Child Welfare Programme Coordinator

Internal/External

Vacancy Announcement

IR/INT/EXT/VN/019.23
March 20, 2023

Post title:                        Child Welfare Programme Coordinator  

Report to:                       Head of Programs (HoP) 

Duty Station:                Country Office, Addis Ababa

Salary:                            As per the organizations scale

Required:                      One

Duration                        One year with possible extension based on performance 

Introduction:

Islamic Relief is an international relief and development charity founded in 1984 with its headquarters in Birmingham, UK. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender. The office officially started operation in Ethiopia in 2004. Islamic Relief Ethiopia (IRE) is operational in the Somali Regional State with a base office in Jigjiga, Hargelle, Elkere, Bare, GG and Dekasuftu, Afar Regional State; Ewa, Awra and Gulina; Oromia regional State; Chiro, Meayso and Yabellow Woredas,  and an additional operational office in Addis Ababa. For more information please visit our website: http://www.islamic-relief.org/work-with-us

 Job Purpose

Reporting to the Head of Programmes, the Child Welfare Programme Coordinator is a senior supervisory role that includes over all planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting of projects, managing project staff, project budget and stakeholders’ engagement. It is one of the key programme sectors and the main purpose of the job is to plan, implement, manage and review the effectiveness of the child welfare sector/theme of Islamic Relief Ethiopia according to IR, government and donor regulations, policies and procedures. The incumbent will oversee the implementation of IRE’s country level child welfare projects and strategic development of child welfare sector.

 Key Accountabilities

1.    Programme Planning and Management:

·    Actively contribute to identification of new funding opportunities, proposal writing and strategy development.

·    Carryout situational analysis of issues affecting children in general and orphan children and their families in particular and continuously initiate sustainable ways to address them.

·    Oversee the implementation of the IR Child Protection and Orphans sponsorship programme activities, ensuring that services are delivered on time, on budget and in compliance with donor requirements.

·    Coordinate the planning, implementation and monitoring of supplementary projects focusing on education and economic strengthening areas to improve the livelihoods and quality of life of destitute community members including orphan caring families.

·    Prepare detailed projects work and budget plans, administer resources and ensure compliance to grant requirements while utilizing them.

·    Develop standard checklists and templates to improve child protection and sponsorship services delivery, implementation of activities, and increase quality and accountability.

·    Ensure that IR child protection and sponsorship programme fully comply with IR programme/ Country strategy and relevant policies.

·    Participate in the country program-level researches, evaluations, grant launching and review meetings, strategic and annual business plan preparation, project design and resource mobilization initiatives.

·    Work with the HoP to develop detailed implementation plans including procurement and distribution schedules of programme inputs in line with programme logistics/supply chain capacity.

·    Work with the HoP, programme team and other relevant units to monitor program progress against both programmatic and budgetary targets, making adjustments to programme design as necessary.

·    Responsible in preparing periodical planning for Child Welfare unit.

2.    Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and Reporting:

·    Develop clear monitoring mechanisms for utilization and proper accountability on actual benefits delivered to the beneficiaries.

·    Vigorously monitor the child protection and sponsorship programme activities at field level, ensuring excellence in IRE’s programme and flagging concerns of safeguarding and protection to the PSI Officer or Coordinator.

·    Input into the development of MEAL and indicator tracking plans, and the development of additional MEAL tools as necessary to monitor project progress.

·    Work with PDQM/MEAL to ensure appropriate, timely and accurate data collection against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting and ensure quality of programme delivery.

·    Always seeks to improve the quality of programming in relation to the child welfare in Ethiopia.

·    Compiles and submits high quality periodical reports to donors and government signatories and submitted timely as per the established reporting standards and schedules.

·    Ensure a feedback system is in place to improve the quality of reports.

·    Ensure that progress review meetings and lessons learned workshops are conducted on a regular basis reviewing what went well and what didn’t go well, and document and disseminate findings to stakeholders. 

3.    Budget Management:

·    Prepare realistic budgets with input from the Child Welfare team, Operations support and Finance teams.

·    Authorize expenditures and monitor the financial utilization in line with IR and donor guidelines.

·    Responsible for ensuring that the expenses of the projects and budget lines do not exceed the unit’s allocated budget and the authorized ceiling.

·    When required, request budget changes/realignment, facilitate transfers to field office, and approve transactions under his/her threshold.

·    Review project budget on a regular basis in collaboration with HoP, review Budget vs. Actual expenditure on a monthly basis ensuring no over or underspending.

·    Review financial reports and provide feedback to the finance team before submission to IRW and/or donors.

4.    Line Management of Staff:

·    Lead, motivate, and supervise, guide and support his/ her direct reports and staff members under their supervision.

·    Ensure the capacity of project team is built through coaching, on-the job support, trainings, horizonal feedback, experience sharing and by fostering participation and innovation from all members.

·    Ensure that all staff in the Child Protection and Sponsorship programme are appraised well, have annual detailed implementation plans and that these update with the input and active participation of team members.

·    Work with HR and other relevant units and get involved in the recruitment and acquisition of project personnel.

5.    Representation:

·    Work with PSI/PDQA and train all IR staff on IRW child protection policy and ensure there is a follow up mechanism to check quality of compliance.

·    Ensure that programme interventions continue to be informed by and integrated with other core sectors of IRE, such as education, health and nutrition, shelter and food security and livelihoods.

·    Represent IRE in the child protection and child rights forums, clusters, working groups and meetings as delegated by HoP and report back issues and lessons of interest to the head of programmes (HoP).

·    Build linkages and liaison meetings with various child protection agencies working for women and children.

·    Regularly attend cluster meetings relevant to the child protection and related sectors at national, regional and sub-regional levels.

·    Promote a safer environment for children within IRE.

6.    Managing Effective Relationships with Stakeholders:

·    Develop, nurture and manage relationships with stakeholders in line with the Islamic Relief principles and standards in agreement with the Head of Programmes in the target areas.

·    Work with stakeholders to regularly assess the quality of the relationship, ensuring that effective communication channels are in place, and that any shortcomings are addressed.

·    In collaboration with the filed staff ensure the relevant stakeholders are informed about the intervention and facilitate conducive environment for stakeholders to play their role effectively.

·    Ensure the participation of local community in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the projects where applicable.

·    Establish child protection network and other common platforms with pertinent organizations that are working in the area of children in the Islamic Relief operational geographies.

·    Establish strong and proactive communication with IRW and partner offices maintaining timely reply to their query and extending supports required. 

7.    Systems and Compliance:

·    Effectively use Islamic Relief programme management information systems to ensure programme and project information is up-to date.

·    This will include producing management information to support decision making; ensure compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements of the organization and donors.

8.    Others:

·    Work closely in team with other sector coordinators and contribute to the maximum of his knowledge to the program team in his/her areas of profession as deemed necessary.

·    Assume the responsibility of Addis Ababa area programme coordination, leading projects, representing Islamic Relief in coordination meetings and forums, and maintaining and strengthening partnership with all relevant stakeholders.

·    Ensure that relevant policies, manuals, guidelines, distribution sheets and other relevant programme and project documents are archived as per the IR record management, data security and privacy policies.

·    Ensure that IR’s guiding principles are maintained and issues of protection, PSEA, safeguarding and inclusion are properly addressed throughout all stages of the programmes and projects.

·    Manage partners, consultants, contractors, and trainers in consultation with relevant IR units to ensure tasks are executed as per the work plan and contract details.

·    Perform other functions as requested by the head of programmes (HoP).

Personal Specification

Formal Education/Qualification

·       Masters or Bachelor degree in sociology, or related fields

Work Experience

·       Four years’ experience managing child related projects. More specifically experience in working with orphans and vulnerable children in a complex urban setting.

Skills and Competences 

·       Proven writing skills to develop quality proposals and reports

·       Strategic thinker and result oriented person

·       Decisive with good judgement in complex situations

·       Good interpersonal skills and ability to work with a diverse team

·       Able to plan, prioritise and organise self and others

·       Demonstrated ability to manage to lead a team

Safeguarding and Equal Opportunity

Islamic Relief and Islamic Relief staff considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and people at risk to be paramount to the organization. And must adhere the principle of ‘do no harm and leave no one behind.’ It is critical we do not expose communities or staff we work with to the risk of harm through our interventions.  With a zero-tolerance approach Islamic Relief have a number of related policies which also describe standards in behaviour expected from the organization, its staff and representatives towards each other and those we serve. Islamic Relief is committed to responding swiftly, appropriately and constructively to any and all information children, young people and people at risk have disclosed. 

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. We participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and child abuse during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment before signing the contract agreement.

Islamic Relief believes everyone has the right to be safe, respected and valued regardless of who they are or their circumstances, and an equal employment opportunity to all candidates and qualified applicants, we do not discriminate on the base of age, sex, race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability status and diversity.