Child Protection (CP) / Gender Officer - IHA MAPPLE 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: Child Protection (CP) / Gender Officer - IHA MAPPLE

Job ID: 14236
Location: Adamawa
Reports to: Child protection coordinator
Grade: 4

Role Purpose

• With Funding from GAC, the CP/Gender Officer will provide support to the Nutrition and Child Protection project in Adamawa and is responsible for ensuring that quality mental health and psychosocial support services and case management for children experiencing or at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence including GBV survivors are provided.
• Build the staff capacity to provide direct meaningful support to children at risk and GBV survivors, mentor, supervise and monitor team activities and ensure effective coordination and networking system establishment to the rest of child protection team.
• The CP/Gender Officer will be expected to support on child protection sectoral assessment, project planning and coordination with other actors and clusters. In most circumstances, the post holder will be expected to mentor and/or build capacity of implementing partners on the field.
• Through an "integrated approach" in project implementation, the CP/Gender Officer will oversee the implementation of Gender Equality and Disability Inclusion activities and support the IHA - MAPLE team and implementing partners by offering technical help to direct and inform gender-disability-inclusive programming.
• Under the guidance of the Programme Manager, the officer will ensure that gender and disability issues identified in the proposal are addressed, and that activities are responsive to the needs of girls, boys and participation of adolescent mothers and children/women with disabilities. 

Key Areas of Accountability

• Coordinate with other Save the Children thematic areas, the national Child Protection Working Group and/or other external sector agencies of GBV, ensuring assessment findings are documented and that all assessments include a specific, disaggregated data analysis of survivors’ needs.
• Develop monthly and quarterly plans and costed plans, contributing towards an overall thematic programme plan. 
• Support to the psychosocial (physical, social, emotional) wellbeing of children including GBV survivors and their families.
• Strengthen the partner capacity to provide direct and appropriate support services to children at risk. 
• Prevention and response to all forms of exploitation including harmful child labour and child trafficking 
• Oversee and coordinate the development and maintenance of data collection and analysis mechanisms and share timely quality information the relevant sector management.    
• Support the integration of child protection activities into other sectors.
• Supervise project implementation to ensure timely delivery of project activities
• Prepare and review timely monthly reports submitted by partners and SCI Staff. 
• Identify project supplies specific to the programme needs and coordinate with the logistics team to put in place a sensible phased procurement plan.
• Work with the MEAL plan to ensure links to reporting requirements where possible, refer the MEAL framework to build an evidence-base for child protection programming interventions including GBV survivors.
• With support from the CRM/Accountability Officer put in place accountability activities for your project, ensuring that feedback from children and their families is considered in project design.
• Ensure that the minimum standards of humanitarian relief are maintained in accordance with the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Settings and the Sphere standard 
• Ensure children at risk and survivors of gender-based violence are timely identified and provided counselling and other appropriate response services.
• Ensure relevant referral forms are in place and implemented accordingly. 
• Coordinate monthly meetings including, parent’s forum and child protection committee
• Provide essential psychosocial first aid support to children and adults when needed.
• Ensure partner staff are supervised regularly to ensure activities are carried out in line with minimum standard guidelines.
• Consistently maintain referral pathway of project locations
• Ensuring assistance is provided to children affected by the conflict in a dignified, respectful, equitable and inclusive manner that supports their resilience
• Assisting children in acute distress and alleviating their stress, for instance ensuring that all staff / partners are trained on PFA and feel confident to use it
• The mainstreaming of inter-agency guidelines (e.g. IASC MHPSS guidelines) and standards (e.g. CPMS) across the different sectors of programme activities delivered by SC and its partners
• The use of structured and manualised MHPSS techniques
• The participation of parents and caregivers in MHPSS activities  
• Support structured MHPSS activities for groups of boys and girls of different age groups, with particular attention to survivors of SGBV, unaccompanied children and other children who present with signs of poor mental health and distress
• Identify MHPSS service providers and agree referral pathways for children with severe mental disorders

Gender and Disability Inclusion: 

• Strategic Leadership and Technical Guidance on GEDI Integration: Lead the development and implementation of the gender equality and disability inclusion (GEDI) analysis, strategy, development and implementation of action plan. Provide GEDI-focused technical input across project components to ensure inclusive and equitable service delivery. Design and deliver training for staff, partners, and stakeholders on GEDI mainstreaming.
• Inclusive Programme Implementation and Community Engagement: Coordinate activities to enhance the participation of girls, adolescent girls, and children with disabilities. Strengthen gender-responsive and disability-inclusive capacity among staff, partners and communities. Ensure WASH infrastructure, and activities are GEDI sensitive. Collaborate with local women’s groups, youth-led organizations, and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to support advocacy and community-led platforms.
• Monitoring, Referral Systems, and Reporting: Ensure timely, referral of children with disabilities, contribute GEDI-specific insights into project reports, capturing achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. Collaborate with the project’s MEAL staff to propose indicators and participate in the collection and analysis of data for monitoring, reporting and learning purposes ensuring the project takes a transformative, integrated approach to GEDI. Work with the OPDs/Networks to identify children/adolescent girls with disability in communities and support MEAL team in training enumerators on the use of the Washington Group of Questions (WGQs) to identify children with disabilities and GEDI. In collaboration with the MEAL team, collate and disseminate regular project disability inclusion reports.

Capacity Building:

• Provide capacity to implementing partners that have less CPiE experience 
  Representation & Advocacy & Organisational Learning:
• Ensure that Save the Children's work is coordinated with efforts of other agencies and Government and support Interagency Coordination forums including the State Child Protection Sub Working Group, advocating for the specific needs of children. This may involve supporting the coordination of working groups and sub-working groups.  
• With support from the Lead Child Protection Coordinator and/or other senior programme staff, assist in advocacy activities that target decision-makers in-country.
• In collaboration with the Humanitarian Technical Unit and Child Protection team, feed in learning, experiences and evidence to relevant global advocacy objectives.
• Contribute to communications and media work as required.

General:

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.
• Other ad hoc tasks as requested by Line Manager.

Behaviours (Values in Practice):
Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, 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 personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

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; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

Understanding humanitarian contexts and application of humanitarian principles:

• Ensure that programme goals and activities uphold the principles of the key national and international humanitarian frameworks, codes and commitments
• Integrates beneficiary accountability principles into the approach
• Participates in disaster coordination mechanisms and interagency cooperation mechanisms
  Leadership: Action; Thinking; Self; Inspiring; Developing Others:
• Demonstrates approachability and trust by listening carefully to others and valuing their contribution, and making others feel comfortable by being open and honest about their thoughts and feelings
• Demonstrates self-development and management by taking responsibility for own development, and actively seeking out feedback to better understand their own strengths and weaknesses
• Makes positive statements about work
• Effectively influences others by understanding their interests and showing how they will be met by own preferred solution Gives constructive feedback to enhance capabilities and responsibilities to partners and others.

Qualifications and Experience
Essential Criteria:

• University degree or equivalent in social work, Social Science, development studies or equivalent combination of relevant training and experience
• Minimum 3 years post NYSC work experience in GBV and child Protection work, supervision, community mobilization and distributions and solid understanding of the actual Nigeria Emergency context. 
• Proven ability to supervise a CP project with holistic approach and integrated to child protection right
• Fluent in English
• Working knowledge of Hausa an
• Computer literate

Desirable Criteria:

• Excellent communication skills, 
• Team player with strong leadership skills
• Mature personality with life experience is an advantage
• Able to be a self-started and work in challenging contexts and fragile environment.
• Experience implementing gender equality and disability inclusion analyses strategies

Skills: 

• Previous experience in similar responsibilities, preferably with NGO and/or UN agency.
•  Highly flexible and ability to work in a team.
• Communication & Interpersonal Skill Level – Excellent
• Language Requirements – English and Hausa – Excellent
• Level of IT literacy Required – (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Email system, Internet browsing) excellent.

Application Closing Date
1st October, 2025; 11:00 PM.

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