Technical Advisor for Child Protection

The IRC’s vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs for people affected by crisis and by using our learning and experience to shape policy and practice. To achieve that vision, the IRC’s Technical Excellence (TE) provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice.

TE has three central objectives that we work towards:

• Guide program design to achieve outcomes by incorporating the best available evidence
• Build technical capacity of country program staff to implement, measure and continuously improve programs
• Influence the IRC, peer agencies and donors to use proven interventions and generate new evidence to achieve change in peoples’ lives

TE is comprised of seven Technical Units, all of which have deep expertise in their respective sectors: Education, Economic Wellbeing, Gender Equality, Governance, Health, Violence Prevention and Response, and Research and Innovation (R&I).

The Violence Prevention and Response Unit (VPRU) works to reduce people’s vulnerability to and support their recovery from violence, and promote transformative work for a future free from violence. The unit houses expertise in the fields of Child Protection, Protection and Rule of Law, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment to support women, children and other vulnerable groups through violence prevention programs that help stop violence before it happens and violence response programs that ensures lifesaving services for people affected by violence. VPRU has programs across 31 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.Child protection areas of focus include case management for vulnerable children, parenting programs, psychosocial support services for children at risk and strengthening community-based child protection responses.

Specific Responsibilities:

The Child Protection Technical Advisor (TA) will spend at least 80% of their time delivering technical assistance in-person and remotely to country program colleagues implementing child protection programmes in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. The Child Protection Technical Advisor (CP TA) will be responsible for a 36-month ECHO-funded grant titled Protective and Adaptive Education Approaches for Children in Emergencies (PEACE), that will take anintegratededucation andchildprotection (CP) approachto support school-agedgirlsandboysinNigeria,NigerandCameroon,mostaffectedby humanitariancrises,accesseducationalopportunitiesandimprovetheiracademicandsocial-emotional skills in safe, functional schools and learning spaces. The CP TA will spend 70% of their time in year 1, 60% of their time in year 2 and 50% of their time in year 3 of this project to guide the program design, provide direct technical support, and build technical capacity to implement, measure and continuously improve the proposed project in Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon.The CP TA will work closely with the other CP TAs supporting Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, coordinating the country support for child protection; they will also coordinate with the VPRU TAs and the Education PEACE TA based in the region and also supporting the PEACE project.

To ensure quality programming towards impacting the lives of children and youth affected by conflict and crisis through IRC’s work, the Child Protection Technical Advisor will: support country program staff to undertake activities that are aligned to the IRC’s and PEACE project’s outcomes and evidence framework / theories of change / core indicators; analyze data to inform course correction; conduct technical trainings and ongoing technical coaching, share cross-context learning with country program staff; design, review and share program-specific tools; support project specific technical country program recruitment and capacity–building. This is a primarily field facing position with the central responsibility focused on program quality. The remaining 0-20% of their time is spent on influence, advocacy, research and internal initiatives at the discretion of their supervisors, including to support PEACE. Technical Advisors’ specific responsibilities are as follows:

PEACE:

•  Provide targeted program design, technical support, materials adaptation and revisions, field testing, assessment and monitoring/evaluation support and oversight to the PEACE project;
• Support country program staff to undertake PEACE activities, ensuring that they are aligned with the project strategies which includes contextualizing education outcomes, the theories of change and include interventions chosen based on best available evidence;
• Help analyze data to inform periodic review and course correction to ensure that the PEACE Program is based on evidence and is evidence-generating;
• Share cross-context learning with country program staff in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon

Guiding program design:

• In collaboration with the other CP TA, support country program staff to design programs and projects, ensuring that they are:
• Help define approach to teaming / partnering with other organizations
• Support selection of indicators for country programs

Engaging in business development, in coordination with the other CP TAs:

• Review technical quality of proposals, including review of technical activities and ensuring alignment to IRC’s outcomes
• Input into go / no go decisions on proposals
•  When necessary, write technical narratives of proposals
• Provide input on budgets required for project delivery
• Engage with donors and do outreach in support of country programs

Building technical capacity of country program staff to ensure ongoing program quality and innovation:

• Work with PEACE country program colleagues to help analyze data that inform periodic review and course correction as-needed
• Share cross-context learning with country program staff across Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon
• Conduct technical training and ongoing technical coaching for country program staff, including on IRC outcomes, theories of change, evidence and indicators
• Review and share program-specific tools / resources / curricula and work with Technical Unit specialists to contextualize and adapt global and country-specific materials
• Support senior country program staff recruitment and onboarding

Influence the IRC, peer agencies and donors to use proven interventions and generate new evidence:

•  Present IRC research findings across contexts and relevant conferences

Representation and Thought-leaderships:

•  Lead on child protection M&E tool development and support the child protection sector in advancing thinking on M&E.
• Participate in VPRU initiatives as required in line with action plan, including VPRU task teams and other regional coordination meetings.
• Represent IRC in various working groups and task forces of the CP Alliance as well as other IA groups as required.