National Child Safeguarding Advisor

Job Announcement 

National Child Safeguarding Advisor

SOS Children’s Villages takes action for children as an independent non-governmental social development organization. We build families for children in need, we help them shape the development of their communities, we respect varying religions and cultures, and we work in countries and communities where our mission can contribute to development.

SOS Children’s Villages-Palestine started its operation in 1966 with the first SOS-Children’s Village in Bethlehem and is currently searching for experienced Child Safeguarding Advisor to join the team of SOS Palestine National Office in Bethlehem. The National Child Safeguarding Advisor will report directly to National Programme Development Director (NPDD).

Position summary and main aims:

The mission of the national Child Safeguarding (CS) Advisor is to coordinate and support the implementation of the Child Protection Policy and related child safeguarding policy support documents in the member association and all its programmes in order to mitigate existing child safeguarding risks for children and young people who are directly and indirectly cared for and supported through SOS Children’s Villages Programmes.

As a member of the national programme development department, she/he contributes to setting and reaching the strategic objectives and targets of the MA in the area of improving the Child Safeguarding programme quality and develop the existing structure of the programme in both locations, the West Bank Programme and the Gaza Programme.

She/he provides technical expertise and content-wise leads SOS Children’s Village Programme Directors and Programme Coordinators in planning, implementing and the monitoring of the CS interventions in the area.

The NCS will also be responsible for implementation and monitoring of quality standards in the area of Child Safeguarding (CSG), ensuring full compliance with SOS Children’s Villages child safeguarding standards and procedures and adapting them within the country context. As a member of the regional EUCM network, the NCS shares good practices and experiences with colleagues from other MAs.

Location:  Bethlehem-West Bank with frequent visits to Gaza

Contract: Unlimited Contract

 Direct Supervisor: National Programme Development Director

 Key performance areas and main responsibilities:

Acts as an advisor to the National Director, MA functions and programme locations on the CS implementation. Coordinates the implementation of the Child Protection Policy and related child safeguarding policy support documents in the member association. Ensures that the minimum requirements of the policy support document on child safeguarding reporting and responding procedures in member associations and the policy support document on child safeguarding investigations are met by the member association and all its programmes, provide support to programme child safeguarding teams. Ensures establishment of a strong and reliable CS reporting and responding procedure in the member association. Coordinates the development of national CS actions during the annual planning process. Conducts child safeguarding audit in all programmes of the member association. Plan and technically support management of CS investigations commissioned by ND. Prepares annual child safeguarding report and submits the report for approval to the National Director. Maintains the national Child Safeguarding Incident Register. Follows up on reported CS concerns and incidents together with the programme CS team and reports to ND on the overall incident management progress in MA. Ensures that relevant child safeguarding documents and tools are available to child safeguarding team members at national and programme level. Identifies capacity building needs on child safeguarding at national level and in programmes and in coordination with HR supports development and implementation of necessary training tools and processes. Monitor KPIs and provide reports on trends and developments in CS Collects lessons learnt as well as identified challenges to ensure that relevant preventive, awareness raising and capacity building measures are planned and further implemented. Document and distribute lessons learned and good practices in area  of CS Facilitates internal and external knowledge sharing on child safeguarding with a strong focus on prevention and capacity building. Participates in the regional child safeguarding network. Is responsible for sharing status report, review of incidents and closure when CS incident is monitored by or escalated to the IOR EUCM with IOR CS advisor. Ensure the integration with Alternative Care functions on cases that has the potential to evolute into child safeguarding incident(s), with proper follow-up and prevention and treatment measures. Prepare all types of reports and documentation required by local and regional offices on time and as per the required standards. Develop a local Child Safeguarding Incidents Management Manual using the international office standards and best practices. Train the CS committee on the GSC involvement in incidents where alleged perpetrator is a co-worker Inform IOR about the conflict of interest at the level of the management and obtain advice/directions on how to act using the related policy in the area of child safeguarding.

Child Safeguarding (CS) Responsible within own area of work to raise awareness of the SOS Child Protection Policy principles and to prevent and protect children from all forms of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, violence and discrimination. Responsible to report any CS suspicion, concern, allegation or incident immediately, following Child Safeguarding reporting procedures. CS reports should be made to the IOR CS focal person and/or to the respective line manager.

Key skills and qualifications for the position:

Must criteria

• University degree education in social sciences or related field
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in social welfare field, preferably in the sector of child and youth welfare
• Good knowledge of international standards, legal issues, and current directions of national development in the field of child’s rights approach, child protection, and safeguarding.
• Good knowledge in social welfare systems and Child Safeguarding and child protection policies, concepts, procedures, and system building.
• Good Knowledge of incidents management and investigation
• Experienced in child abuse prevention, awareness building, and advocacy for change
• Good knowledge in safeguarding system assessment and  planning for system improvement
• Obtain investigation and program audit skills
• Good knowledge of written and spoken English and Arabic
• Strong communication, negotiation, and advocating skills
• Willingness and ability to travel within the country, including Gaza governorate

Competencies – knowledge, skills, abilities

• Team player with excellent communication skills
• Facilitation, negotiation, public speaking, and interviewing skills
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.
• Good coordination and organization skills, including the ability to plan, prioritize, organize and deliver results.
• Knowledge and skills in conducting training with children, young people, and adults
• Ability to work under pressure
• Computer literacy (MS Office)

-Interested candidates must send their Cover Letter including related job achievements, CV, and three traceable references to: –info@sos-palestine.org by Wednesday, April 6th of 2022. -Indicating in the subject line: National CS Advisor Position -Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Applications after deadline will be excluded. Applications not conforming to the conditions will not be considered. -Certificate of Good Conduct/Police Clearance is mandatory to be submit in case of selection.