Child Protection Specialist - Food Security at Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian non-profit organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood, and enable children to prepare for - and respond to - crises and adversity. We believe in the power and potential of every child, but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Child Protection Specialist - Food Security

Location: Globally, Flexible
Functional Area: Disaster Risk Management
Reports to: Global Child Protection in Emergencies Technical Lead
Effective Date: Date November 2021
Type of Role: 12 Month Fixed term contract

The Opportunity

• Plan International is seeking a dynamic, resilient and motivated Child Protection Specialist to lead a global one-year initiative to strengthen collaboration between child protection and food security.
• In this role as the Child Protection Specialist you will play a leading role in bringing together both sectors in humanitarian action.
• You will be responsible for developing and disseminating global-level resources and tools in order to strengthen integrated approaches between child protection and food security clusters.
• You will be expected to build and maintain relationships with global, regional, and country-level child protection and food security cluster coordinators, practitioners, and donors in order to support the uptake and implementation of new resources and tools.

The Individual

• We are looking for a passionate and committed Child Protection Specialist with demonstrable experience in child protection programming. 
• You will also need to be familiar with food security frameworks and implementation approaches 
• With a strong understanding of gender, inclusion, and child and youth safeguarding considerations in programming.
• You will have demonstrable experience in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of multi-sectoral programs with child protection and other sectors, as well as expertise in leading the development and dissemination of global guidance notes, toolkits, training packages, advocacy materials and other resources on issues related to child protection  

Dimensions of the Role

• The post holder will lead the development of resources and tools, including drafting, review, design, and translation of final documents.
• In close collaboration with in-country child protection and food security cluster coordinators, the post holder is expected to lead the pilot of resources in three country contexts, including one context in French-speaking West Africa Region and one context in East African Region. Travel is anticipated to these country contexts, pending COVID-19 restrictions.
• The postholder will engage with global, regional, and country-level stakeholders to disseminate resources, advocate for integrated programming approaches,and support the use of the resources and tools.

Accountabilities
Technical Leadership:

• Leads work to support the further integration of Child Protection into the Food Security sector through developing technicalresources and toolsfor child protection and food security cluster coordinators and practitioners. Resources and tools include but are not limited to evidence briefs,advocacy briefs, case studies, capacity-building materials,and risk assessment tools, to promote the integration of child protection infood security programming.
• Leads and maintains broad consultation with a diverse range of Child Protection and Food Security Stakeholders to ensure tools and products developed meet the needs of the wider humanitarian sector.
• In close collaboration with Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and Global Food Security Cluster, organizes and oversees the piloting of draft tools and resources in selected country contexts through in-person and remote technical support.
• Manages the finalization of all resources and tools, including design and translation, based on feedback from key technical specialists and results from in-country piloting.
• Ensures all tools and resources developed are in alignment with sector standards such as Child Protection Minimum Standards, Sphere, Core Humanitarian Standard and cluster tools.
• Ensures all work has a strong gender and inclusion focus, in line with Plan International’s Global Strategy.

Coordination and Resource Mobilization:

• Successfully buildsclose working relationships and regular contact with Global CP AoR, Global Food Security Cluster, country-level cluster mechanisms, and other child protection and food security stakeholders to coordinate integrated approaches and facilitate satisfactory complementation of initiative.
• Maintains and builds key strategic relationships with donors on the topic ofintegrating child protection and food security and provides regular updates on the initiative to stakeholders.
• Leads the mobilization of additional resources through the development and submission of concept notes, proposals, and budgets to donors to secure funding to continue initiative.

Representation & Influencing:

• Represents the initiative through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes, networks/coalitions, other humanitarian sectors, and private sector to promote awareness of the initiative and understanding of the value of integrating child protection and food security approaches.
• Plans andcoordinates global-level events to launch and disseminate key resources, as well as deliver key messages about the impact of integrated child protection and food security programming.
• Contribute to other relevant global advocacy and policy objectivesupon request.
• Maintain profile of the work through the use of social media platforms.

Reporting and Accountability:

• Overseas project budget and undertakes all donor narrative and financial reports, working closely with Plan Germany.
• Manages and regularly updates all workplans and documents successes, challenges, and lessons learned of initiative.

General:

• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key Relationships
Key Internal Contacts:

• Global Technical Lead for Child Protection in Emergencies (Plan International Global Hub)
• Global Technical Lead for Food Security and Livelihoods (Plan International Global Hub)
• Regional Disaster Risk Management Managers (Regional Hubs)
• Plan Germany, for project reporting purposes (National Office)
• Project Focal Points (Country Offices)
• Plan International Technical Specialists

Key External Contacts:

• Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility (UNICEF)
• Global Food Security Cluster
• Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
• Cluster Coordinators at country-level
• Humanitarian Donors

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• Significant experience in child protection programming with UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, or other institutions at the global, regional, and country level, including direct experience in several humanitarian responses
• Familiarity with food security frameworks and implementation approaches
• Experience in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of multi-sectoral programs with child protection and other sectors, including but not limited to food security
• Excellent understanding and familiarity working with global humanitarian architecture and cluster system, including leading inter-agency initiatives and initiatives across sectors
• Experience leading the development and dissemination of global guidance notes, toolkits, training packages, advocacy materials and other resources on issues related to child protection in emergencies
• Demonstrated ability to work independently to lead the development of technical resources and tools, including drafting, piloting, finalization, and dissemination
• Previous experience of overseeing the professional development of humanitarian practitioners across different regions.
• Strong communication, analytical, and writing skills
• Strong understanding of gender, inclusion, and child and youth safeguarding considerations in programming
• Familiarity with results-based management (RBM) and other frameworks related to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL)
• Ability to work well under pressure and take initiative with minimum direct supervision
• Ability to build working relationships with multiple stakeholders
• A flexible and collaborative work style, with strong organizational and problem-solving skills 
• Fluency in English, with working proficiency in French preferrable. Additional fluency in another language (Spanish, Arabic) also considered an asset
• Ability to travel up to 2 - 3 weeks at a time (20% per year).

Application Closing Date
Sunday 14th November, 2021.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

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