CCD Social Protection Advisor

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract / Internal Secondment

Full / Part Time: Full time (flexible working options available)

Contract Duration: 2 years

Closing Date: 17 October 2022

Salary Range: £39,100 -£46,000

The job of a Save the Children’s UK Social Protection Adviser is strategic and rewarding.

• Do you have significant international experience in social protection programmes, policy and/ or research, spanning design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation?
• Do you have experience of inter-agency collaboration around social protection and sound knowledge of the main platforms where this happens at the country and global level?
• Do you demonstrated understanding and experience of key issues in social protection, and how humanitarian CVA can and should link to national social protection systems?
• Are you motivated by our vision of creating a world where every child doesn’t just survive, but thrives, and can go on to change the world?

If the answers to these questions are yes, we would love to hear from you!

About Us

Save the Children is a member of the Collaborative Cash Delivery network (CCD), a network of 14 INGOs committed to collaborating for improved impacts of humanitarian cash programming. This position will initially support the Ukraine response of CCD agencies but over time will support other countries in line with CCD’s strategic priorities. As such, this job description is tailored to serve the initial needs in the Ukraine response but the broad themes will apply to other countries also.

In Ukraine, together with the other member agencies of the CCD, we will work closely with the Government and the Cash Working Group Task Team 5 on linking humanitarian MPCA with social protection, to ensure there is coordination and will identify opportunities for greater alignment or “piggybacking” on existing social protection schemes where this will improve the timeliness and effectiveness of our delivery. As part of this we will also explore options for temporarily scaling up the level of support to those already in receipt of social protection (vertical expansion) or temporarily expanding coverage of existing schemes to those who do not currently benefit (horizontal expansion), to accommodate for the unique needs of those who remain inside Ukraine and those on the move. We will also advocate for the inclusion of refugees in existing or new social protection schemes in their destination countries, and we will provide CVA where that is not feasible.

Job Purpose

In this position and in your support to the Ukraine response initially, CCD Social Protection Technical Advisor will be part of the interagency Shared Services Hub created by the CCD and will play a leading role to support CCD members’ operations in Ukraine, and will contribute to the CWG and in particular Task Team 5 on linking with social protection. Your role will also be aimed at facilitating links between humanitarian CVA and national social protection systems, with a view to improving coordination, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of our response. In providing expert advice to CCD member agencies, you will promote an integrated approach that combines financial support with other locally available or complementary interventions to better meet the various non-income related needs of the individuals and families we support (referred to as ‘Cash Plus’).

Main Accountabilities

• Assess capacity building requirements of CCD agencies and their partners on social protection and refine and socialise the CCD framework for ‘Responding to Shocks using Social Protection’ among CCD agencies operating in the Ukraine response and other responses as agreed.
• Develop an understanding of government social protection schemes, including through engagement with Task Team 5, of both regular and shock responsive schemes and provide recommendations, insights and engagement with CCD agencies and partners on opportunities for how best to support and align with inclusive and accountable social protection mechanisms (broadly applies to other responses also)
• Act as a key focal point in the development and undertaking of the User Journeys study and contribute to the work of Task Team 5, proposing and promoting appropriate responses from CCD agencies in line with emerging thinking and discussions on gaps and opportunities, and alignment of MPCA and social protection schemes.
• Lead the development of country/regional social protection action plans with specific guidance for each country/response and develop advocacy talking points in relation to social protection mechanisms (broadly applies to other responses such as Yemen also).
• Continue to support the User Journeys study and with the MEAL Manager, contribute to building the evidence base of effective approaches in the response, through involvement in the User Journeys study and other social protection studies, and work to influence government policies to deliver measurable improvements in child outcomes.
• As required, you will organise and support donor engagement with briefings and proposal design as it relates to social protection (all responses as required)
• Coordinate with and influence the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine on shock-responsive and child-sensitive social protection (and other country ministries as defined).
• Strengthen stakeholders’ capacities (including implementing partners) around child-sensitive and shock-responsive social protection (all responses as required).
• Act as a champion for child-sensitive social protection across the response and with all internal and external stakeholders involved, being able to clearly articulate the importance of humanitarian and social protection actors to coordinate and collaborate (all responses as required).
• Represent our work to, and work with, civil society organisations, national governments and regional and international organisations to increase coordination and learning and to support the achievement of advocacy and policy objectives for the children and families affected by the Ukrainian crisis and other crises to be determined.
• Create, document, and share key information, lessons learned, and guidance with agencies that are part of the CCD Network and that are involved in the Ukraine response, both inside Ukraine and in countries hosting refugees, as well as other crises to be determined.

Please Note: This role will require some travel to Eastern Europe/Ukraine – up to 30%.

Person Profile

Experience and Skills

• Significant international experience in social protection programmes, policy and/ or research, spanning design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• An academic/professional qualification at graduate level or equivalent in economics, social policy or a related field.
• Demonstrated understanding and experience of key issues in social protection, and how humanitarian CVA can and should link to national social protection systems.
• Understanding and experience of analysis of national social protection systems.
• Experience or a solid working knowledge on social protection in fragile and conflict affected settings
• Demonstrated experience of inter-agency collaboration around social protection and sound knowledge of the main platforms where this happens at the country and global level
• Experience of working overseas in an international development or humanitarian capacity
• Understanding and experience of the challenges affecting the access of forcibly displaced populations to social protection systems in host countries
• Highly developed analytical and conceptual skills and the ability to think and plan strategically.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including demonstrated capacity for influencing high level decision-makers.
• Strong advisory skills, including the ability to guide and influence from a distance.

Abilities

• An ability to work independently with minimal administrative support and to effectively manage competing priorities.
• Ability to analyse complex data in relation to social protection and poverty.
• A willingness and ability to travel including at short notice and occasionally to remote and insecure locations within the framework of the Ukrainian crisis response.
• A proven track record of institutional funding success, either for research or programming

Aptitude

• An understanding and commitment to Save the Children’s mission, values and approach and commitment to integrate gender and diversity into activities.

Ways of Working:

Remote First – The majority of our roles can be performed remotely, however you may work from the office as often as you wish. Whilst you will be predominantly working from home, we may at times require you to come to your contracted office (up to 2-4 days per month or 6-8 days per quarter). Note: This will be agreed with your Line Manager and team. This is intended to be time spent on collaborating with colleagues and relationship building.

On-site – There are certain roles that cannot be performed remotely and so your role will be based in an office location and you may occasionally be able to work from home.

Flexible Working – We are happy to discuss flexible working options at interview**.**

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Save the Children UK believes in a world that is fair, inclusive and equitable where all children have the opportunity to change their world. We apply this to our workforce and we are committed to developing and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organisation where all employees have a sense of belonging and feel that they can be “Free to Be Me”. We are mot looking for just one type of person – we want to recruit people who can add fresh perspectives, innovative ideas or challenge that disrupts the risk of group think.

We are especially interested in people whose childhood experiences – of life on a low income, of migration, of being in a racialised community, of the care system, of being LGBT+ or in an LGBT+ family or living with (or with someone with) a disability – help us to see things we might otherwise miss. Whatever your story is we want to hear it because we know that different voices, ideas, perspectives and knowledge, working together will enable us to better the lives of children around the world. This is the reason why we are all here.

To see our full statement please visit this link: https://jobs.savethechildren.org.uk/our-policies/diversity/