Senior Child Protection Manager

Senior Child Protection Manager (Ops)

ROLE PURPOSE:

In the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, up to 6 million children trapped inside Ukraine are in imminent danger as an increasing number of hospitals and schools come under attack. At least 464 schools and 43 hospitals have been damaged. At least one in five children in Ukraine – or more than 1.5 million – to flee the country. Children who remain with or without families in Ukraine, with many believed to be sheltering inside buildings are also vulnerable to injury or death, as well as to deprivation of food, clean water and health care. As the traditional protective structures, both for formal and informal, are rapidly diminishing, individual Case Management is increasingly emerging the service in demand to protect the vulnerable children in Ukraine. Children have been witnessing the destruction, violence, death and injury of the family, friends and neighbours, which leaves invisible scar and injury inside the heart leading to mental distress. Save the Children is rapidly scaling up a mult-sectoral response, which child protection being a priority in terms of needs and the SCI mandate. Save the Children is co-lead of the UASC / Alternative Care Task Force and working closely with the Child Protection AOR to coordinate and deliver for children. As the war is continuing, retsricting access to the affected areas, a systamatic assessment has not yet been possible. Save the Children navigates the complex access dynamics, working in partnership with local civil society while also exploring options for standing up direct implementation.

The Sr. Child Protection Manager is the lead operational role within the response. As such the role holder will lead and line manage the CP operational team, currently comprised of 1 CP manager, 1 CP Program Assistant, 3 CP Coordinators, 3 Case Management Officers,3 PSS Officers and 3 CP assistants . Overall the Sr, CP Manager is responsible for the operational management of the Child Protection response to the crisis with high quality and standards. S/he will provide operational oversight on child protection-related assessments, programme design, implementation and coordination with stakeholders. S/he will oversee the monitoring & evaluation of child protection response activities.

The role entails working through a shock resilient system strengthening lens, as such to build Save the Children and partners’ capacity, including those of GoUkraine Line Ministries. In coordination with thematic advisors and PDQ, the role holder will plan, execute, and finalize projects according to strict deadline and within budget. This includes acquiring recourses and coordinating the efforts of team members in order to deliver projects. S/he will advise senior project staff concerning relevant issues associated with the progress of the project in order to facilitate any necessary changes in programming in order to meet targets in the timeframe projects as best as possible. A crucial aspect of his/her role will be to strengthen the thematic and operational capacity of the CP Manager and other operational team members in coordination with PDQ and CP TAs.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Plan, Design and Implement program, organisation’s strategy and the general CP sector plan

• Take leadership in developing, initiating, refining, supporting and monitoring the overall CP response strategy, and implementation aiming to attain the response objective and goal.
• Ensure effective and efficient planning and implementation of the program as per set goals by involving, technical advisors and PDQ.
• Provide leadership and guidance for child protection Program staff in all aspects of the program development and management in compliance with SCI SOP including the HCP, IHL, IRL, Minimum Standard of Child Protection and other national and international legal framework and standard;
• For the approved funds and grants, develop implementation plans for field teams and partner organizations; develop monthly, quarterly and annual programme plans and high quality reports of child protection are delivered in accordance with SCI guidelines and donor requirements.
• Contribute, as appropriate on policy discourses, practice and strategy and regularly review the Response Strategy, alignment with the strategic planning tools, delivery of the quality of country programming.
• Promote SC’s values of accountability, ambition, creativity, integrity and collaboration through personal role modelling and capacity building with the program team.

Provide Technical thematic expertise

• Provide overall thematic technical expertise and back-stopping to the field teams / Implementing Partners
• Provide leadership of the program that identifies, prevent and respond to potential harm to children by strengthened role of family, community and children as well as the intensified and newly emerged harms paused by the crisis.
• Take necessary action in devising, implementing, reviewing and regularly updating the Child Protection Response Strategy that includes the ways of integrating and resourcing child development into core activities across child protection program.
• Support the Sr. CP Advisor in the development of appropriate tools which recognize vulnerabilities of children in varied levels and contexts, recognize the resilience of children and community in mitigating risks attached to children.
• Lead responses required addressing special protection and prevention needs of the most vulnerable children categories.
• Make frequent visit to project sites to provide technical and managerial guidance/support and identify issues that need timely action and support at different levels.

Administrative and budget management of child protection:

• Take full responsibility of the respective budgets preparation as per the guidance of Finance and NBD team and closely monitor monthly financial balance for each project, making sure quarterly budget variance remains within tolerance level.
• Ensure the effective and efficient use of all Save the Children resources; work with finance staff to put in place accounting and financial systems in accordance with SCI policies for effective control of sub-grants, assets, funds, commodities, equipment and property.
• Act as signatory to spending for the project, responsible for countersigning the cheques and expenses of the project as per prescribed limit.
• Analyse resource gaps and take proactive actions to collect and analysis of information; conceptualize and fully participate in proposal development.

Partnership and networking

• Undertake the initial partner capacity assessment, develop and resource partner capacity building plan.
• Make sure program staff and partners have clear expectations and understanding of the project concept, goal, objectives, measurement indicators, outcome and impact; provide technical support and coaching as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly.
• Monitor and regularly review partner progress against the budget and work plan, and support partners to alter activities/strategies in light of context changes or operational challenges.
• Review partner narrative and financial reporting including Monitoring and Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) data, in line with Country Office internal deadlines.
• Ensure implementing partner’s staff complies with Save the Children’s policies including Child Safeguarding Policy
• Supervise and build strong teamwork, create positive atmosphere among staff and partners to understand a broader picture of SCI vision, mission, values and principles including SOP.

Analyse the contexts in which international humanitarian projects are conducted

• Support the development of child protection response plans, master budgets and contribute to the overall response strategy.
• Initiate programming for affected children and communities in the areas of needs based on assessments.
• When required, with support from the Human Resources team, identify technical staffing needs for emergency programmes, and support rapid recruitment, induction and training of new staff
• Identify programme supplies needs and coordinate with the logistics team to put in place a sensible phased procurement plan.
• Maintain close coordination with other sectors responding to the emergencies to insure child protection needs are recognized and mainstreamed.

Strengthen coordination and external communication

• When possible conduct provide operational oversight to the Sr. CP Advisor and PDQ to conduct the child protection assessments using standard tools for instance the Inter-agency Child Protection Assessment Resource Toolkit. Coordinate with other SC thematic areas and/or the Child Protection AoR or external sector agencies in conducting Child Protection Assessment ensuring assessment findings are documented, shared and that all assessments include a disaggregated analysis of children’s needs.
• Establish, maintain and improve active and regular working relationships with relevant Ukrainian authorities, partner agencies and communities.
• Maintain good communication and relationship with the existing & new donors
• Represent SC before the Government and its departments, partner organisations, donors and the public, as well as within the wider organisation, as appropriate for experience sharing and learning.
• Ensure maximize use of local resources and mobilize participation of community, government authorities, existing structure and NGOs in the areas.
• Maintain high quality of services and avoid duplication and dependency to children and stakeholders.

Programme Quality

• Maintain high level of accountability in all actions. Ensure that program implementation is responsive to communities and children, in line with SC’s principles, values and strategic plan and compliant with SC’s procedures.
• Set up effective and standard accountability mechanism through which children and community freely and safely provides and feedback about the program, including a functional complain mechanism.
• Actively coordinate with the Knowledge Development section to ensure that appropriate impact assessment mechanisms and tools are being implemented within child protection component, and ongoing programme learning feeds into alterations into programme design.
• Ensure appropriate, timely and accurate data collection against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting.
• With support from the MEAL team put in place monitoring and evaluation plan and tools with both quantitative and qualitative indicators for child protection, ensuring this links to reporting requirements. Where possible, use the monitoring and evaluation framework to build an evidence-base for child protection programming interventions.
• In collaboration with the MEAL team, develop indicator tracking plans for all grants, develop additional Monitoring & Evaluation tools as necessary to monitor project progress.
• Consider integration in program the different thematic programs and approaches including Child Rights Programming, Theory of Change, DRR, gender, inclusion, diversity / non-discrimination, children as stakeholders, impact assessment, and organisational learning.
• Ensure that Assessment, Analysis and Program Design align with the Global Initiatives, child-right based; ensure that the minimum standards of humanitarian relief are maintained in accordance with the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Settings.
• Ensure that child protection interventions are informed by and integrated with other core sectors, including and ensuring that issues for child protection are raised and addressed.
• Ensure ethical sensitivity and principles of Do No Harm are maintained in the implementation of child protection programme(s).

Advocacy and Centrality of Protection

• Persuade key stakeholders including government officials to implement appropriate child protection legislation, policies and national child protection systems/services.
• Build strong relationship with relevant NGO’s, government bodies and donors to mobilise resources/funding for child protection including in emergencies by developing high quality proposal and concept notes.
• Raise awareness of key stakeholders regarding the impact of violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect of children.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Masters in Social Work, Human Rights, Law, International Relations, Development Studies or similar.
• At least five years of experience in project management and/or development programming.
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of Ukrainian culture especially related to children, youth, gender, family and appropriate approaches that can enhance engagement and attitude/behaviour change.
• Ability to identify the main gaps in child protection in the given context to inform a holistic response for children.
• Good knowledge of and experience in using established inter-agency standards and guidelines in child protection, such as the Inter-agency Guidelines on Separated and Unaccompanied Children, the Paris Principles, MRM, Save the Children Child Friendly Spaces Handbook, and the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Settings.
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organize a demanding workload comprised of diverse and challenging tasks and responsibilities
• Experience of representation and ability to represent Save the Children effectively in external forums.
• Demonstrated experience in leading assessment activities and of designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating child protection programs in emergencies for international NGOs.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent team support and supervision skills.
• Proven coaching and capacity building skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent English a language proficiency. Russian/Ukrainian is desirable.
• Computer literate (i.e. Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, financial systems)

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. This Role is offered on the basis of International terms and conditions. Also, interviews will be held on ongoing basis, adverts will be closed once a person is identified.

For non- EU citizens; Visa is to be obtained.

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 environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.