Save the Children

Position: Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) Advisor

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Posted date: 1 hour ago

Application Deadline: May, 27/2021 (9 days left)

ROLE PURPOSE:

 Global and national health indicators highlight the need to have a greater focus on adolescents’ health and wellbeing. Complications from pregnancy, childbirth, and unsafe abortion are a leading cause of death for young women aged 15 to 19. When girls give birth, there is also an increased risk of death and disability to their newborn. Adolescents have one of the highest rates of unmet need for family planning. Young people are at high risk for contracting HIV with 40% of all new HIV infections occurring in 15 to 24-year-olds. Sexual violence among adolescents, especially in humanitarian emergencies, also continues to pose significant risks to adolescents. Yet adolescents typically do not have access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Thus, Save the Children has been working to improve Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) conditions integrated into both development and humanitarian contexts. To ensure the quality of implementation of our ARSH programming, Save the Children plans to recruit a senior Advisor who can provide the required technical leadership. The senior Advisor will be responsible to technically lead all ASRH programs in planning and executing capacity-building actions, ensure the implementation of Save the children’s quality parameters like quality benchmarks, common approaches, and others. S/he will work to establish and strengthen the relationship and a critical link between the Save the Children’s global, regional and in-country stakeholders and partners. The senior Advisor will lead to strengthen strategic partnerships for new business development and work in designing ARHR programs that will impact the lives of adolescent and their families. S/he plays the role of internal coordination for our ASRH programming and represents the CO in both internal and external platforms. The senior Advisor will lead the processes of identifying and document learnings, organize and share learning sessions and follow up the implementation at all levels of program operations.

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to: Report to Health and Nutrition Technical Director and Regional Nutrition Advisor

Dimensions: Save the Children works in all regions in Ethiopia with a current staff complement of approximately 1,600+ members and a current expenditure of approximately $90+ million each year.

Staff directly reporting to this post: none

Length of Contract- One year with the possibility of extension

Place of Work - Addis Ababa, Save the Children Ethiopia Country Office

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Technical Leadership: • Provide technical leadership for ASRH development programs under the implementation in close coloration with program operation units.
• Identify talents and capacity gaps, build capacity and mentor ASRH program managers, specialists, officers and coordinators, and other project staffs
• Provide on-site supportive supervision, identify and share learnings and best practices, facilitate cross-program/project learnings
• Build networks across field offices and collectively address any technical challenges to ensure program quality
• Support program operation team to understand and contextualize global guidance, quality standards like quality benchmarks, common approaches, and other quality parameters

Program Quality in Design & Implementation:

• Technically lead business development of new ASRH programs/projects ensuring quality in designing and proposal development
• Engage with donors supporting the ASRH program for key strategic opportunities and develop concepts that can be ‘pitched’ to donors.
• Support field offices both in development and humanitarian settings in their ASRH project implementation and monitoring to ensure quality delivery, monitoring, and evaluation.
• Ensure that gender, disability, and resilience considerations are reflected in our ASRH program in design and implementation.
• Design and support the implementation of ASRH programming that ensures our programs/projects towards impact, scale, and sustainability.
• Lead the design and support the implementation & monitoring of ASRH programs; ensure that ASRH specific and internal technical best practices (including Save the Children’s Common Approaches) are applied in collaboration with program operation units and staff
• Provide technical backstopping as needed during humanitarian health and nutrition responses for the country office
• Support program operations to implement behavior-centered ASRH programs, which includes working with program operation teams to develop, monitor, and revise social and behavior change communication (SBCC) strategies, formative research and materials development, and identifying appropriate indicators to monitor and evaluate ASRH behavior change.
• Lead the development of ASRH program strategies of country offices to achieve the CO’s strategy and ambition of 2030,
• Explore innovative opportunities of ASRH programming in-country offices to pilot, and document, new or updated tools, and guidance, especially with a focus on an adolescent with disability, environment, and resilience
• Work with Child Rights Governance colleagues to ensure that a rights-based approach is reflected in our program design and implementation (in line with our child rights programming approach), with a strong focus on child participation
• Respond to requests for technical expertise from field offices and nutrition program/project offices
• Develop/revise ASRH training materials, guidelines to ensure the incorporation of global and local evidence
• Provide technical leadership and closely work with MEAL and other sectors in strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation and the use of data across all levels to improve program performance.
• Regularly and optimally coordinate efforts and closely work with members and regional office

External Engagement:

• In collaboration with the program development unit (PUD) and other units, contribute to strengthening strategic partnerships in identifying partners and donors to strengthen our ASRH portfolio of the country office
• Facilitate effective partnership with key stakeholders engaged in the implementation of ASRH programs.
• Closely work with and contribute on the national technical taskforces, working group, and the subgroups
• Collaborate with partners and stakeholders working on ASRH to ensure synergy, sharing of technical resources, learning, and mutual support.
• Represent SCI in relevant working groups, task forces, seminars, and all relevant platforms
• Maintain and cultivate key external relationships with all ASRH actors both government and non-government sectors

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice) 

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Save the Children in ensuring staff health and safety
• Holds staff accountable to deliver on their responsibilities to ensure all staff working in the safe working environment - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary support to improve staff health and safety practices, and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development, and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated thinks strategically

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members, and external partners, and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE 

Education

• Master’s Degree in Public health, Reproductive Health, or another related field.  BSc degree with exceptional and relevant work experience may be considered in lieu.

Experience and Skills: 

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in technology leadership, managing and implement large-scale ASRH or related projects,
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations
• Solid experience in designing and technically support the implementation of ASRH programming that ensures programs/projects towards impact, scale, and sustainability.
• Experience in providing technical leadership for ASRH programs in both development and humanitarian settings
• Experience and skill in building capacity and provide mentorship ASRH or related program managers, specialists, officers, and coordinators
• Experience and skill in identify and documenting learnings, best practices, and facilitate learnings
• Experience in developing donor relationships, working with/guiding national level technical working groups, working with government partners, with partner agencies.
• Good knowledge of the Ethiopian health systems and policies
• Strong result orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets
• Good skill in communicating, organizing group discussion, and presentation
• Good computer skill (MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, and other data-generating tools)
• Solid experience working with the Government of Ethiopia especially with MOH and Ministry of Women, Youth and Children Affairs
• Demonstrated skills working in partnership with CSOs, international donors, and agencies.
• Significant expertise providing technical assistance to national ASRH policies and strategies
• Training, negotiation, mentorship, facilitation, and team-building skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Amharic, able to communicate professionally with a wide range of contacts; able to show tact and discretion when dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
• Commitment to Save the Children values

 KEY COMPETENCIES (Indicative / Key Competencies)

• Technical competencies: • Drives Quality ASRH Programming: Trains and mentors’ others on the application of relevant health sector and ASRH sub-theme standards
• Understanding of Impact of emergencies on health and nutrition programming and health outcomes: Engages in the humanitarian aid architecture, the cluster approach, and inter-cluster coordination of public health information
• Able to build sustainable and integrated ASRH programs: Builds the capacity of others to design and implement integrated ASRH sensitive and specific programming and advocacy
• Able to link-local to national and global level advocacy efforts, supporting localization of change and influencing global policy development

Generic Competencies

• Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities
• Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalized children and adolescent
• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to the delivery
• Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in their own work and work with colleagues and peers

The Organization

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 realize 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 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.

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 following our global anti-harassment policy

How to apply

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 here