JOB POSTING
Position: Humanitarian (Maternity leave) Date Posted: March 29th 2017
Department: International Programs Application Deadline: April 17th 2017
Location: Toronto, Canada Status:  Full time – Maternity Leave (13 months)
Reporting to:  Head, Thematic Quality Union:  Yes
Save the Children Canada (SCC) is a member of Save the Children International, a federation that works in more than 120 countries worldwide delivering programs domestically and internationally focusing on health and nutrition, education, child protection, livelihoods and food security, emergency relief and child rights governance. As the world's leading independent organization for children, Save the Children is committed to a world in which every child attains their equal rights to survival, protection, development, and participation. Reporting to the Head of Thematic Quality, within the International Programs Team, this position will support new and ongoing projects and a variety of thematic programs in humanitarian settings, while providing specialist advice, analysis and support to emergency responses.  Responsibilities will include: quality assurance of humanitarian program delivery; engagement with global and Canadian humanitarian mechanisms to align and improve humanitarian response efforts and advance humanitarian advocacy; actively pursue new funding opportunities with a range of donors and engage in humanitarian networks to advance program learning and innovation.  An increased focus on food security and livelihoods expertise as well as child-focused programming is expected for this role.  Periodic short-term deployments to humanitarian responses may also be expected. The following represent accountabilities for this position.   
  Accountabilities Time %
1. Thematic Advisory and Technical Quality Assurance: -          Collaborate globally with Member peers and participate in relevant global working groups to achieve humanitarian outcomes and drive breakthroughs -          Provide high quality technical assistance to program delivery teams, building a solid evidence base to support progressing innovations to scale -          Maintain line of sight on technical quality at the country level through effective relationships with Regional and Country offices, enabling timely provision of technical input and oversight -          In coordination with Project Officers, review project deliverables and donor reports from a technical quality control perspective -          Contribute to the development, dissemination, and monitoring of program quality tools including supporting program reviews and evaluations -          Undertake periodic deployments to support humanitarian response efforts nationally or globally (at least 10% of time) 40%
2. Advocacy & Business Development: -          New opportunity generation and assessment for funding humanitarian programs in alignment to global and strategic plan and growth targets -          Support business development, leveraging technical expertise and project learnings from Save the Children projects to develop humanitarian concept notes and proposals in partnership with Country Offices and Resource Development & Business Development teams -          Support execution of advocacy strategy to influence policy changes and resource mobilization, including producing high quality thought leadership materials and leading positioning activities such as representation at industry panels, presentations to donors, participation in external practitioner networks, and global Working Groups -          Cultivate and strengthen relationships with key funders/donors, research institutes, peer NGO agencies, partners, and sector thought leaders in respective thematic sector 25%    
4. Program Learning & Innovation: -          Support Country Offices in the design, testing, and evaluation of innovations to advance humanitarian programming -          Distill learnings and evidence generated into succinct and compelling programmatic guidance and thought leadership for internal and external consumption -          Monitor developments in the sector and field to develop and refine program models and identify new research opportunities -          Partner with the Communications team to develop and disseminate technical and project materials 10%
6. Capacity Building: -          Support development and implementation of training technical support workshops to build capacity of SCC, Country Offices and partners to design and implement quality humanitarian programs -          Support SCC Technical Advisors in Education, Health and Nutrition, Child Protection, Youth Livelihoods, Gender, and MEAL to strengthen their capacity in humanitarian programming within their area of thematic or cross-thematic expertise -          Educate Country Offices on Canadian donor priorities, providing advice on fundraising approaches and donor-specific language and terminology 25%
 Qualifications
  • Master degree or equivalent in International Development /Relations, Humanitarian Action or related field, or equivalent training/experience
  • 6 – 9 years’ field work experience implementing, managing, and/or providing technical assistance to humanitarian programs in developing countries; strong deployment record to humanitarian crises with an understanding of field realities is essential
  • Demonstrable knowledge and experience of humanitarian theory, practice and architecture, humanitarian risk assessment and planning and managing humanitarian responses.
  • Experience with humanitarian programming, with preference given to candidates with experience in Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL). Knowledge of child and youth focused programming as well as humanitarian advocacy and MEAL considered an asset.
  • Knowledge of gender equality principles and practices and their integration within effective humanitarian programming
  • Demonstrated thought leadership expertise such as contributions to academic journals, books, articles; speaking engagements, leading conference presentations and panels
  • Experience working effectively within humanitarian networks in Canada and globally
  • Successful proposal development track record, with prior experience with Canadian government-funded projects; knowledge of Global Affairs Canada policies and procedures; knowledge of Results-Based Management (RBM) approach
Competencies, Skills and Behaviours
  • Is a strategic big picture thinker, with the ability to engage at detailed project level
  • Is innovative, develops new ideas, and demonstrates adaptability
  • Ability to synthesize and develop high-quality knowledge products from diverse data sources including programmatic materials and tools
  • Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to develop strong working relationships across cultural and organizational boundaries with internal and external stakeholders, and managing through influence
  • Superior English communication and writing skills; proficiency in other languages considered an asset
  • Comfortable working independently with little supervision, as well as with receiving and accounting for direction and engaging as part of a dynamic team
  • Ability and desire to travel internationally on a regular basis, including in fragile settings, including the ability to undertake occasional short-term deployments to humanitarian responses
Other Requirements
  • Demonstrate strong commitment to Save the Children’s Mission, Vision and Values. Previous experience with child rights programming is an asset.
  • Adhere to Child Safeguarding policies & procedures
  • Subject to police background check : vulnerable sector screening
  • Valid passport and ability to travel to national and international locations on regular basis
  • Computer literacy including Internet, Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
COMPETENCIES AND BEHAVIOURS – Our Values in Practice Accountability:
  • Holds oneself 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 others to do the same
  • Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
  • Future orientated, thinks strategically
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
If you are interested in this position, please e-mail a letter of application and a resume by Monday, April 17th, 2017 to jobs@savethechildren.ca with Subject heading Humanitarian Advisor – [your name]. We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.