Application Deadline: June 12, 2022

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Child Protection in Emergencies Technical Advisor is responsible for leading Plan International Ethiopia’s child protection (CP) Programs, in humanitarian contexts (both refugees and IDPs), working closely with other field based CPiE staff and relevant units. That include designing multi-year CP strategies; designing and building CP programs and securing the grants; and producing and utilizing high quality and well-articulated project evidence and research work for learning, for advocacy and for the continued development of the CPiE program portfolio. The Technical Advisor is also responsible for developing strong external relations with donors, government and strategic partners; and represent Plan International Ethiopia Country office by taking active part in relevant global and national CP networks, and relevant meetings and forums in Ethiopia. This will include building a strong professional network on behalf of the organization at national and regional/local level. The Technical Advisor is also responsible to ensuring quality implementation of CP programs working closely with program implementation teams; and ensure the mainstreaming of CP into other thematic sector programs to achieve greater protection of children in emergency contexts. 

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Thematic Lead: Child Protection in Emergencies 

Staff directly reporting to this post: No direct reports but expected to provide coaching and mentoring support to program implementation team and local partners (including CSOs and government counterparts) as necessary

Budget Responsibilities: Might serve as budget holder in cases where there is no project Manager to take the lead in budget management

Dimensions: The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Plan International National Offices (NOs), the Country Office BDD, and program implementation team in field locations, Communication and Influencing colleagues, technical counterparts in other organizations and NOs, donors, academia etc. The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice/knowledge hubs.

Context: Humanitarian emergency

Scope: The role be based at the country office and will demand frequent travels to the field. PIE works in humanitarian contexts both in IDP and refugee to meet needs of children, as a result the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to travel to the field frequently and vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategic Program Development:

• Provide overall technical leadership for the child protection in emergency strategy development, project design and ensuring quality implementation of the CPiE program and its individual projects asper the CPMS and other established quality benchmarks and guidelines; 

• Participate and contribute in the annual operational planning, and regular internal program planning and review meetings for the CPiE program, as well as related inputs to quarterly and annual reports;

• Document and communicate program achievements against agreed strategic objectives and milestones for a wide range of internal and external audiences. Ensure the key strategic documents related to CPiE are understood and internalized by those who are either contributing to the evidence base or responsible for representation of organizational objectives at the district, regional or national level.

• Actively identify technical support requirements, inclusive of field visits, as and when necessary, and ensure adequate support is provided and recommendations are followed up.

• In consultation with the Thematic Lead for CPiE, serve as a focal point for CPiE program of the country office, for coordination with relevant stakeholders including clusters and national taskforces; regular liaison and communication with relevant staff at the Regional Office, Plan International National Offices, and the Child Protection in Emergencies Global Initiatives and Networks. 

Strategic Fundraising:

• Technically lead strategic fundraising to support resourcing the CPiE Strategic Plan and related Advocacy Plan. This includes funding for projects, research and advocacy to enhance greater protection for children caught up in crisis situations; 

• Build on technical knowledge, research and current/previous programming to lead development of proposals for new project initiatives and institutional learning in close coordination with the relevant staff. 

• Take the technical lead to carry out rapid CP needs assessments, analyze the protection situation, develop concept notes, and identify funding opportunities to finance CPiE programs by working closely with business development department (BDD);

• Actively contributing to enlarge the existing network of partners/donors agencies and to gather relevant information about their ongoing initiatives and future programming.

• Contribute to the development of programs material, briefing papers and info notes with a view to attract donor's interest for Plan International Ethiopia’s protection activities;

• As necessary, accompany and facilitate donor visits and provide relevant background materials in collaboration with the program implementation team.

Policy Analysis, Policy Engagement and Advocacy for greater protection of children:

• Build one’s own knowledge on CP related national and international policies, strategies and other initiatives by government and other key stakeholders;

• Provide technical support to the development, implementation and evaluation of Plan International’s evidence-based advocacy and influencing strategies related to CPiE to ensure that the voices of children guide advocacy and policy changes and related decisions/activities.

• Develop and strengthen strategic relations, bilaterally and in network, with key influencing stakeholders in the sector, particularly government departments, UN agencies and private and institutional donors in country.

• Identify key communication, advocacy and influencing moments and engage in CPiE related technical discussions and represent PIE in technical meetings and roundtables to ensure that children's specific needs and vulnerabilities are included.

CPiE Technical Advisory Support and Program Quality:

• Work closely with project implementation colleagues in the field and at the CO, with NO technical experts, with MEAL, and identify and provide technical support to ensure quality implementation of CPiE projects;

• Engauge in joint operational planning with the field team, regular periodic supportive field visits to project sites to monitor progress of project implementation and understand what works well and the gaps, monitor quality, provide support as needed, and also capture lessons for use in new project development;

• Working closely with MEAL unit, provide guidance, advice and support to program/project managers to actively engage them in conducting assessments (both quantitative and qualitative), reviews and evaluations; as well as workshops or trainings as necessary;

• Support the development and implementation of capacity building activities for staff involved in CPiE projects across the organization based on capacity needs assessment.

• Coordinate and review quality periodic reports of CPiE projects, including reports to donors, working closely with the field team and BDD/Grants team;

• Take an active part in CP Knowledge Hub meetings along with CP colleagues from development program, engaging different thematic sector focal points and program implementation staff, and use those platforms for learning and institutional capacity on CPiE programming.

External Representation:

• Participate in relevant Plan International’s in country, regional and global CP working groups/knowledge hubs and learning initiatives

• Represent Plan International Ethiopia at all relevant technical external task forces, working groups, seminars or other meetings / forums which have been identified and approved by line manager and use these meetings to negotiate and position PIE as a valued child protection agency. 

PERCENTAGE OF TRAVEL (Out of duty station if applicable):

· Frequent travel to field locations, estimated up to 50% including some difficult locations such as refugee camps and IDP settlements

Job Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in relevant social science fields, such as Sociology, Social Work, Psychology, Law, Political Science, Community Development, Human Rights etc (Master's degree preferred)

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 8 years of relevant progressive professional experience in an international NGO or similar environment.

• Experience in designing child protection related strategies and proposals.

• Significant experience in providing expert advice for effective implementation of projects

• Experience in working with government counterparts and other partners at various levels - federal to district. This includes technical support, capacity-building and coordination.

• Hands on experience in training and workshop facilitation 

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITY:

• Excellent understanding of child protection issues in Ethiopia both in development and humanitarian contexts from field and policy levels.

• Practical understanding of the challenges and opportunities in realizing children's rights in Ethiopia and achieve greater protection of children particularly caught up in emergency contexts 

• Strong data collection, analysis, proposal development, report writing skills

• Strong analysis of child protection related data and ability to summarize and communicate this to a range of audiences.

• Proven advocacy and representation skills

• Ability to develop strong professional relationships and collaborations externally with stakeholders, and internally across functions, projects, and teams

• Understanding and experience in monitoring and evaluation

• Good presentation, training, and workshop facilitation skills

• Proven conceptual skills and an ability to think and plan strategically

• Good communication and interpersonal skills and an ability to train and mentor staff

• Ability to work effectively in a complex, fast-paced, matrixed, and multi-cultural environment

• Proven ability to manage a complex and demanding workload which often requires multitasking 

• Experience working with major humanitarian donors such as USAID/BHA, the US Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration (BPRM), UNHCR, UNICEF, DFID, GFFO, and the EU/ECHO.

• Willingness to travel to remote field locations including refugee camps often for extended periods depending on need

• Commitment to and understanding of Plan International’s strategic ambition, aims, values and principles including rights-based programming approaches

• Good spoken and written English, fluency in Amharic

How to Apply

Qualified candidates should submit their application with the below link.

https://jobs.plan-international.org/job-invite/42840/

Please note that: 

·        Applications and CVs written in English will be accepted and

·        Shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

·        Please note that we are not accepting CVs that are not sent through the indicated link.

Note: This position is only open to Ethiopian Nationals, who must be eligible to live and work in Ethiopia. Female applicants are highly encouraged to apply. Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.