FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS TECHNICAL ADVISOR
TITLE: Food Security and Livelihoods Technical Advisor
TEAM/PROGRAMME: Program Development and Quality
LOCATION: Juba with frequent travel to the field GRADE: 3
CONTRACT LENGTH: 24 Months
Permanent
Fixed Term
CHILD SAFEGUARDING: (select only one)
Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people
ROLE PURPOSE:
The Food Security & Livelihoods (FSL) Technical Advisor provides strategic direction and technical oversight to the country office (CO) programs in areas of food security and livelihoods which includes cash transfer programming, economic resilience, climate resilience adaptation and mitigation, agro-Livestock recovery/development, Market based programming and youth economic empowerment programming, including TVET. Under the general direction and guidance of the Deputy PDQ director, ensures all food security and livelihoods programming is of excellent technical quality, coherent and aligned with SC and cluster strategies, attracts significant donor funding and contributes significantly to national/global learning, advocacy and program development. The post holder is expected to provide technical advice and support to project staff to ensure program quality is maintained and programming objectives are successfully achieved.
The FSL TA will serve as technical focal person for Climate Resilience integration across the 3 Breakthroughs of SCI South Sudan programme and from time-to-time s/he will provide technical support in existing and incoming climate resilience building programme of SCI in South Sudan.
The post-holder shall also contribute to the development and/review of the country strategic direction and actively lead in the development of food security and livelihood policy and programme formulation. S/he represents SC in food security cluster and participates in cash and market working group and other relevant forums. S/he undertakes regular assessment to understand capacity gaps and initiates capacity strengthening efforts.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Deputy Director of Program Development and Quality (PDQ)
Dimensions: The South Sudan Country Office (CO) has diverse programs in areas of FSL, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Child Protection, Child Rights Governance, and Education and presence in 9 Field Offices, with an annual portfolio of over US $50m. It employs approx. 600 staff.
Staff directly reporting to this post: Food Security and Livelihoods Coordinator.
The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Save the Children members, the Country Office Programme Development & Quality team, advocacy colleagues, Regional Advisors, technical counterparts in other organisation, donors etc.
The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups, in particular with the FSL , Cash Working Group, Humanitarian Technical WG, and SCI communities of practice in ESARO.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Strategic Leadership:
- Provide overall strategic leadership on Save the Children South Sudan Food Security and Livelihoods portfolio across the development and humanitarian context, including youth empowerment and employment, resilience, and Climate Resilience sub-theme
- Provide technical inputs into the design, development, monitoring and reporting of the Country Strategic Plan and Annual Plans, including driving the development and realisation of ambitious yet practical Poverty strategies and plans
- Provide strategic direction and leadership to the food security and livelihoods , Climate resilience building initiatives in all the 3 breakthroughs and support the team to roll out global initiatives in South Sudan aimed at delivering concrete results for the three organisational breakthroughs for children (Survive, Learn, Be Protected)
- Work with other thematic leads to seek opportunities and linkages, wherever applicable, for programmatic integration with other thematic areas (child protection, education, Health, Nutrition, WASH) to increase depth of impact for vulnerable children
- Provide thought leadership and technical guidance to the Senior Management Team (SMT), Program Development & Quality (PDQ) department and Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods team to advance Save the Children’s relevance in Child Poverty Reduction sub-themes in relation to emerging trends and priorities, such as Anticipatory Action, Social Protection, Climate Change, Urbanisation, Localisation etc.
Resource Mobilisation:
- Work with other thematic leads, the Head of Business Development, Operations, and field teams to develop sector response plans, new proposals, and master budgets
- Actively inputs into strategic fundraising to support implementation of the sector Strategic Plan, including analysis of donor priorities and positions on issues related to Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods, and identify synergies and scope for collaboration
- Along with the Country Director, PDQ director, maintain excellent professional relationships with key government stakeholders, existing donors, as well as engaging potential donors, to continuously leverage support and resources for the Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods (poverty Reduction) portfolio
- Provide timely and quality technical inputs into project design and proposal development for poverty reduction (food security, Climate Resilience and livelihood) funding opportunities by bringing together learnings from programme delivery, global best practices, innovation, and donor interests
Technical Assistance
- Support Operations and Field Teams to ensure timely and quality programme implementation to ensure impactful and timely delivery of programme activities, including monitoring against log frames, contributing to individual performance management and work plans
- Provide technical leadership on Climate Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCA and DRR) of SCI South Sudan.
- Develop DRR CCA & Resilience-building frameworks and promote mainstreaming in Health, WASH, Education, and Food Security Livelihoods programs of SCI South Sudan
- Guide Climate resilience coordination and collaboration with state and national level line ministries and departments including Disaster Management, Meteorological, Environment, Agriculture, Livestock, Education, Health, Water, and Irrigation
- Work and support field teams to prepare timely programme and donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal SC requirements and any relevant external donor requirements.
- Lead and work together with Operation team provide technical supportive supervision to project teams, including training on appropriate approaches and methodologies; conceptual and practical frameworks; monitoring frameworks, standards and tools for effective and quality delivery of poverty reduction (food security, livelihood and climate resilience) programmes.
- Provide technical review, guidance and inputs to donor reports to ensure that the reports are of high technical quality, aligning to poverty reduction (food security and livelihood and Climate Resilience) strategic plans and deliverables in project proposals
- Work closely with the Operations and HR teams to identify FSL staffing needs (both national and international) for emergency programmes, and contribute to ensuring rapid and comprehensive recruitment, induction, and training of new staff
- In the design stage identify programme supply needs with the operations and design team and develop procurement plans
- Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team to put in place a sector M&E plan, ensuring this links to reporting requirements, and capacity build technical field staff in carrying out the work
- Work closely with the Head of MEAL to put in place accountability activities for your thematic area, ensuring that feedback from all relevant stakeholders is considered in programme design
- To ensure that the minimum standards of humanitarian relief are maintained in accordance with the Sphere Charter, the Red Cross Code of Conduct, and the Core Humanitarian Standards.
Representation and Advocacy
- Represent and position Save the Children South Sudan programme in high-level and strategic internal and external fora related to Food Security, Climate Resilience and Livelihoods, including influencing key stakeholders in South Sudan e.g. donors, Government, UN agencies and NGOs
- Work closely with the Head of Advocacy and Campaigns to develop and disseminate policy briefs and position papers in Food Security, Climate Resilience and Livelihood in line with the Country Strategic Plan and global strategy of Save the Children
- Identify and capitalise on key opportunities and events for Save the Children to showcase and position itself as the leading organisation for Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods, linked to realising children’s rights in South Sudan
Learning and Knowledge Management
- Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) team to track progress towards Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods programme and global indicators, and utilisation of data to inform decision making and course correction.
- Lead and foster a culture in the technical and operations teams of the systematic collecting, documenting, sharing and utilising of evidence, learning and best practices in Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods to drive quality and impact of programming and advocacy
- Provide technical review, guidance and inputs into food security, Climate Resilience and livelihood focused research studies and evaluations and facilitate the dissemination and uptake of research findings, learning and best practices documentation in Food Security, Climate Resilience and livelihoods both internally and externally to donors, governments, consortium partners and other key actors
- Serve as a technical knowledge, skills and experience hub for the sector in South Sudan, and in doing so play a leading role in introducing innovations in food security, Climate Resilience and Livelihood programmes gained from existing and emerging Save the Children’s global, regional and South Sudan knowledge and practices.
People Management & Development
- Provide leadership to the food security, Climate Resilience and Livelihood (poverty reduction) team, including strategic vision and direction, team cohesion and team building
- Lead, in coordination with HR, the recruitment, professional development and promotion of direct line reports as appropriate, including the identification of development opportunities, such as coaching/training/stretch assignments to build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading first class programmes
- Provide day-to-day direct line management of the food security, Climate Resilience and Livelihood technical specialists, including: Manage and define expectations; delegation of roles, responsibilities and tasks among the team; provide technical guidance and support to the team as needed.
- Undertake performance management, including setting of annual goals and quarterly deliverables, undertaking quarterly reviews, and provision of feedback to ensure delivery of results
- Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors.
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.
- Creates a managerial environment to lead, enable and maintain our culture of child safeguarding.
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
- Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale
Collaboration:
- Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
- Works collaboratively to achieve shared goals and thrives on diversity of people and perspectives; knows when to lead and when to follow and how to ensure effective cross-boundary working.
- Communicates clearly and confidently with others to engage and influence; promotes dialogue and ensures timely and appropriate messages, building confidence and trust.
- Invests time and energy to actively develop self and others to help realise their full potential, and to build the organisation’s capability for the future.
Creativity:
- Applies the required technical and professional expertise to the highest standards; promotes and shares best practice within and outside the organization.
- Develops and implements innovative solutions to adapt and succeed in ever-changing and uncertain global and working environments.
- Takes effective, considered and timely decisions by gathering and evaluating relevant information from within or outside the organization.
Integrity:
- Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence.
- Displays consistent excellent judgement
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Postgraduate qualification in discipline related to Social sector Planning Management, Development studies, Emergency & Recovery Food Security Livelihoods , Humanitarian Leadership Management agricultural economics, development economics, agriculture, food security or other relevant discipline or commensurate work experience in lieu of postgraduate qualification.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Required
- Significant international experience in food security and livelihoods programming in developing countries with specific experience and/or advanced understanding of at least three of the following
- FSL and Climate Resilience programme design and quality management for vulnerable populations especially in agro-pastoral communities
- experience of running and monitoring cash transfer programmes
- designing and implementing market assessments and analysis of data collected
- relevant training and expertise in using Save the Children Market Based Programming, FSL Assessment, Labour Market Assessment, Participatory Vulnerability Capacity Assessment, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Practices/Approaches
- Strong commitment to capacity building of national staff and partners with willingness to adopt a participatory and consultative management approach.
- Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties. Tact and diplomacy are essential
- Experience of working in insecure/conflict situations and security management.
- Willingness to travel regularly and in difficult circumstances
- Fluent in spoken and written English
Desirable
- Knowledge and understanding of SPHERE Standard and other principles of humanitarian work.
- Experience in promoting children’s participation in programme design, implementation and evaluation.
- Good understanding of poverty reduction strategy framework and related processes.
- Working experience in planning and response to large-scale food insecurity situations.
- Fluent in Arabic
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.
Health and Safety
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Find out more about this role by downloading the job description JOB DESCRIPTION
10 JUN 2024
1 JUL 2024 – 20:00 EAT
WORLDWIDE
PROGRAMME, DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY
PERMANENT
FULL-TIME