Child Protection Officer, NOA, Gaziantep, Turkey (For Turkish Nationals only)

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places, to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programs, in advocacy and in operations. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society's most disadvantaged citizens' addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.

For every child, an Advocate

If you are committed and passionate about making a lasting difference for children, UNICEF Turkey would like to hear from you.

Purpose for the job

The Child Protection Officer reports to the Reports Specialist (Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism) for close guidance and supervision. The Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for the child protection programs/projects through the application of theoretical and technical skills in researching, collecting, analyzing and presenting technical program information while learning organizational rules, regulations and procedures to support the development and formulation of the Child Protection Program within the Country Program.

How can you make a difference?

We are looking for a dynamic, innovative, highly effective Child Protection Officer, who will be able to adapt and deliver results under pressure, and performing the below functions:

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Support to program development and planning 

• Research and analyze regional/national political, protection, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify and synthesize information to facilitate program development, design and preparation.
• Prepare technical reports and inputs for program preparation and documentation ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.
• Facilitate the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of child protection and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical program transactions, preparing materials/documentations and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required documentations/materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.

Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to collect/analyze/share information on implementation issues, suggest solutions on routine program implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decisions. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity.
• Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare inputs for program/donor reporting.

Technical and operational support to program implementation 

• Undertake field visits and surveys and/or collect/share information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on child protection and related issues to support program implementation, operations and delivery of results.

Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on child protection.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for child protection programs.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of child protection programs/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Identify, capture, synthesize and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.

• Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have

Education: A University Degree in international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law or other social science field is required.

Experience: A year of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection and/other related areas at the international and/or in a developing country is an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Turkish is required.  Knowledge of Arabic will be a strong asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate

Our core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.