Social Protection Systems Strengthening Specialist at Save The Children

Job ID: 19000338
Location: Abuja
Employee Status: Fixed Term

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3- The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children or young people and, in the overseas context all posts are considered to be level 3 posts in view of potential situations which may allow staff unsupervised access to vulnerable children and young people.
  

Role Purpose:

• The purpose of this role is to provide technical support to systems strengthening for the implementation and delivery of key national safety net programmes. The role is also expected to support the coordination efforts of the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO).

Scope of Role:

• Technical Support from - the Senior Social Protection Specialist

Background

• The Government has prioritized social protection interventions as a key strategy towards reducing poverty and socio-economic vulnerabilities in the population. The Government of Nigeria has partnered with the World Bank under a National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP) to support the development of safety nets in Nigeria.
• NASSP involves two components: (i) establishing systems for social safety net that would serve as a robust platform for effectively targeting and delivering social assistance; and (ii) implementing cash transfers to targeted poor and vulnerable households. The program has national coverage, with all states eligible to participate. The systems developed for NASSP in Nigeria will be used across the country’s different safety net programs, irrespective of funding source or targeted beneficiary group. Different stakeholders, such as governments, development partners, or civil society, will be able to use the systems for delivering social assistance programs in Nigeria.
• To implement NASSP, Government has established the National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to consolidate existing social safety net programs at the Federal level.  Under the systems agenda of NASSP, the Government plans to develop: (i) a National Social Registry (NSR) of poor and vulnerable households based on robust targeting mechanism; (ii) management information systems (MIS), including for monitoring and evaluation and (iii) other key systems for the delivery of social safety nets. To support this work, Save the Children International will be recruiting a System Strengthening Specialist to be based in the NASSCO to provide technical support to systems strengthening for the NASSP

Key Areas of Accountability:

• Reporting to the Head of program and policy Development and Establishment of Standards (NASSCO) and the Senior Social Protection Specialist (SCI), the Social Protection Systems Strengthening Specialist will be expected to perform the following tasks:
• Coordinate and maintain professional working relations with relevant partners with a view to effectively supporting the implementation of necessary complementary activities, helping to leverage their contribution while avoiding both actual and foreseeable potential conflicts of interest.
• Assist with designing and delivering strategies for strengthening NASSCO SSNs coordination activities in relation to building the social register (Community engagement, M&E/MIS and GRM)
• In collaboration with the relevant unit, develop and implement innovations on learning (NSR System Strengthening)
• Support the review and assessment of prioritised components of key SSN programmes including (Grievance, targeting, monitoring)
• Coordinate the development of systems strengthening plans for prioritised SSN programmes Provide technical support to planning, roll-out, deployment and piloting of new systems
• Support enhancement and integrate agreed recommendations, tools, guidelines into existing systems
• Develop capacity in at federal and state level on the use of the enhanced systems and new systems
• Facilitate training and development of training materials Provide quality control for systems strengthening activities.
• Provide support in documenting and tracking lessons learned for systems strengthen initiatives.
• Provide support in the preparation and drafting of technical manual, guidelines, and standard operating procedures
• Provide support in the preparation and implementation of annual work plans, quarterly and annual reports, activity reports and other related communications
• Perform any other duties as assigned.

Skills and Behaviours (our Values in Practice)
Accountability:

• Accuracy and timeliness in all areas of responsibility
• High level of accuracy in work, and ability to analyse complex sets of relationships and situations
• Holds self and others accountable

Ambition:

• Creating best-in-class EA function
• Future-orientated, thinks pro-actively

Collaboration:

• Working effectively with stakeholders to achieve common goals
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Designing more effective admin systems
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency, demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in the Social Sciences, such as Economics, Geography, Development Studies, Rural Development/Sociology or other related fields. A master’s degree will be an added advantage.
• Any training on social protection will be an added advantage

Skills & Experience:
Administrative & General Skills:

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience working in Social Protection,  Project Management or development
• Experience working in the public sector will  be an added advantage
• A successful record of accomplishment in systems building in social sectors.
• Experience building capacity of government counterparts, mentoring and training.
• Experience with social safety nets particularly cash transfer. Should have strong collaboration and networking skills.
• Experience using Political Economy Analysis (PEA) that informs on-going program iteration
• Computer literacy (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint)
• Fluency in English, spoken and written
• Ability to work in partnership with government and other NGO’s staff
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to work within a team setting
• Independence, adaptability and flexibility
• Excellent communication skills

Working Conditions:

• Ability and willingness to travel to projects and stay in basic conditions when necessary.