CP Senior Officer

Duty station: Odesa, Mykolaiv with regular movement to surroundings areas for technical visits and follow-up

 

Key working relationships:

Position Reports to: CP Manager Position directly supervises: CP Officer Internal collaborations within IRC: Women’s Protection and Empowerment team; Protection team; Economic Recovery and Development team; Health team. External collaborations to IRC: CP actors, organizations and agencies

 

The Child Protection (CP) Senior Officer will work with CP staff and IRC’s implementing partner(s) to ensure that activities are provided following IRC – CP standards, including policies and strategies. She/he will oversee the provision of safe and appropriate CP response and prevention services and interventions to reduce risks faced by children and their families. The CP Senior Officer will provide technical guidance, training, and support to the IRC CP staff and IRC’s implementing partner staff. Specifically, the CP Senior Officer will be responsible for:

 

1)     Program implementation and quality: Reinforcing adherence to the CP guiding principles throughout all CP and partners activities, specifically:

-         Plan, supervise and oversee provision of prevention and response activities for children and their families.

-         Oversee the referral mechanisms, and lead on the maintenance and regular/timely updating of the service mapping and referral pathways, and training of referrals service providers on the referral pathway and appropriate referral

-         Assess implementation progress and identify technical quality issues or other concerns, to be flagged to the CP Manager, and propose solutions.

-         Identify material needs together with CP Officers / CP Case Workers / PSS Workers, and work with CP Manager and Integrated Protection Program Officer to make the necessary procurements, in consideration of budget limits

-         Facilitate the program activities with the partner staff.

2)     Program monitoring and reporting: Ensure all program activities and services are fully documented using agreed monitoring tools for systematic and timely data collection on activities, specifically:

-        Support the maintenance of the IRC’s Information Management System(s) in line with data protection, collection and sharing standards, and CP guiding principles.

-        Submit the updated weekly report and tracker on activities led, success stories, lessons learned, etc. to the designated IRC CP focal point on agreed-upon deadlines.

 

3)     Staff supervision and development: Directly supervise CP staff by providing regular supervision, coaching, and guidance on CP prevention and response activities, specifically:

-        Directly supervise CP staff by providing regular supervision, coaching, and guidance on prevention, risk mitigation, and response activities in the field of child protection

-        Mentor and support staff’s professional development and foster a positive team spirit to encourage innovative and quality programming

-        In collaboration with the CP Manager, identify capacity building needs and support the organization and facilitation of trainings to meet those needs

-        Monitor field work to ensure staff meet program goals and utilize appropriate time management.

 

4)      Coordination & representation:  Work closely with CP Manager and IRC partner(s) and other service providers on the provision of CP prevention and response activities, specifically:

-         Identify concerns related to and support adherence to CP referral protocols by all service providers and relevant stakeholders.

-         Advocate with peer agencies and other stakeholders to promote timely and quality responses for at-risk children and their families

-         Develop and maintain effective working relationships with other service providers and relevant stakeholders including community members and other implementing partners.

 

5)     Other: 

-        Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the CP team, promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC Security department and management and liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the environment for IRC programs.

-        Perform any other tasks as requested by his/her supervisor to ensure the smooth running of the program.

Requirements:

-        Language: Fluent in Ukrainian and Russian, English required

-        Bachelor of Arts or Science in Social Work, Human Rights, Social Science, Public Health, Humanities or other related field, desirable

-        Minimum of 2-3 years experience of implementing child protection programs, preferable social work or in a related field, in humanitarian or development settings

-        Understanding of case management and PSS to promote healing and recovery

-        Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality and respect for clients/beneficiaries

-        Previous experience leading teams on CP response strategies and demonstrated understanding of working with children, particularly vulnerable children

-        Excellent communication skills

-        Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting

-        High degree of flexibility and strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail

-        Computer literate, including Microsoft Word and Excel