Safeguarding Officer

Reporting to: Programs and Advocacy Manager

Location: Moving The Goalposts, Mnarani – Kilifi County.

Job Purpose
The role exists to spearhead the coordination, implementation and monitoring of MTG Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct, while strengthening other organizational policies and procedures on safeguarding. The role exists to ensure that MTG fulfils its legal obligations, commitment and responsibility to keep all children and adults safe within the scope of MTG, with a strong focus to prevent and protect children and young adults from harm and abuse as well as to prevent and address discrimination and harassment. This role involves designing, implementing, and monitoring annual priorities for Safeguarding and PSEAH for MTG in collaboration with various stakeholders.
“Confidence is a massive part of success in football. If you believe in yourself and your team, you can
achieve anything.” – Rio Ferdinand
At Moving The Goalposts, we enable you to believe in yourself and to work with a team that will help you grow professionally.
Moving The Goalposts is a pioneer sport for development organization founded in 2002 to empower girls and young women through football. The organization works with girls and young women between the ages of 9 to 25 years in the Coastal Region of Kenya notably, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale, and Tana River. MTG’s purpose is to strengthen the voice, impact, and influence of girls and young women by providing opportunities for them to play football, take on leadership roles, and learn about their rights and how to claim those rights, with a focus on sexual reproductive health and choice. MTG contributes to this aim by making football an area of opportunity for girls, enabling community stakeholders to champion girls’ rights, and through strategic alliances that promote this goal.

Duties and Responsibilities
1.Policy Review and Compliance
•Ensure compliance with the Safeguarding Policy by staff, volunteers, visitors, associates, contractors, partners, and donors.
•Work collaboratively with organizational teams to review, update and revise the safeguarding policy, safeguarding tools, communications tools, templates and other policies related to safeguarding.
•Conduct regular safeguarding risk assessments and execute mitigation plans.
•Record, monitor, and update the status of the identified risks in collaboration with program personnel at the field level.
•Develop continuous safeguarding risk monitoring and learning based on the identified risks and challenges.
•Lead the promotion of safeguarding good practice in MTG activities for staff members and representatives
2. Incident Management
•Work closely with MTG staff and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that safeguarding all incidences reported in the program are conclusively addressed.
•Ensure survivor-centered and rights-based approaches in the prevention and response mechanisms for all Safeguarding incidents.
•Monitor the progress of cases, and ensure follow up on recommendations received as relevant.
•Support mapping of services and establishment of referral systems at project areas to ensure reported cases are referred to relevant service providers.
•Provide support during safeguarding investigations as may be required.
•Coordinate learning sessions to make changes in practice based on lessons drawn from incident management.
3. Capacity Building
•In liaison with the HR Manager, build Capacity of MTG staff and volunteers on safeguarding and PSEAH through periodic training sessions.
•Coordinate, train and work with safeguarding champions in MTG program to enhance monitoring, incidence identification and reporting at field level.
•Conduct community sensitization and dialogue forums on Child protection/safeguarding and Gender Based Violence (GBV).
•Ensure that MTG associates and representatives understand and implement the safeguarding policy and practices in the organization through provision of technical guidance.
3. Support to Program Implementation
•Support all departments and program delivery teams to sustainably lead on program safeguarding.
•Continuously monitor and ensure that safe programming is integrated in program design and delivery.
•Ensure that adequate resources/ budgets are allocated to cater to ensure efficient mainstreaming of safeguarding activities including capacity building and support of the program/project implementation team.
•Embed Monitoring Evaluation and Learning and research in the overall implementation of the safeguarding policy and strategy.
•With the support of the M&E and Finance teams, develop the annual plans and budget for Safeguarding, and monitor the implementation of the plans.

4. Stakeholder engagement
•Represent MTG in relevant conferences and forums which include, among others, Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) network, Court Users Committee (CUC), Area Advisory Councils (AAC)
•Manage all safeguarding related partnerships and ensure that new partnerships and collaborations are assessed on their level of safeguarding compliance.
5. Reporting
•Prepare daily, weekly monthly and quarterly and annual safeguarding reports for tabling at Senior Management Team meeting, programs and resource mobilization committee of the board quarterly.
•Responsible for timely implementation of guidelines and procedures for reporting responding and referral.
•Periodically contribute to the development of proposals or concept notes for funding to ensure safeguarding is well addressed
•Update of the safeguarding data base on a regular basis and ensure that the identified issues are addressed on time.
6. Advocacy
•Manage partnership with allies across the sport for development and safeguarding sectors
•Support creation and management of safeguarding coalitions, community of practice across the sport for development sector in Coastal region.
•Coordinate and lead all advocacy initiatives across all levels in the organisation and in the community.
•Identify opportunities for research on safeguarding in sport across the Sport for development sector.
7. Communication Management
•Prepare and participate in periodic meetings in MTG
•Provide the Communications Officer with contacts for database (donors, consultants, networks, partners)
•Coordinate with project teams in the documentation and communication of safeguarding incidences.
•Support the Communications officer in the production of project-related communication tools: video clips, leaflets, press release/ press kit, database
•Identify opportunities to collaborate with other organizations and leverage resources.
8. External Communications
•Assist in project special events together with the Communications officer
•Support the Communications officer in the production of project-related communication tools: video clips, leaflets, press release/ press kit, database
•Identify opportunities to collaborate with other organizations and leverage resources.

Qualifications and Experience
•Degree in Sociology/Social Work, Psychology or any related field
•Training course in safeguarding/child protection
•At least 3 years of work experience of relevant professional experience in similar roles with proven capacity for safeguarding.
•A thorough understanding of relevant safeguarding legislation, regulations, and policies is essential. This includes knowledge of child protection laws, data protection regulations, and other relevant legislation
•Strong communication skills that the ability to communicate sensitively and empathetically on sensitive topics
•Analytical and decision.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and protecting children and young adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks.

Equal Opportunity Statement: Moving The Goalposts does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, age, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability