Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: Mozambique
Closing date:
19 Feb 2017If 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.
For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
Purpose of the Position
The Chief, Child Protection will manage and provide programme and policy guidance to the Social and Child Protection Programme. The incumbent will be directly responsible for the overall set up of a systemic social and child protection response in the country through solid provision of quality visionary leadership and advise to programme development, management and implementation, as well as policy level dialogue, advocacy and leveraging. S/he will liaise with senior officials of government line Ministries, judiciary and other state institutions to provide high level technical and policy advice. S/he will develop, build and sustain strategic partnerships with the development partners, lead capacity building efforts across line ministries at all levels, of partners like the academia, civil society and the private sector as well as of community structures that are the first line of child protection response.
The Chief is responsible for managing and leading all stages of child protection programs/projects from strategic planning and formulation to achieve concrete and sustainable contributions to national and international efforts to create a protective environment for children against all harm and to protect their rights to survival, development and well-being as established under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, international treaties/framework and UN intergovernmental bodies.
The Chief is responsible for leading and managing and establishing the plans of action to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable programs/projects results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM) and UNICEF's Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.
Summary of Key Functions/ Accountabilities:
1. Managerial leadership
Establish the Section's annual work plan with the child protection team; set priorities/targets and performance measurement. Monitor work progress and ensure results are achieved according to schedule and performance standards.Establish clear individual performance objectives, goals and timelines; and provide timely guidance to enable the team to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently. Plan and ensure timely performance management and assessment of the Team.Supervise team members by providing them with clear objectives and goals, direction and guidance to enable them to perform their duties responsibly, effectively and efficiently.2. Program development and planning
Lead/support the planning and conduct/update of situation analysis to ensure that current comprehensive and evidence based data on child protection issues are available to guide UNICEF's strategic policy advocacy, intervention and development efforts on child rights and protection and to set program priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans.Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on child protection and rights to leverage UNICEF position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities and constituents to advocate/promote child protection interventions and policies and social change to achieve goals on child's right, protection, survival and well-being as productive members of society.Lead, coordinate and supervise the development of child protection programs/projects (as a full component of the CO and/or UNDAF programs). Establish plans of action, program goals and results, using results-based planning methodology and terminology (RBM).Oversee the timely preparation of program recommendation and related documentation for inclusion in the Country Office Program recommendation ensuring alignment with the overall UNICEF's Strategic (Child Protection) Plans, regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.Consult and collaborate with national/global colleagues/partners/allies to develop partnerships framework to address specific needs and to leverage resources for enhancing/scaling up child protection programs/projects. Ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of programs/projects with UNICEF Strategic Plans and priorities, donors' development strategies/policies, national priorities/competencies and UN System development interventions/initiatives.Ensure emergency preparedness is contained in national programs/projects to ensure the protection and well-being of children in cases of armed conflict and natural disasters and other emergency situations.3. Program management, monitoring and quality control of results
Coordinate, plan and/or collaborate with monitoring and evaluation initiatives to establish benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators, to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results in child protection programs.Participate in major monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess progress and to engage stakeholders to take required action/interventions to achieve results.Assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in program and management, identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.Monitor programs/projects to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.Plan, approve, monitor and control the use of program resources (financial, human, administrative and other assets) 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 program/project reports to donors and other partners to keep them informed on program 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 and to support social/economic/political/legal development planning, implementation and delivery of results on child protection, human rights and other related issues.Coordinate/ensure the availability of technical experts (with Regional Office/HQ) to ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming/project processes.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/catalyze social changes for a protective environment for child survival, development and well-being in society.Lead in country discussions on child protection emergency preparedness, programming and contingency planning to ensure proactive and appropriate response are in place to meet onset of emergencies nationally or other designated locations.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 organization, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on child protection.Develop communication strategies and implementation plans and activities for maximum communication impact and outreach to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances for sustainable results and support fund raising for UNICEF and Country Office child protection programs and emergency interventions.Participate and/or represent UNICEF in inter-agency (UNCT) discussions and planning on child protection and related issues to ensure organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting. Collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues UNDAF planning and preparation of programs/projects including emergency preparedness.6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
Promote critical thinking and innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable child protection programs/projects initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting edge practices on child protection management and information systems. Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned.Lead and/or develop policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programs and projects.Lead/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on child protection and related programs/projects.7. Social Protection
In close collaboration with the Senior Social Policy Specialist, the Chief Child Protection will also lead and manage the Child Protection team to support the Government of Mozambique in Social Protection, specifically in relation to the following areas:
Development of the new Child Grant programme (targeted at children 0 to 2, child headed households and children in foster families)Development of the case management system and the social work force which are two pillars of the new Social Protection Strategy in MozambiqueDevelopment of the Information Management System for Social protectionEmpowerment and strengthening of the Social Action Working Group composed of government departments and development partners to ensure coordinated support to the implementation of the National Social protection StrategyQualifications of a Successful Candidate
An Advanced University degree (Master's) in international development, human rights, psychology, sociology, international law or other social science field is required. A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection and/other related areas, at the national and international level, some of which preferably were served in a developing country is required.Relevant experience in child protection and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.Relevant experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is an added advantage.Relevant experience in Social Protection is an asset.Fluency in English (written & verbal) is required. Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is an asset. Portuguese language skills preferred. The working language of the duty station, including government partners and other local partners with which the incumbent will actively engage in is Portuguese. Based on experience at the duty station, fluency in Spanish, Italian, French, or other Romance languages facilitate a quicker learning of Portuguese.Competencies of a Successful Candidates
Core Values
CommitmentDiversity and InclusionIntegrityCore competencies
Communication - Level IIIWorking with people- Level IIIDrive for results- Level IIIFunctional Competencies
Leading and supervising- Level IIIFormulating strategies/concepts- Level IIIAnalyzing- Level IIIRelating and networking- Level IIIDeciding and initiating action- Level IIIPersuading and Influencing- Level IIITo view our competency framework, please clickhere.UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.
How to apply:UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=502643