Child Protection Tech- Coordinator NCA

SCOPE OF WORK

IRC Northern Central America has operations in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, 220 staff members across the three countries and responds to the humanitarian crisis of violence, displacement and the most vulnerable populations including returnees, LGBTQI+, survivors of GBV, children, adolescents and indigenous persons. The IRC has active Women’s Protection Empowerment (WPE), Child Protection (CP), Economic Development and Recovery, Protection Rule of Law and Education programming in the three countries. In particular, the Child Protection team works to ensure that children affected by conflict and crisis are safe, can exercise their rights, and are cared for in an environment that promotes their physical, social, emotional, cognitive and economic well-being. Current IRC CP programming include child protection case management, safe spaces, adolescent and parenting programming, capacity building and community mobilization, particularly for children and adolescents, and their families, affected by violence, climate changes and mixed migration.

The Child Protection Technical Coordinator will serve as the overall technical lead for the CP programs and will be responsible for providing strategic direction and vision to the IRC’s child protection response in Northern Central America. She/He will ensure high quality programming in the three countries to achieve child protection interventions that are informed by evidence, clients-centred and contextually appropriate, as well as aligned to the IRC’s strategic action plan and CP NCA programmatic strategy.

The CP Coordinator will provide coordination, guidance and technical support to the IRC’ CP team of 40 people with one direct report. She/He will focus on technical support and training, consolidating and ensuring quality of the CP programming, representation in coordination spaces, capacity building and partnerships with civil society organizations and governmental institutions serving populations affected by violence within the three countries.

The CP Technical Coordinator is part of the ESMT and is integral to fundraising efforts and business development as well as donor engagement in child protection, participates in child protection coordination meetings, and work closely with the IRC NCA ESMT, Deputy Directors of Programs (DDP), Operations, Finance and other program area leads to ensure proper programmatic planning, budgeting and continuously review the implementation strategy for effectiveness and fit for purpose, as well as to support the adaptation of the model for further expansion throughout the region, as needed.

The CP Technical Coordinator will report directly to the IRC NCA Deputy Director of Programs.

CVS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH. THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN BOTH LANGUAGES, AND IT IS EXPECTED FROM THE CANDIDATE TO HAVE A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Technical Quality

• Provide technical and management leadership to the implementation of the child protection programming in the three countries in accordance with evidence, best practices, needs, local and contextual needs and IRC policies.
• Contribute to the development of any revision of the NCA CP Program Strategy planning and documentation, in consultation with the technical unit and in collaboration with the IRC NCA ESMT.
• Provide technical guidance on confidential and safe data collection, case identification, safe information sharing and referral mechanisms in line with internationally recognised best practices.
• Lead the identification of key partners working with in CP area.
• Support to improve quality of specialized services available in country in addition to contributing to the standardization of CP protocols, referral pathways and SOP’s.
• Liaise with Violence Prevention and Response Unit technical experts at HQ to ensure program quality.

Coordination and Advocacy

• Participate in child protection coordination mechanisms at the national, and, as appropriate, at the NCA regional level, forge constructive relationships and position the IRC as a valuable child protection actor.
• Participate in national and NCA region advocacy, coordination, and policy brief inputs in relevant areas as well as Humanitarian Response Plan development.
• Internally coordinate with other areas to ensure operational and financial management of projects.

Staff Supervision and Development

• Directly supervise the CP Manager in the country of residence and co-supervise the CP Managers in the other two countries.
• Provide training, quality oversight to and mentoring of the CP team in presence and remotely.
• Provide ongoing and adequate capacity building and training, as well as professional development opportunities, based on an CP development plan as well as best practices and IRC methodologies for IRC staff and partners.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• If/as required identify staff performance issues and work with direct supervisors and Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies.

Business Development, Grant Management and Monitoring and Evaluation

• Lead proposal development inputs, including technical design, writing and partner coordination for CP area and support positioning, networking to pursue new funding opportunities to deliver on the program strategy and scale up different implementation modalities that are cost-efficient and sustainable.
• Lead the overall implementation of the CP programming grant management activities in conjunction with the Grants team and project leads, including provide guidance to the staff to ensure that stated goals and objectives are met, that projects are appropriately monitored and evaluated, and that project reports adequately reflect child protection activities.
• In conjunction with project leads and each corresponding child protection team, contribute to program work plans, spending plans, tracking and monitoring tools that meet the program and projects objectives and prepare appropriate operational guidelines for project staff.
• Analyse protection concerns for children and adolescent girls and boys and their families in NCA, and propose new areas of work to IRC, and participate/lead in proposal development.
• With project leads and MEAL colleagues, develop or maintain effective and efficient oversight, support, quality control and reporting systems and processes.
• Ensure consistent and regular field monitoring and implement quality assurance modifications as required.
• Support adaptation of the program strategy, staffing structure, etc. as needed.

Other Reporting and Duties

• Provide support to other reporting as requested by the MEAL area, NCA DDPs, Country Director, or Technical Unit.
• Participate actively as a leader in the Executive Senior Management Team of NCA, strategic initiatives, donor and HQ visits, and any other activities as assigned.
• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team; promptly reporting concerns or incidents to the executive leadership team and liaising with external parties as needed in line with IRC security protocols to maintain/enhance the security environment for IRC programs.
• As needed, support DDP for occasional tasks that may arise that are not detailed above.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Advanced degree strongly preferred, child development, protection, humanitarian response, social work, psychology, human rights, international law, social science or related field.
• At least six years of experience implementing, technical assistance, and managing child protection programming in an emergency or complex security contexts, with demonstrable understanding of the relevance of humanitarian action; professional experience in NCA is strongly preferred.
• Solid knowledge and understanding of international child protection standards and best practices in humanitarian response and development contexts.
• Applied experience in mental health and psychosocial support programming.
• Demonstrated experience in technical training, capacity building and mentoring of staff, as well as identified partner organizations.
• Must be capable of applying skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training, and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others.
• Demonstrated experience and success working in partnership models and with remote management.
• Demonstrated capacity to work with innovative systems and creative approaches to programming.
• Demonstrated capacity to work with large teams and a variety of sectors/ units in a rapidly changing environment.
• Strong program, people and budget management skills including planning and reporting across multiple grants and countries.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with internal and external parties.
• Strong program/technical and budget management skills, planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Fluency in Spanish and working proficiency in English are required.
• INGO experience is a strong plus.
• Applicants that reflect our target beneficiaries’ identities including the LGBTQI+ community, indigenous and Afro-Caribbean populations are encouraged to apply.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.