trust.
• Must have a high level of resilience with the ability to be impartial and remain calm and adaptable under difficult circumstances. Must be able to work quickly and efficiently under pressure.
• Must treat affected persons with respect, dignity, and uphold the highest standards of conduct in dealing with affected populations, including enabling their participation, and feedback.
• Must be able to uphold the humanitarian principles in the most challenging situations.
• Must have excellent problem – solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills.
• Good understanding of donor requirements for PSEA, protection mainstreaming, and safeguarding.

As a global health organization, we are committed to ensuring a safe environment for our staff, partners, and visitors. All Americares staff and visitors who are on-site at any of our locations or will be traveling for work are required to be fully vaccinated (which includes a booster, when eligible) against COVID-19 unless an exemption required by law is applicable.
Americares is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
To request a disability accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at [email protected].