Senior Safeguarding Officer

ROLE PROFILE
TITLE: Senior Safeguarding Officer (FOR MYANMAR NATIONAL ONLY)
TEAM/PROGRAMME: Human Resources
LOCATION: Sittwe, Rakhine Area
Number of Position: 1
Grade: NAT- 4
CONTRACT LENGTH: Fixed Term
CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3: The position holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting the country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The role holder will be responsible for designing, adapting, and implementing robust child safeguarding systems that adhere to effective Safeguarding standards and compliance mechanism. This position will involve capacity building, monitoring, enforcing compliance and accountability, management, and investigation, as well as advocacy at both the Area Office Rakhine and Country Office levels. The role holder will collaborate with the CO Safeguarding Focal, HR, Program Team, Field Operations teams and Risk and Compliance Team throughout the Rakhine Region. They will ensure that high-quality Safeguarding practices are maintained and delivered across all sectors and locations of the organization.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Senior Support Coordinator
Technical report to: National Safeguarding Lead
Staff reporting to this post: Nil
Budget Responsibilities: No financial approval
External Representation: Regular contact with basic information
Travel: Frequent (over 10 days per month)
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

S/he will be responsible on ensuring regional and global compliance requirements are met and provide input for AOM that requires leadership decisions. S/he will ensure compliance with Save the Children’s global standards and best practices for these above policies. This will include;

Safeguarding Mechanism
• Ensure that the safeguarding mechanism is in place within the Rakhine State, effectively implemented, and continuously monitored and reviewed.
• Deliver safeguarding, fraud, bribery, and corruption awareness sessions for Rakhine-based staff, volunteers, interns, consultants, suppliers, and partners, including inductions, refreshers, and ToT sessions to be in line with SCI guidance.
• Review and develop safeguarding and fraud training materials, including content and presentation, tailored to participants’ needs, particularly for camp-based staff and volunteers in Rakhine.
• Ensure that child safeguarding implementation plans and related costs are appropriately reflected in regional operations budgets and funding proposals.
• Ensure that SCI reporting systems are to be functional in Rakhine State, and promote awareness of reporting channels. Develop and implement strategies to receive safeguarding concerns safely, efficiently, and effectively through SCI reporting mechanisms.

Case Management
• Support the end-to-end investigation process for all safeguarding cases and assigned/ requested fraud-related cases.
• Support maintaining SCI’s case management KPI timeline
• Liaise and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure survivor care and referral support for victims/survivors.
• Maintain case management records, including case notes, investigation reports, and documentation of disciplinary actions related to safeguarding investigations.
• Facilitate the timely completion of agreed and recommended case actions within the Rakhine State.
• Ensure reporter feedback and complaints feedback mechanisms to be in placed in the area and effectively accessible in the area.

Volunteer Management
• Ensure the Volunteer Management System (VMS) guidance is effectively implemented in the Rakhine Area for SCI program-hired volunteers, including selection, identification, onboarding, training, contracting, data collection, performance review, and violation record-keeping, in line with safer recruitment processes.
• Ensure volunteer information is accurately maintained and regularly updated in the VMS, and collaborate with relevant stakeholders on volunteer management matters, proactively identifying and addressing any gaps, challenges, or support needs.
• Participate in recruitment and interview processes as assigned or required.

Safe Programming
• Support the identification of risks to children and adults across all project activities and events, and contribute to the development and implementation of appropriate mitigation measures within programmes. Provide inputs, tools, and safe programming guidance informed by local context and organizational policies.

Capacity Building
• Support/deliver a suite of contextualized training/workshops to enable staff/volunteer/ suppliers/ with key responsibilities to undertake their roles and mainstream safeguarding functions.
• Provide technical support to the Rakhine-based safeguarding Focal persons to deliver safeguarding inductions/training/VMS system awareness and to undertake investigations at the area level.

Other responsibilities
• Perform other tasks as assigned by the supervisor.
• Increase safeguarding collaboration with the program team, MEAL team, CO safeguarding team, and Rakhine Region Management Team, to ensure the safeguarding mainstreaming.
• Work with all SCI program teams to ensure child/adult/staff safety is paramount throughout all activities, providing concrete and pragmatic recommendations or adjustments to be made.
• Support the People & Culture Director/National Safeguarding Lead in providing overall leadership and oversight to the implementation of the Safeguarding policies self-audit action plan.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:
• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:
• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:
• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
• Always acts in the best interests of children
QUALIFICATIONS
University degree or equivalent qualification in finance and accounting

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

Education:
• Minimum bachelor’s degree, with at least 3 years’ experience in a related field.

Technical Skills:
• Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children’s aims, values and principles.
• Strong experience in safeguarding
• Experience in policy development, manuals, procedures and implementation on Child Safeguarding, Fraud, Anti-harassment, etc.)
• Strong experience of children-related programming
• Experience in conducting assessments, monitoring and evaluation, strong analysis and writing reports.
• Strong experience in facilitating trainings to diverse audiences in terms of facilitation skills and language.
• Meet deadlines, work under pressure and manage time.
• Communicate sensitive information to a wide and diverse audience.
• Knowledge of the local context is required.
• Proficiency in the local language is required.

General
• Create an environment which encourages teamwork and motivates a team across various geographical areas mainly focal points.
• Experience in building networks, working collaboratively with colleagues across the organization developing effective working relationships to deliver outstanding results for children
• Strong computer skills, including the use of email, internet and designing/publication.
• Strong English communication skills, both written and verbal.
Travel to field offices and work in difficult environments according to travel requirements

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience
Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All staff has an obligation and a responsibility to:
• Ensure they fully understand the provisions of the Child Safeguarding Policy, the Code of Conduct and Local/Country Procedures.
• Conduct themselves in accordance with the rules of the Child Safeguarding Policy, in their personal and professional lives – which includes reporting suspicions of child abuse.
• Ensure the way they are carrying out their work is not putting children at risk (or further risk) – this means constantly scrutinizing their work through a child safeguarding lens and talking to children about possible design/implementation “flaws”.
• Promote the message of child safeguarding to colleagues in other organizations and government ministries, children in their own and beneficiary families, and community members in general.
• Be vigilant about observing possible child abuse/harm in their personal and professional lives.

All managers have the above responsibilities as well as ensuring
• Their staff are doing the above.
• That child safeguarding is integrated and given a “voice” in all management processes including recruitment, induction, performance management, team meetings, annual planning processes, field level monitoring, etc.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Staff Safeguarding policy.
Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.