Job Title: Global SHEA and Safeguarding Lead
Job Family: Lead
Directorate/Cluster: People, Finance and Operations
Unit/Team: Risk, Compliance and Assurance Unit
Entry Salary: Grade E
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa or Nairobi, Kenya, London or an ActionAid International Country Office
Budget Holder: Yes
Reports to (incl matrix reporting): Head of Risk, Compliance and Assurance
Direct reports: Global PSEA Advisor, Global Child Safeguarding Advisor, Global SHEA and Safeguarding Coordinator
DBS (CRB) / Police Check: Yes
Application closing date: 09/05/2022 at 23:59 GMT time zone
ROLE OVERVIEW
The Global SHEA and Safeguarding Lead (Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse, Child Abuse, and Adult at Risk Abuse) provides specialist leadership to the organization in the development and implementation of strategies, policies and procedures to prevent and protect staff and programme partners and rights holders from sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by ActionAid International (AAI) employees and representatives.
The role:
- Manages a global team of SHEA and Safeguarding experts x 3 staff
- Provides professional advice and capacity building across the Federation so that safeguarding is embedded everywhere e.g including Safeguarding in country planning, working with senior leaders across the Federation, ensuring that Safeguarding protocols and tools are developed and rolled out that are legally compliant and in line with global best practice and ActionAid’s feminist approach.
- Oversees a Federation-wide network of SHEA and Safeguarding Focal Points including training and wider capacity building
- Ensures strong creation and maintenance of global SHEA and Safeguarding policies
- Develop and maintain strategy on Safeguarding for the Federation
- Oversees investigations into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse and develops and maintains safe, survivor centred, and feminist case management approach to Safeguarding cases.
- Supports AAI to develop a strong risk management approach to SHEA and Safeguarding (including incorporating Safeguarding into organizational risk registers and reporting to Risk oversight committees)
- Ensures that leadership and the AAI Board have strong oversight over SHEA and Safeguarding by providing regular updates to the board (e.g reporting to Board Committees) and providing wider capacity building (e.g training the leadership team, the Board)
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Strategic Impact and contribution
- Provide specialist leadership to the organization in the development and implementation of strategies, policies and procedures to prevent and protect communities and rights holders, staff and other AA representatives from sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by ActionAid International (AAI) employees and representatives
- Support Country/Executive Directors to embed Safeguarding in their entities
- Support AAI and national boards to understand and implement Safeguarding in their roles
- Oversees, develops and trains a network of Safeguarding Investigators across the Federation
- Support an organizational culture where safeguarding is a priority, is discussed in teams and with partner staff, allegations are taken seriously, and beneficiaries, staff and partners feel safe to report
- Support AAI’s strategic implementation framework through embedding Safeguarding into all campaigns and wider activities
- Support AAI’s humanitarian signature approach by embedding Safeguarding into all humanitarian responses and planning
2. System, Policies and Procedures, and Product Management
- Lead in the development of policies, tools, systems and structures to support SHEA and Safeguarding across AAI and lead on the promotion of our feminist and survivor centred approach
- Ensure that appropriate targets, objectives and actions are set to implement organizational safeguarding policies.
- Drive planning and Assurance processes on safeguarding work and feed into internal processes e.g Assurance, annual reporting
- Keep abreast of developments and discussions on safeguarding both inside and outside the organisation, to support the development of safeguarding work at ActionAid
- Design and deliver training, awareness raising and other capacity building activities for staff, volunteers, and other stakeholders
- Research and develop innovative approaches to countering sexual exploitation and abuse e.g survivor centred and feminist approaches
- Contribute to AAI’s risk management processes and work with colleagues to incorporate best practice into risk and control activities.
3. Issue Resolutions, Crisis/Risk Management
- Track and record country level work on safeguarding, reviewing progress reports & statistics and following up if gaps against the policies are noted
- Develop high quality monitoring & evaluation reports on ActionAid’s responses to safeguarding for relevant senior leaders, capturing and resolving issues and challenges
- Oversee all cases of SHEA and Safeguarding
- Ensure learning on safeguarding from across the Federation is incorporated into ongoing operationalisation of policies
4. Communications, Influencing, and Coordination
- Coordinate, support and ensure the consistency of country strategic and annual planning on safeguarding for countries. Provide information, advice and expertise in the field of work, in line with the priorities identified
- Represent ActionAid externally in relevant activities and events on safeguarding and ensure relevant country-level representation.
- Advise country/hub SHEA and Safeguarding Focal Points on Safeguarding e.g the development of required resources (tools, systems &structures)
5. People Management
- Manage the global SHEA and Safeguarding Team to deliver strong work on SHEA and Safeguarding
- Manages a global team of experts on SHEA and Safeguarding
- Conduct probation and ongoing performance management according to HR timelines to ensure high performing staff
- Continue to embed a team culture that is committed to ActionAid’s values and feminist approach
- Maintain regular contact with safeguarding focal points in countries on implementation progress, offering guidance and support
- Support AAI’s commitment to feminist leadership principles at all times
- Support AAI’s commitment to be a people centred organisation with a strong and safe organisational culture
PERSON SPECIFICATIONS
Education and Qualifications
- Preferably a Master or Bachelor degree in Human Rights, Child Protection or relevant field
- Excellent written and oral communications skills in English. An additional language would be an advantage
Essential Experience
- Demonstrated and extensive experience, progressively responsible, working in safeguarding/PSEA, women/child protection programming or other related areas
- Demonstrated experience managing a team and/or managing a network
- Experience of handling complex investigations in a confidential and sensitive manner.
- Extensive experience in building strong safeguarding and women/child protection systems and in delivering services to communities, including in emergencies
- Demonstrated experience to assess and analyse risks, staff members emotional, psychological and developmental needs
- Proven experience and ability to design and deliver training.
- Competencies on monitoring and evaluating safeguarding mechanisms.
- Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in and ability to influence key decision makers and build a network within an organisation.
- Excellent experience of presenting complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.
- Ability to work under pressure and willingness to work flexible hours in the event of emergencies.
- Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate influence and coach at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties.
- Commitment to ActionAid’s values, including willingness to abide by and enforce the Safeguarding policies and Code of Conduct.
Essential Knowledge
- Demonstrated and extensive knowledge of Safeguarding and the INGO sector
Essential skills
- People management, including managing a team that is exposed to trauma
- Demonstrated experience to assess and analyse risks, staff members emotional, psychological and developmental needs
Language requirements
- Fluency in English is essential
- Capability in other languages e.g Arabic, French, Spanish, Swahili desired
Management
- Act as mentor in a team and /or coordinating a team
______
This Job Description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.
It is part of every staff member’s responsibility to contribute to ActionAid International culture and comply with organisation’s values and practice, which are:
Leading Innovation and Change: Establish a culture of excellence in a respective team that values experimentation and continuous improvement
Feminist Leadership: Championing feminist leadership principles and values including commitment to diversity and inclusion (race, gender, power)
AAI Values Practice: Ensure personal and team culture that demonstrates all of AAI values including Mutual Respect, Equity, and Justice, Integrity, Solidarity with People Living in Poverty and Exclusion, Courage of Conviction, Independence and Humility