Child Protection Specialist

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

SUMMARY OF THE POSITION

The Child Protection Speciaprovide strategic direction on Child Protection in interventions in the Plan Sierra Leone Programs implemented in the country with a special focus on the EduPlay project. The post holder supports the project manager, and Programme Implementation Area (PA) office staff and ensures child protection interventions are of high quality and positions Plan International as a leading agency working on child protection in Sierra Leone with specific recognition of our girl's focus.

The position will develop strong relations with in-country relevant CP working Groups, Districts and regional networks (CP and SGBV regional networks), INGO, NNGO, UN and donor offices. There will be more attention on Plan International’s engagement which focuses on influencing and ensuring the specific needs of girls at CO and the EDuPlay Project Implementation Districts.

The CP specialist will provide support to EduPlay Project team or focal persons in the PIIAs and country office and will ensure that the Country Office and PIIAs have the right technical capability for Child Protection by supporting the professional development of Plan’s staff across the Eduplay Project, PIIAs and CO.

Furthermore, the Specialist will focus her/his time on the provision of technical assistance to

• Ensure that CP interventions are aligned with the Child Protection Minimum Standards and other existing global guidelines and tools for CP and create synergies between our CP Interventions and GBV programming and
• To ensure that our CP interventions are linked to longer-term programming.
• To support the technical coordination and implementation of the EduPlay Programs of Plan International across the Districts, Consortium and PIIAs.
• To support business development initiatives in liaison with Technical Leads (TA’s)

The post holder will not have direct staff supervision but will support the Head of Programme Development and Quality (HoPDQ) to have indirect oversight of a significant CP Intervention budget managed by Eduplay Project Manager, Child Safeguarding and Protection Specialist and PIIAs.

The post holder is expected to deploy (sometimes at short notice) Child Protection interventions to support PIIAs and the Country to respond to new and existing crises.

Accountability

1. Provide Technical assistance to the Sierra Leone Country Office, Edu-Play Project and PIIAs teas in CP 

• Provides Country Office and PIIAs with strategic advice and guidance on their CP portfolio, ensuring it is of high quality, aligned with standards and has a clear focus on gender, diversity and inclusion.

• Provide technical assistance to project implementation teams on the ground across the country.
• Provide technical assistance to EduPlay team in PIIAs in the formulation of child protection intervention programme strategies and plans
• Support development and roll-out of contextualised CP guidance and tools
• Develop and support mobile protection programming (development of guidelines and tools,
• project evaluation) in the country.
• Ensure Country office staff have access to relevant knowledge, practices, resources and tools
• Work closely with MERL specialist in the countries to strengthen M&E and reporting mechanisms for the CP program
• Ensure that CP interventions are aligned with the Child Protection Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Action and other existing global guidelines and tools for CP as well as create synergies between our CP, Safeguarding and GBV programming
• Ensure that CP interventions are linked to longer-term programming
• Leads the quarterly CP Analysis within the country and provides communication

2. Programme Implementation

• Lead on (rapid) child protection needs assessments coordinating with Plan’s other programmatic areas and Child Protection Networks, ensuring assessment findings are documented and disseminated, including the rapid needs assessments
• Ensure that the different capacities, vulnerabilities and coping mechanisms of girls and boys are considered and analysed.
• Ensure the effective planning, implementation and coordination of child protection programming
• Contribute to the development of staffing (CS specialist or focal persons) plans to implement CP programme activities in the country,
• Supports Country Office development and updates CP Response Plan to ensure CPiE quality programming is considered

3. Capacity Building

•   Provide a Capacity-building plan and provide training, coaching and mentorship on CP to PIIAs, country programme staff, including CP staff. 
• Coordinate and/or implement training and briefings of Plan staff, partners and other key stakeholders on CP.  
• Promote the application of best programme practices in CP.

4. Strengthen Evidence and Learning 

• Promote organisational learning on CP programming through collecting and publishing case studies and reports on good practices, and lessons learned collected from PIIAs.
• Provide technical support to researchers that contribute to CP evidence-based programming
• Work closely with PM, and PIIAs Staff for scaling up Plan International CP intervention impact while using evidence to improve programme quality

5. Coordination and representation

• Build and maintain relationships with relevant UN agencies and NGOs in the country.
• Actively contribute to National/regional and district CP Coordination Mechanisms/clusters.
• Contribute to relevant regional advocacy and policy objectives with documented learning and evidence
• Proactively engage with regional/national agencies and networks, such as the national CP and SGBV sub-clusters or working groups.
• Set up a country coordination mechanism across PIIAs in Sierra Leone with all CSP staff or focal persons.
• Actively represent Plan in all related child protection and SGBV national coordination mechanism

6. Resource Mobilization

• Support Country Office resource mobilisation teams in securing funds for continuous programme scale-up by providing lessons learnt and project-related contextual information.
• Identifying potential extension/follow-up interventions.
• Providing programme presentations to potential donors to enhance resource mobilisation 

Location:            Applicant will be based in one of these locations  (Falaba, Tonkolili, Kono, Kailahun District)

Type of Role:      Child Protection Specialist X 1 position

Reports to:         Head of Programme Development & Quality (HoPDQ)

Grade:                 Level 16

Closing Date:     27th February , 2025

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.