Established in 1949, SOS Children's Villages is a dynamic social development international organization working globally to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of orphaned and vulnerable children.
The Regional Alternative Care Advisor will be responsible for designing, coordinating and monitoring alternative care initiatives in the region, with specific focus on Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zanzibar. In this work area, s/he provides expertise to Member Associations and proposes the related strategic goals and actions at regional and national level. S/he will also be responsible for establishing and maintaining a knowledge hub on behalf of the organization on all areas of alternative care.
Key performance areas and main responsibilities:
Coordinate regional program development on innovative alternative care
- To work with key Program co-workers to design and deliver innovative alternative care models within the region
- To coordinate the development of a regional alternative care strategy
- To monitor current debates within the organization, United Nations and other international forums on alternative care, and identify opportunities to shape and influence these policies
- To work with key Program co-workers to develop and maintain a knowledge hub and keep others in the organization informed of trends and opportunities
- To work with international liaisons to ensure that the region and Member Associations have relevant strategic connections
- Support reaching a consensus on SOS minimum standards on the implementation of the UN guidelines for the alternative care of children
Engagement with relevant stakeholders and the media
Based on an assessment of existing capacities, s/he will be expected to:
- Build and maintain contacts with relevant NGO networks working on alternative care to ensure the inclusion of SOS CV key messages into policy documents, meetings and events as appropriate
- Organize the regional alternative care conferences and other events, including liaison with other NGOs where appropriate in their design and implementation
- Represent the Association when appropriate at international, continental and national conferences, working groups and platforms of relevance, and incorporate other relevant co-worker(s) as necessary
Capacity building, knowledge management and information dissemination
- Develop, implement and evaluate different kinds of alternative care models
- Identify capacity gaps within the Regional Office and Member Association’s co-workers pertaining to alternative care of children, and facilitate capacity building processes accordingly
- Create, share, use and manage knowledge and information on alternative care within the region
- Develop and execute linkages between the regional advocacy strategy, national strategies and the alternative care models
- Remain informed and up to date on the main activities and events of the civil society within the region focusing on alternative care issues
Required Qualifications and Experience:
- Master's degree in human rights, child rights, international law, psychology, social work or other relevant social science degree
- At least 5 years of professional work experience in fields relevant to child protection and alternative care programming
- Demonstrated experience in building capacity of teams and staff;
- Aability to communicate clearly and audibly with different kinds of people; be it in the communities, or with government officials
- Highly developed leadership, facilitation and coordination skills;
- Knowledge of advocacy and awareness raising, policy influencing and monitoring and community mobilization
- Fluency in written and spoken English, with French and Portuguese being added an advantage
- Great computer skills: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
- Ability to plan, manage, organize and supervise others effectively
- Ability to work with minimum supervision
- Ability to work well in a team as well as independently, and under pressure in response to changing needs
- Ability to plan well, set own targets and meet them
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications including at least three traceable referees should be sent electronically to:ESAF.HROD@sos-kd.org
If you don’t hear from us within 40 days, your application is not successful
“A loving home for every child’’
