Senior Child Protection Officer at International Rescue Committee

Major Responsibilities:

Program implementation and quality: Reinforcing adherence to the CP guiding principles throughout all CP, IRC Other sector and partners activities, specifically:

• Plan, supervise and oversee provision of prevention and response activities for children and their families.
• Oversee the referral mechanisms by leading the maintenance and regular/timely updating of the service mapping, referral pathways, training of 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 Social Workers or assistants and work with CP Manager and Protection Program Officers to make the necessary procurements, in consideration of budget limits.
• Provide daily advice on case management activities to social workers and outreach workers in the location, in accordance with standard tools and procedures.
• Facilitate the program activities with the partner staff.

Budget management: Ensuring the adherence to the IRC and donor’s financial policy and regulations maintained accordingly. And:

• Ensure PRs for the grants are timely raised, procurement of supplies and services carried out in discussion with the SC and finance.
• Ensure healthy budget utilization progress and as per the spending plan through conducting regular and periodic budget review session with the CP manager, Cp officers, assistants, finance, and the SC and manage the under and overspending timely.

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

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

• Directly supervise Protection assistant- CP and (case workers/social workers) where applicable 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 training to meet those needs.
• Monitor field work to ensure staff meet program goals and utilize appropriate time management.

Coordination & representation: Work closely with CP Manager, IRC programs and partner(s), CP AoR, protection and other clusters, 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.

Other: The post holder will also work on other duties such as

• 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.

Standard of Professional Conduct:The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.
Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.

Minimum Qualifications:

• BA/BSC or MA or Diploma in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, Social anthropology, Human Rights, Humanities, and other related Social Science field.

Preferred experience & skills:

• Required Worker experience for BA/BSC 2 years, for MA 1 year, and for diploma holder 5 years of work experience in implementing child protection programs 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

Language Skills: 

• Language: Fluent in English required
• Any Local language spoken in Turkana /Kakuma is plus.

Certificates or Licenses:

• Trained on CP topics and certified will be preferred.