Household Economic Strengthening Advisor at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Household Economic Strengthening Advisor

Ref No: 2200044U
Location: Kano
Employee Status: Fixed Term
Contract Length: 2 Years
Team / programme:  Program Operations
Reports to: Director of Programme, ICHSSA 3
Staff reporting to this post: No direct reports but expected to provide coaching and mentoring support to other technical colleagues and local partners
Grade: 3

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3: The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children or young people and, in the overseas context, all posts are considered to be level 3 posts given potential situations which may allow staff unsupervised access to vulnerable children and young people.

Role Purpose

• The Household Economic Strengthening Advisor will provide technical leadership to the development of strategies, guidelines, and manuals, and rolling out of these to ensure that community members and households caring for vulnerable children have increased and ongoing capacity to meet their basic needs for the Integrated Child Health and Social Services Award 3 (ICHSSA 3).
• They will lead the design, planning and implementation of technical interventions to improve household livelihood and asset base to meet basic needs of children and support self-reliance. They will ensure that the OVC Project interventions are performed as planned and to bring about the desired impact through monitoring, evaluation, research, and documenting lessons learned.
• In addition, the role holder will backstop for the nutrition intervention for the project, he/she will design and manage the nutrition intervention strategies including ensuring food security for the beneficiaries.

Scope of Role:

• Budget Responsibilities: Limited
• Role Dimensions: The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including government stakeholder, local partners and community stakeholders. The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice.
• Context: Development
• Scope: Kano and Niger States with potential expansion to other states
• Primary Technical area: Livelihoods/Nutrition
• Primary Sub technical area: Household Economic Strengthening and Nutrition
• Secondary Sub technical area: Child Protection Systems.

Key Areas of Accountability

• Provide technical leadership and oversight for high quality design, implementation and evaluation of the household economic strengthening and social protection components of the project.
• Develop innovative economic strengthening strategies for vulnerable households to compliment other Nigerian government, private sector and international donor funded program interventions by strengthening the capacity of Nigerian entities (NGOs, CSO, local financial institutions).
• Conduct initial scoping and mapping activities to gather information on what models of economic strengthening services are available in the target communities, both formal and informal, which models are working effectively. 
• Provide technical support and coordinate the development of relevant tools and resources related to the economic strengthening and social protection components of the project.
• Facilitate relationships between households caring for OVC and public and private sector actors by identifying economic constraints and ensuring appropriate activities that have long-term viability.
• Provide training, capacity building and ongoing technical support and mentoring for staff and partners to roll out and implement the economic strengthening strategy in target communities, working with state teams to plan and implement the strategy.
• Ensure sustainability of livelihood gains, including private sector demand-driven job creation, enterprise development, financial education, value chain linkages and appropriate savings, credit and insurance services for various age groups.
• Facilitate linkages with government safety net programs and other stakeholders to ensure that activities complement other economic strengthening initiatives and adhere to country and global standards.
• Ensure timely, high-quality work plans, quarterly and annual reports, financial reports, and any other reports required by the donor or the government.
• Provide technical assistance in documenting and scaling up best practices related to the economic strengthening and social protection components of the project through case studies or success stories.
• Provide technical support to ICHSSA 3 partners and Government counterparts to implement Nutrition activities and to ensure that agreed targets are met.
• Under the Supervision of ICHSSA 3 Director of Program, manage the preparation, coordination, and execution for special technical events, such as trainings, world breast feeding week etc.
• Participate in meetings, seminars, debriefings, and other technical meetings on nutrition in the project.
• Compile States level reports on project results, case studies and lessons learned.
• Develop State level annual, quarterly, and monthly work plans as agreed with the line manager.
• Facilitate, draft, and participate in the development of the timely completion and review of ICHSSA 3 Nutrition technical reports, such as: monthly, quarterly, and annual reports; strategic plans and work plans; and other ad hoc reports, as required.
• Maintain good relationship with State Government and non-Government partners working on Nutrition in the States.
• Represent ICHSSA 3 in State’s level meetings on Nutrition, etc.
• Support linkage to treatment facilities and effective bi-directional referral systems including coordination of escort services and follow up at facility and community levels with focus on management of malnutrition.
• Provide technical guidance on IYCF, Food banks and Food demonstration to CSO partners, Community Case management workers and caregivers.
• Coordinate and document community to facility and facility to community nutrition related activities.
• Provide capacity building to CSOs and community case manager workers on nutrition services and referral linkages.

Qualifications

• B.Sc in Social Work, Child Protection, Child Welfare or related qualification.
• Master’s Degree in Social Work, Child Protection or related field, or equivalent experience is an added advantage.

Experience and Skills:

• At least 5 years’ experience in leading the design and implementation of development programmes in household economic strengthening and Nutrition.
• Understanding of the economic strengthening and nutrition and food security sector in Nigeria
• Familiar with child protection systems, social work with children and families, case management, positive parenting, community level child protection and integration of child protection with education and other sectors. Track record in successful business development/ fundraising.
• Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.  
• Experience in strategy development and planning
• Experience in context, capacity and policy analysis, and influencing and advocacy at regional/national level in order to hold duty bearers to account to realise household stability
• Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilise resources. 
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children and their households
• Experience in promoting quality and impact through at least one cross-cutting area: gender equality and inclusion, adaptive and safer programming; child rights; disability; migration and displacement.
• Significant experience in training, capacity building, and mentoring
• Fluent in English and Hausa. High level of English writing skills.

Key Competencies:

Technical Competencies:

• Promotes optimum levels of household economic stability.  
• Works to strengthen the components and linkages within the HES system.
• Prevents violence abuse exploitation and neglect of children.
• Responds effectively and appropriately to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of children.

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 marginalised children.
• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery.
• Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers.

Behaviours (Values in Practice)
Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds their team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in accordance with the context, providing the necessary development to improve performance 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 professional development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares Save the Children’s vision, and engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a national and global scale

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, technical advisors and working groups, 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; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
• The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and fights racism, gender inequality and discrimination in all forms; and to model positive behaviours that demonstrate a commitment to equality and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.

Application Closing Date
8th June, 2022.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online