Child Protection Manager (Systems),P4,Mogadishu,Somalia, Fixed Term Appointment ,Post #105557

The Child Protection Manager (Systems) reports to the Chief, Child Protection for general guidance and direction. The Manager is responsible for managing all stages of child protection programmes/projects systems work from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable contributions to national and sub-national efforts to create a protective environment for children against all harm and to protect their rights, as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/frameworks, and UN intergovernmental bodies.

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.

For every child, protection 

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The Child Protection Manager (Systems) reports to the Chief, Child Protection for general guidance and direction. The Manager is responsible for managing all stages of child protection programmes/projects systems work from strategic planning and formulation to delivery of concrete and sustainable contributions to national and sub-national efforts to create a protective environment for children against all harm and to protect their rights, as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/frameworks, and UN intergovernmental bodies. 

The incumbent will also be responsible for establishing the plans of action and overseeing work progress for the systems component to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable programme/project results according to plans, allocation, results based management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework. 

1.Managerial leadership:

• Establish the system’s output annual work plan with the relevant child protection team members; set priorities/targets and performance measurements. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.
• Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals, and timelines for supervisees; and provide timely guidance to enable the supervisee to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment.
• Provide supervisees with clear objectives and goals, direction, and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively, and efficiently.

2.Programme development and planning: 

• Provide technical advice and operational support to the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis to ensure that current and comprehensive evidence-based data on child protection issues, in particular systems related work, is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection, and to set programme priorities, strategies, design, and implementation plans.
• Keep abreast of national, regional, and international development priorities on child protection and rights to leverage UNICEF’s position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities, and constituents to advocate and promote child protection interventions, policies, and social change to achieve goals on child’s rights, protection, survival and wellbeing, as productive members of society.
• Supervise the development of child protection programmes/projects on systems strengthening (as a full component of the CO and/or UNCF programmes) including adolescent development, inclusion and participation. Establish plans of action, programme goals and results, using results-based planning methodology and terminology (RBM).
• Contribute to the timely preparation of programme recommendations and related documentation for inclusion in the Country Office Programme recommendation ensuring alignment with overall UNICEF Strategic (Child Protection) Plans, regional strategies, and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Collaborate with national and global colleagues, partners, and allies to develop partnership frameworks to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing and scaling up child protection programmes/projects with an objective to reinforcing child protection systems. Ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programmes/projects with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities, donors’ development strategies/policies, national priorities/competencies, and UN System development interventions/initiatives. Ensure emergency preparedness and response is incorporated into the systems strengthening work to ensure the protection and well being
• Ensure emergency preparedness and response is incorporated into the systems strengthening work to ensure the protection and well being of children in cases of armed conflict, natural disasters, and other emergency situations.

3. Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results:

• Plan and collaborate on monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess and strengthen performance accountability, coherence, and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in child protection systems strengthening programmes.
• Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action and interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths, and/or weaknesses in programme management. Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Monitor programmes/projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems. Take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Plan, approve, monitor, certify, and control the use of programme resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) under relevant systems child protection output certifying/verifying compliance with organizational rules, regulations and procedures, donor commitments and standards of accountability and integrity. Ensure timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Submit and prepare programme/project reports to donors and other partners to keep them informed on programme progress and critical issues.

4. Advisory services and technical support:

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO, UN system and other country office partners on strategies and best practices to influence approaches/policies, support social/economic/political/legal development planning & implementation, and to support delivery of results on child protection, human rights, and other related issues.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating poverty and all forms of discrimination against women/children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote and catalyze social changes for a protective environment for children.
• Coordinate with other child protection output managers, with zonal offices and other sectors on reinforcing systems and policies for the better protection of children while also leading on standard setting initiatives.

5. Advocacy, networking, and partnership building:

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on child protection.
• Prepare communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances for sustainable results and support fund raising for UNICEF and Country Office child protection system strengthening.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency discussions and planning on child protection systems and related issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNCF process in development planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNCF planning and preparation of programmes/projects.
• Promote relationship building and sustainability with key Ministries working on the child protection agenda particularly in the realms of human rights, justice for children and civil registry and vital statistics.
• Reinforce partnerships with universities with social work diploma, certificate, and degree programmes. Encourage professionalization of sector and stronger protective systems through promotion of deployment and use of social workers across sectors and by both civil society and Government stakeholders

6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building:

• Promote critical thinking, innovative approaches, and good practices for sustainable child protection systems programme/project and adolescent initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce, and implement best and cutting-edge practices on child protection systems and working with adolescents. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.
• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects. 
• Organize, plan, and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of partners and stakeholders to promote sustainable results on child protection systems and related programmes/projects

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law, or another relevant social science field.
• A minimum of [Eight years] of relevant professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas, at the international level, is required.
• Relevant experience in programme development in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.
• Language Requirements: fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset. 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness(3)Drive to achieve results for impact(4)Innovates and embraces change(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity(6)Thinks and acts strategically(7)Works collaboratively with others and Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service. 

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.