Senior Project Officer, GBV and Protection at Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work are accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Project Officer, GBV and Protection

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Employment Type: Full-time

About CRS Nigeria

• CRS has been supporting program activities in Nigeria for over 30 years and has long-standing relationships with Church and non-Church partners and communities throughout the country. The Nigeria country program has a diverse funding base with projects in health, nutrition, food security and agricultural livelihoods, microfinance (SILC), emergency response and peacebuilding.
• CRS/Nigeria currently has over 210 national and 8 international staff.  With an FY22 annual budget of over USD $100 million, coupled with strong donor interest in supporting CRS’ work in the country, significant growth opportunities exist for the CP.  The CP has been supporting emergency activities in the NE states since 2015 with offices in Damaturu, Maiduguri and Yola.

About THRIVE

• The Transitioning Households to Recovery from Vulnerability (THRIVE) in Jere project is a two-year emergency and recovery project funded by BHA/USAID for conflict affected and displaced households. Over the course of the project, CRS with Mercy Corps (MC), Women in the New Nigeria (WINN), Salient Humanitarian Organization (SHO) and Justice Development Peace Committee (JDPC) will provide context-specific humanitarian assistance with the goal of initiating early recovery in targeted areas and will operationalize an area-based approach to advance participants from lifesaving assistance to life-building support.
• The THRIVE consortium will reach an estimated 120,00 conflict affected unique participants across 10 sectors.

Job Summary

• The purpose of this role is to provide strategic and technical support for the mainstreaming of gender equality and equity, protection and safeguarding in THRIVE. The post holder is expected to have a strong gender based violence ( GBV) and protection background, a professional working background and understanding of the socio- cultural context of the target communities in Maidguri, high level skills in program monitoring, report writing, communication and representation and the ability to influence and build capacity of program staff in the THRIVE consortium on protection, gender and safeguarding and PSEAH principles.

Roles and Key Responsibilities
Key Deliverables:

• Work with the sector leads to support the practical mainstreaming of gender and protection and safeguarding into THRIVE’s planning, implementation, monitoring and program review to comply with the principle of ‘do no harm’.
• Ensure that THRIVE follows BHA best practice on systematic age and gender analysis, monitoring and evaluation and reporting, targeting of project participants, choice of transfer modalities, making sure the projects do no harm.
• Provide advice, guidance, and follow-up in relation to protection and gender aspects of the THRIVE community feedback mechanism adapted to the needs of the target communities and socio-cultural context.
• Provide training to THRIVE staff and agents ( field agents, community volunteers etc.) on gender mainstreaming, how to integrate gender equality, inclusion and protection principles into their work appropriate to the context of NE Nigeria;
• Advocate for addressing gaps in GBV prevention and response services with the GBV sub- cluster, nutrition, WASH and FSL clusters.
• Produce weekly and monthly data and regular narrative reports for Project Manager to feed into overall program and donor report (information on target beneficiaries must be disaggregated by age and sex). Track all gender and protection related indicators and benchmarks in the project.
• Make weekly field visits to the target locations to monitor implementation of activities by the consortium implementing partners to ensure compliance with CRS standards on gender equity and inclusion for project participants.
• Provide guidance to the project team on the development and dissemination of key communication messages on GBV including harmful cultural, traditional norms and practices in line with best practices.
• Support the THRIVE project team in developing strategies to engage men and boys as champions of change in addressing GBV and violence against women and girls.
• Support the design and delivery of training on GBV prevention and risk mitigation, the CRS Code of Conduct, PSEA, for project staff, CRS Maiduguri staff, and community stakeholders and members.
• Support reporting and referral of protection and GBV concerns identified in the target locations and ensure proper follow up of all referred cases to other actors and report accordingly.
• Represent CRS in Borno level GBV coordination meetings and liaise with local authorities, UN, and international and national NGOs to facilitate successful coordination of activities and ensure transparency and accountability.
• Support the achievement of compliance by all CRS staff with the Agency’s Safeguarding Policy and CoC. Work with the sector teams to increase awareness amongst project participants of these standards and ensure that all safeguarding concerns are identified and reported in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Participate in other responsibilities as may be assigned to you by your supervisor from time to time.
• Work closely with sector leads and program managers to review and highlight opportunities for protection, safeguarding and gender mainstreaming in THRIVE’s nutrition interventions;

Coordination and Representation:

• Represent CRS at protection, PSEAH and GBV sector working group meetings and coordination forums UN, international and national NGOs at LGA and State levels;
• Ensure good coordination with other CRS partners staff, protection, GBV field teams and provide frequent feedback and updates;
• Develop new and manage existing relationships with key stakeholders and potential collaborators for gender and protection.

Reporting:

• Carry out regular field visits to track progress of program activities by CRS and consortium partners to identify gaps in implementation and propose improvements;
• Support the development of field-based reports to CRS, the protection and GBV sectors and external donors, as necessary.
• Develop reporting templates for supervisees to aid in tracking progress of program activities and key indicators
• Conduct any other programming responsibility delegated by the supervisor.

Education and Experience

• University Degree or equivalent in Social Science, Social Work, Psychology or related fields
• Minimum of 5-7 years relevant working experience in GBV, gender and protection related programming in North East Nigeria.
• Demonstrable knowledge of gender and protection appropriate for emergency and recovery settings, including gender-based violence, gender equity and roles at HH level in food security, livelihoods, WASH and nutrition.
• Experience and capacity to carry out capacity building and facilitation on gender and protection for multi-sector programs in emergency settings;
• Demonstrable competence in communication, relationship management, and influencing skills with CRS staff, consortium partners, local stakeholders and project participants;
• Flexibility and resourcefulness in responding to work challenges and the capacity to engage teams and work collegially to solve problems;
• Demonstrable skills in report writing and training materials development. .
• Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement.
• Excellent coordination skills, and ability to form and nurture relationships with the protection and GBV implementing partners at program and state levels.
• Experience using MS Windows, MS Teams and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

Basic Qualifications (BQs):

• Proven experience in group discussions and other participatory methods
• Previous exposure to information and communication technology for development will be a plus
• Demonstrated commitment to gender responsive programming.
• Excellent organizational, analytical, oral and written communication skills.
• Team-oriented and strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and to organize and prioritize a variety of initiatives
• Willingness to travel about 40% of the time.

Required Languages:

• Competence in English, Hausa and Kanuri (or any other indigenous language used in the target communities of Jere, including Fulani and Shewa) is essential.

Travel:

• Willingness to travel about 50% of the time.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (SKAs):

• Good understanding of protection and GBV sector reporting requirements, templates and timelines;
• Capacity to work and support integrated multi-sector interventions by CRS teams delivering emergency response and recovery services in a high-risk context to conflict affected communities;
• Capacity to multi-task and adapt rapidly to a volatile operational context;
• Demonstrable capacity to work successfully in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural team and environment;
• Strong advocacy and communication skills on gender and protection.
• Strong coordination and networking skills for internal and external actors and stakeholders.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none):

• None

Key Working Relationships: (Optional)

• Internal: Sector Advisor, Food Assistance, Market Manager, MEAL manager, Officers, CAT Officer, Head of Office, Nutrition, WASH, FSL Officers, Accountability Officer, procurement, Fleet, Finance Officers, Enumerators, Community liaison officers.
• External: Partner staff, Community leaders, contractors, volunteers, CMs, lead mothers, Partner nutrition officers lead mothers, MIYCN counsellors and vendors

Work Conditions / Environment Conditions:

• The position requires travel to hardship locations.

What we Offer

• CRS offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, generous retirement savings plan and the opportunity to work in a collaborative, mission-driven culture that is committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.

Application Closing Date
14th December, 2022.

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

Note

• Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
• Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
• CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
• CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Interested Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.