Child Protection Coordinator

Background/IRC Summary:  

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Lebanon currently hosts over 1.1M Syrian refugees, and children constitute over 50% of the Syrian refugee population. They are living in poor conditions and facing inadequate educational opportunities and a lack of positive social outlets. These factors are leading to high levels of psychosocial distress among children, including the rising number of Street and Working Children (SaWC) in cities across Lebanon. In response, the IRC Child Protection (CP) team addresses children’s developmental needs through Psychosocial Support (PSS), Life-Skills Sessions for adolescents, Parenting Skills Training for caregivers, and individual Case Management (CM) for the most vulnerable children. IRC Child Protection work also focuses on capacity building efforts with local NGOs and government bodies in order to guarantee enhanced sustainability of its programming.

Job Overview/Summary:

The Child Protection Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the overall CP program including delivery of PSS and Case Management services in North Bekaa, capacity building of local CP organizations, the national CP Case Management Coaching Program, and IRC’s project targeting Street and Working Children in Beirut and Mt. Lebanon. The CP Coordinator will be responsible for the quality of IRC’s CP program, further development of the IRC’s CP strategy, representation at the national level, managing a diverse grant portfolio, and working with other IRC programs, including the Women’s Protection & Empowerment (WPE), Education and Protection programs to ensure comprehensive and coherent response for refugees and host communities.

Major Responsibilities:

Program Management

• Provide strategic direction, leadership and overall technical and management support to CP programs in Lebanon;
• Lead design processes that ensure new or adapted programming for child protection sector focuses on maximizing efficiencies, impact and integrated approaches;
• Identify needs and gaps in programming and proactively suggest new activities to build the CP program portfolio;
• Supervise and provide technical support to CP Managers to implement the IRC CP activities to a high quality standard;
• In collaboration with Managers, ensure smooth management of project work plans and budgets (budget forecasting, development of spending plans and budget follow-up), timely recruitment, and accurate reporting in accordance with IRC and donor regulations;
• Coordinate closely and liaise regularly with the Deputy Director of Programs and Grants unit to ensure quality implementation and business development, and to ensure quality management and compliance to donor requirements;

• Ensure that the CP department produces high quality inputs as part of the development and maintenance of program-specific budget management tools, including but not limited to, activity plans, Gantt charts, procurement plans,  financial forecasts, and budget vs. actuals;
• Actively participate in the monthly Grant Review Meeting process;
• Provide training to program teams on IRC activities and child protection best practices;
• Liaise with Technical Advisors on a regular basis to ensure technical assistance is provided when needed;

• Ensure the implementation of existing M&E systems, provide guidance where needed to improve the effectiveness of these systems and work to ensure output and impact data are captured and used to optimize program quality and identify efficiencies;
• Ensure that all internal and external reporting requirements are met, that reports are of a high quality and are submitted on time.

Technical Quality

• Ensure that all IRC CP projects are implemented in a timely and professional manner, according to objectives, goals and indicators and in line with donor requirements and beneficiary needs;
• Conduct ongoing assessments to determine the child protection needs of the target areas;
• Supervise and provide technical support to the team in the implementation of child protection activities, particularly regarding the implementation of case management and parenting skills training in accordance with international child protection standards;
• Supervise the implementation of the CPIMS and ensure the respect of data security standards;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of integrated programming approaches that serve the needs of beneficiaries across the range of sectors in which IRC works;
• Monitor and evaluate appropriate implementation of technical projects against program objectives and IRC’s Program Framework.

HR & Staff Capacity Building

• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions;
• Take responsibility for discussing job expectations, performance, and objectives on an informal, quarterly basis with all staff;
• Overall responsibility for staff timesheets, work plans, vacation schedules, and staff training/development activities;
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures.

Coordination and Representation

• Play an active role in the planning and execution of the country overall and sector strategies;
• Regularly attend Child Protection Working Group meetings and support managers to attend the coordination meetings at the field level.
• Participate in meetings with donors and other external stakeholders to represent IRC’s Child Protection program and advocate for adherence with global best practice in the sector.

Other

• Feed into the development of national, regional and global advocacy outputs as appropriate;
• Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

Job Requirements:

• Postgraduate degree in International Development, Social Work, or similar relevant social science;
• Minimum 5 years professional technical experience in Child Protection programming;
• Minimum 3 years international management experience, preferably in a conflict or post disaster setting;
• Solid managerial skills and experience in an international multi-cultural setting;
• Strong project planning, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills;
• Proven experience supervising and providing case management services and support;
• Must be capable of applying their skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others;
• Proven technical writing skills;
• Experience working in urban settings is an advantage;
• Previous experience managing programs financed through UNHCR, UNICEF, ECHO and other prominent institutional donors;
• Competent in Windows, MS office programs, email and database experience;
• Interpersonal qualities: Works well in teams and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure with professional grace;
• Fluent in spoken and written English;
• Functional Arabic an advantage.