Thailand: Senior Child Rights and Civic Space Technical Expert

TITLE: Senior Child Rights and Civic Space Technical Expert

CONTRACT TYPE: National

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Programme Development & Quality

LOCATION: Bangkok-based, Save the Children Thailand (SCT)

CONTRACT LENGTH: Open-ended

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior Child Rights and Civic Space Technical Expert will use their in-depth contextual understanding, technical expertise, and relationship building skills to define and deliver our strategic ambition for child rights and promotion of civic space in Thailand. The role will lead strategy direction and the technical design and implementation of high-quality programmes that deliver change for children in both emergency and development programming. The role supports CSO strengthening to increase their effectiveness in contributing to the realization of children’s rights in Thailand. The role also works on national advocacy and influencing, while driving new business development relating to child participation as part of the localization agenda. It supports the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across our programmes, teams and partners. The role will work closely operations colleagues and with partners at the grassroots level, building their capacity and building ownership and agency of local organizations. This role includes a focus on external representation on priority issues including empowering children to claim their right to diverse identity (i.e. SOGIESC), political and civil rights, promoting civil society voice and space, public financial management and how it impacts public investment in children, monitoring and reporting on child rights and national development planning processes (e.g. on the SDGs). In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

• Reports to: Strategy and Programme Quality Director
• Staff reporting to this post: no direct reports but expected to provide coaching and mentoring support to operational and other technical colleagues and local partners
• Budget Responsibilities: None
• Role Dimensions: The role is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including Save the Children members, the Programme Quality, Evidence and Impact team, Business Development, Advocacy Colleagues, Regional Advisors, technical counterparts in other organization, donors, and academia etc. The role is also expected to engage with internal technical working groups and communities of practice.
• Context: Humanitarian and development
• Scope: Child Rights, Child Participation, and CSOs strengthening
• Primary Technical area: Child Rights Governance
• Primary Sub Technical areas: Child Participation
• Secondary Technical area: Monitoring and Demanding Child Rights, Good Governance, Public Investment

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

A. Technical Leadership:

1. Provide technical leadership for Child Rights, Child Participation, and Civic Space for SCT, and set the strategic approach in relation to the wider country strategy
2. Build capacity of national staff and partners in key technical approaches related to Child Rights Programming, Child Participation, and Civic Space Strengthening.
3. Lead on effective mechanisms to support children’s safe and meaningful participation in advocacy and campaigns by working closely with SCT and global advocacy and campaigns teams, other PQEI teams and country offices.
4. Liaise closely with/oversee collaboration with advocacy and campaigns colleagues to support in ensuring our advocacy and campaign work is well aligned with children’s right to be heard
5. Contribute to the design and development of the Chid Rights and Business Principle (CRBP)’s partnership framework and/or possibility to work with private sector to adhere with child rights standards.

B. Ensuring Programme Quality (Design & Implementation):

1. Support New Business Development colleagues through technical inputs on funding strategies, donor engagement, capture planning, partnering and forming consortia, and opportunity preparation
2. Lead high quality technical integrated and standalone Child Rights programme design; work with cross-functional colleagues across the movement and with local partners to deliver technical programme designs that are evidence based and in line with our programme quality principles, international standards, and donor requirements.
3. Ensure that a rights based approach is reflected in our programme design and implementation (in line with our child rights programming approach), with a strong focus on child participation.
4. Promote a Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework that supports working in collaboration and partnership with governments and regional bodies, local partners and working towards impact, scale and sustainability.
5. Provide oversight and guidance to the programme implementation teams to ensure that thematic programme components are technically sound, implementation methods are consistent with national and global strategies, acknowledged good practice (e.g. Save the Children Common Approaches); and are likely to achieve scale, as well as equitable and sustainable results.
6. Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases overall impact of Child Rights programmes at different levels; from community, to provincial, and national one.
7. Work with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) teams to carry out gender and power analysis, and conduct quality monitoring against international standards through participatory methodologies that promote gender equality and social justice (including child-friendly and gender sensitive/transformative methodologies);
8. Contribute towards the creation of an organizational learning culture that promotes the use of disaggregated data, evidence and analysis (including gender and power analysis) and understands its link to quality and accountable programming; contribute to strengthening the use of equality-focused programme principles and good practice across themes and sectors.
9. Undertake field visits to project sites; work with implementation teams to understand impacts, operational challenges, and continuously identify opportunities for learning and improvement.
10. Contribute to organizational learning on Child Rights and Civic Space, ensuring that learning from our programmes is shared across the organization and our partners, as well as with colleagues in the wider regional and global child rights community in Save the Children. Contribute to strengthening the use of Child Rights/CRG competencies within training and learning initiatives in the sector.
11. Support Humanitarian colleagues (as needed) to develop emergency preparedness plans and conduct sectoral assessments (including gender analysis and disability situation analysis using SC assessment processes and tools) and to design and deliver emergency response and recovery programmes. Ensure that consultations with children and affected communities are integrated into emergency preparedness and executed through our response plans. Ensure synergies between humanitarian teams and TE teams with respect to data sharing and programme design.

C. Networking & External Engagement:

1. In alignment with SCT’s strategy and leadership, engage in strategic positioning with donors, partners and government in-country, and ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice in child rights governance and monitoring.
2. Ensure that SCT is influencing and learning from others through national technical coordination and networking bodies such as clusters and working groups as well any private sectors that come into contact with SCT.
3. Take the lead for SCT in strengthening civil society engagement in national dialogues and policy processes on empowering children to claim their political and civil rights, promoting their own voice and safeguarding ‘space’, public financial management and how it impacts public investment in children, monitoring and reporting on child rights, and influencing national development planning processes (e.g. on the SDGs). Through working closely with advocacy and other thematic colleagues.
4. Ensure that the diverse voices of children, girls and boys are equitably heard and represented in our Child Rights work.
5. Represent the program to National and Local government representatives, donors, partner agencies, private sectors etc. as required.
6. Ensure the quality, clarity and consistency of technical components of internal and external reports (e.g. programme reports, sit-reps, internal updates), working closely with awards, programme implementation and communications colleagues as needed.
7. Leverage and liaise with technical colleagues from across Save the Children, including technical working groups and centres of excellence, ensuring that learning from SCT is shared with others and global lessons brought back.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice): 

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds their team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in accordance with the context, 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 professional 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

The post holder must commit to work in an international agency that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion and fights racism, gender inequality and discrimination in all forms; and to model positive behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to equality and respect to all colleagues, partners and communities.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Masters degree in in political science, social science, international development or relations, public administration, governance, law, human rights, or similar, or equivalent experience.
• Professional qualification in law, child rights governance/monitoring, public administration, public financial management, social policy

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS: 

Essentials:

• At least 7 years’ experience of leading the design and implementation of humanitarian and/or development programmes in on human rights (preferably children’s rights), governance, social accountability or public investment programmes and/or advocacy.
• Understanding of Child Rights and Governance sectors in Thailand. Proven track record of successful design and/or implementation of child rights, and/or establishing partnership with CSOs in Thailand
• Familiar with some or all of the following tools: political economy analyses, gender analyses, child rights situation analyses, and participatory research methodologies. Also familiar with human rights led approaches to programming (and particularly child rights programming approaches). As well as one or all of the Child Rights and Business Principles or ‘doing development differently’ .
• Strong technical and analytical skills and ability to synthesize and process information on child rights and civic space issues
• Highly developed communication skills, written and verbal, and the ability to present information clearly and effectively to a wide range of internal and external audiences, including proposal and report writing skills.

Desirables:

• Track record in successful business development/fundraising with SIDA, DANIDA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands, USAID / DoS, UK FCDO, Irish Aid, Global Affairs Canada, Green Climate Fund, World Bank & EBRD (& Corporates), EU Instrument contributing to Stability & Peace, EU EIDHR, EU CSO, Ford Foundation, Open Society Institute.
• Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.
• Experience of strategy development and planning.
• Experience of context, capacity and policy analysis, and influencing and advocacy at regional/international level in order to hold duty bearers to account to realize children’s rights.
• Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilize resources.
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children.
• Experience of promoting quality and impact through at least one cross-cutting area: gender equality and inclusion, adaptive and safer programming; disability; migration and displacement.
• Experience of supporting humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery
• Significant experience in training, capacity building, and mentoring.
• Fluent in English and high level of English writing skills.

KEY COMPETENCIES: 

Technical Competencies:

• Understands the interdependency of Human Rights, Governance and Development Agendas, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Undertakes and uses outcomes of Child Rights Situation Analysis (CRSA) & Political Economy Analysis (PEA)
• Works to empower children to claim their political and civil rights
• Works to promote civil society voice and space

Generic Competencies: 

• Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities
• Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalized children
• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery
• Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers

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 Save the Children 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.

Safeguarding Our Staff: The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the Save the Children anti-harassment policy.

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

How to Apply: 

Interested candidates should apply and submit a motivational letter, comprehensive CV, expected salary and details of at least 3 referees via the following link: APPLY HERE

Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.