Save The Children International is establishing a pool of pre-selected candidates for the positions of Lead Livelihood Specialist in one of the country offices within West and Central Africa.

Should we secure the project, this will turn into an official recruitment. Selected candidates will be added to the recruitment process.

GRADE: 2

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3: the post holder will have contact with children and/or young peopleeitherfrequently(e.g. once a week or more)orintensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

INTRODUCTION:

INTRODUCTION:

Save the Children is a leading international non-governmental organization working to ensure the well-being and rights of children worldwide. In Liberia, Save the Children is committed to create lasting change for children and their families by providing education, healthcare, protection, and emergency assistance in Liberia. We collaborate with local and international partners to empower children, families, and communities, with a special focus on girls, women, and the most vulnerable communities.

Save the Children’s upcoming intervention is the World Bank-funded Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP). Under this upcoming intervention, Save the Children is intended to be responsible for implementing components 1, 2 and 3 of the LWEP, under the supervision of the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Liberian Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP). A brief description of the LWEP intervention can be found below.

The Government of Liberia, through the Liberian Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP) is implementing the Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP) (P173677) with financing from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group ($44.60 million). The LWEP aims to improve social and livelihood services for women and girls in targeted communities, foster positive social norms, and strengthen the government’s capacity to advance women and girls’ empowerment through a “whole community” approach targeting multiple actors and levels. The World Bank views this project as creating a platform for the empowerment of women where policy dialogue happens, evidence of what works is produced and disseminated, and partnerships are strengthened. It is anticipated that this would be the first of several projects aimed at empowering women and the institutions that support their empowerment. The project will be implemented by the Liberian Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MGCSP).

The project interventions will be conducted at three levels: the individual/group, community, and institutional (i.e., central government) levels. At the individual/group level, interventions will include group based economic and social support for women including livelihoods support, access to credit, business and technical training, life skills, and gender-transformative approaches to increase women’s agency. At the community level, interventions will promote positive gender norms, increase gender equitable attitudes, and prevent gender-based violence (GBV) through the Start, Awareness, Support, Action (SASA!) Methodology. At the institutional level, interventions will include capacity building initiatives to generate sex-disaggregated data, address gender gaps and GBV, support the formation and operationalization of a multi-sectoral platform to engage Government of Liberia (GoL) ministries on gender policy and action, and build MGCSP capacity for project implementation, knowledge management, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

The project will be implemented in six counties: Gbarpolu, Rural Montserrado, Bomi, Rivercess, Grand Gedeh and Grand Cape Mount counties. Within these counties, a total of 750 communities representing 267,000 people will be reached. Community selection will incorporate a randomized approach to enable a rigorous impact evaluation.

The project is to be implemented by 30th June 2027, and is comprised of the five components. Save the Children is intended to be responsible for implementing components 1, 2 and 3 under the supervision of the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the MGCSP:

· COMPONENT 1: Fostering positive social norms and community mobilization

o SUBCOMPONENT 1.a: Fostering positive social norms through the implementation of the SASA! methodology

o SUBCOMPONENT 1.b: Strengthening community mobilization and citizen engagement

· COMPONENT 2: Enhancing basic services in health and education

o SUBCOMPONENT 2a: Increase service-seeking behavior for health services at community level

o SUBCOMPONENT 2b Shifting social norms to keep girls in school

· COMPONENT 3: Promoting resilient livelihoods through community-led approaches

o SUBCOMPONENT 3a: Capacity building of resilient livelihood groups.

SUBCOMPONENT 3b: Supporting grants for women-led livelihoods.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Lead Livelihood Specialist has overall responsibility for implementation of the livelihood activities in the upcoming World Bank funded Liberia Women Empowerment Project, including monitoring and ensuring program quality in line with child protection and prevention of sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) guiding principles, best practices, and minimum standards. S/he will be accountable for the field supervision, design, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluation of the program.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Program Manager

Staff reporting to this post: Field coordinators/officers

Budget Responsibilities: –

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

· Lead the development of training materials and curricula for climate resilient livelihood capacity building related activities and oversee its delivery at the community level

· Lead all technical support to the planning, development, and implementation of livelihood and local economic development strategies and activities in the target areas, including stakeholder consultations, mobilization and communication, and training and capacity building of targeted groups

· Lead in supporting the development of collaborations with relevant private sector actors, financial institutions, social enterprises, and digital enterprises

· Lead in supporting the planning and implementation of grant activities, including the application process and disbursements, as well as related capacity building activities

· Coordinate with the Climate Change Specialist to ensure the mainstreaming of climate adaptation and mitigation in all livelihood activities supported by the project

· Ensure the timely monitoring and evaluation of livelihood and local economic development activities, and assess gaps in implementation and propose and implement solutions

· Support the documentation of successes and lessons learned, and the sharing of this knowledge at the national-level.

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.

Ambition:

· sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, take responsibility for their own personal development and encourage 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.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Qualifications

· Master’s degree in social sciences, development planning, economic development, business management or related program

Experience and Skills

· At least 15 years of relevant work experience in the field of local economic development, entrepreneurship development, or market driven livelihoods development, or relevant experience

· Have a good working knowledge of country driven development as well as African and or Liberia’s local economic development ecosystem

· Proven experience incorporating climate resilience in livelihood activities

· Proven experience of working with vulnerable groups across Africa and or in rural areas / communities in Liberia, including the training and capacity building of county-based livelihood groups

· Experience working with different stakeholders, including private sector, CSOs, NGO and local government authorities/institutions

· Demonstrate excellent experience relevant to conducting livelihood and value chain assessments and analysis of national data

· Digital skills including MS Office and Internet.

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive. The role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their 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.