Catholic Relief Services (CRS),4Children Technical Advisor Jobs in Malawi

Closing date: 24 Mar 2017

Position
Title:
Technical Advisor II, HIV/AIDs & OVC, 4Children Malawi
Department/Country:
Lilongwe, Malawi
Band:
D
FLSA:
Exempt
Reports To:
Project Director, 4Children, Malawi

About CRS:

Catholic Relief
Services (CRS) carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States
to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the
heart of our mission and operations. We welcome, as a part of our staff and as
partners, people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and
our commitment to serving those in need.

The CRS Malawi
country program office was established in 1997 focuses on three strategic
objectives of Health & Nutrition, Agriculture and Livelihoods and Emergency
response and recovery. CRS/Malawi’s principal office is located in Lilongwe
with a sub-office in the southern town of Blantyre. The Blantyre office
contains the Program Management Unit (PMU) for the Ubale, Title II program, a
five-year program which began in October, 2014 and implemented by a consortium
of local and international partners. The program team based in Lilongwe
oversees several projects that interact with the consortium programs for
sharing/learning best practices and ensuring consistent program practices and
representation.

CRS Malawi
implements its programs in all three (north, central, south) regions of the
country and partners with the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) in seven out
of eight dioceses, working on projects ranging from nutrition, early childhood
development, emergency preparedness, and agriculture and livelihoods.

BACKGROUND:

Coordinating
Comprehensive Care for Children (4Children) is a five year USAID funded project
implemented by a consortium of organizations led by Catholic Relief Services
with partners IntraHealth, Maestral, Pact, Plan, and Westat. 4Children is
designed to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for orphans and vulnerable
children (OVC) affected by HIV and AIDS and other adversities. 4Children’s work
utilizes global evidence establishing that HIV and other adversities are best
prevented and addressed when families and children have access to both high
quality health and social welfare services. The project supports systems and
structures at country and regional levels to implement evidence-based
interventions that protect against risk, interrupt cycles of vulnerability, and
build pathways to resilience leading to an AIDS Free Generation and
contributing to overall improvements in quality of life and productivity for
vulnerable children and their families.

In 2017, 4Children
Malawi will support a program to scale up interventions for orphans and
vulnerable children (OVC) in Malawi’s Thyolo, Lilongwe, and Mzimba Districts.
The primary objective of the 4 Children program in Malawi is to mitigate the
impact of HIV and prevent new infections among targeted Malawian priority
populations to enable them to achieve their maximum potential as individuals
and citizens. 4Children will implement strategies that empower vulnerable
families to provide care for themselves, including their children, supporting a
program that will provide child protection and HIV prevention, treatment, care,
and support services for vulnerable households. 4 Children will work to scale
up OVC integrated interventions with a well-defined graduation strategy, and
focus its interventions on strengthening the continuum of care in Thyolo,
Lilongwe and Mzimba. Program interventions are expected to achieve the
following results:

Improved
utilization of high quality HIV prevention, care and support, and related
mitigation interventions, as well as reciprocal referral and linkages to
ensure continuity of care across the continuum;
Increased
adoption of behaviors that reduce HIV transmission, acquisition, and
mitigate impact among adolescents and youths;
Strengthened
capacity of Malawian structures to lead, coordinate, and implement
comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and impact mitigation responses.

JOB SUMMARY

The 4Children
Technical Advisor will have extensive technical expertise in HIV/AIDs and OVC
programming and government of Malawi actors. S/he will also have extensive
experience in child protection, OVC, and/or social protection and experience
with adolescents and gender-sensitive approaches. S/he ensures implementation
of the program in line with PEPFAR priorities and in coordination with
4Children technical advisors and partners, both in Malawi and CRS’ headquarters
in Baltimore, MD. S/he is responsible for technical support to partners as well
as coordination with the Child Welfare sector and in particular, the Ministry
of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education (MoE), the Ministry of Gender, Children,
Disaability, and Social Welfare (MGCDSW), and other sectors relevant to OVC and
HIV, Child Protection NGOs, and district social welfare offices, district
health offices, traditional authorities, and community-based organizations in
Malawi.

SPECIFIC
RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Program
Quality

With
partner program staff, ensure project objectives and results are fully
accomplished and meet expected technical quality standards
Ensure
that the project execution is in line with the program vision and all the
program plans are effectively implemented and in line with CRS agency and
country program strategies and guiding principles.
In
collaboration with the 4Children Malawi consortium, identify needs for
technical assistance in a timely manner, contribute to the development of
scopes of work (SoW), and ensure that technical assistance needs are met
through collaboration with regional and headquarters support staff
supervision of technical support
Lead
the planning of project activities and set appropriate performance targets
ensuring adherence to technical standards, best practices, reporting time
lines and donor guidelines are respected.
Support
local partners (CHCs) to modify the Aflateen, In Charge!, and Sinovuyo
curricula to be appropriate for the ages, settings, and culture and in
compliance with accepted Catholic practices and values.

B. HIV/AIDS
Technical Support

Will
oversee the referral and case management components of the project,
particularly with respect to ensuring integration of the 90-90-90 and
linking all program activities to testing and treatment of children. Will
coordinate with district level government and CBO actors to ensure that
the project contributes to and enhances national HIV and OVC policies and
efforts. The HIV Specialist will work closely with the local TSOs and
government structures and ensure the technical capacity strengthening of
these actors, in collaboration with the Project Director, and MEAL
Officer.
Foster
positive collaboration between 4Children, CRS Malawi and PEPFAR/USAID/CDC
Malawi.

C. OVC
Technical Support

Will
oversee case management, parenting, and child protection components of the
project
Participate
in the review of the existing case management system and the development
of a case management and graduation model to address vulnerability issues
and improve OVC household resilience.
Support
the local partners (CHCs) to define key roles and responsibilities,
required competencies, and selection criteria for case workers. Support
the partners to ensure an HIV-sensitive case-management and graduation
approach, linking the case management, referral, and community activities,
including identifying OVC and OVC households using the vulnerability
prioritization tool, and assessing families using the improved
strengths/needs assessment tool to develop a case plan.
Support
local partners (CHCs) to institutionalize the practice of case
conferencing including CCC and RECOPE in case workers’ case conferencing
meetings to enhance health facility-community referrals and case
management.
Train
and mentor partners in child safeguarding principles and policy
development and support them to develop child safeguarding policies.
Will
lead capacity strengthening of local partners and coordination between all
components of the project to ensure that HIV-sensitive child protection
strategies are integrated into all areas of implementation.

KEY WORKING
RELATIONSHIPS

Internal:
4Children Malawi Program Director, CRS/Malawi Country Representative, CRS
Malawi Head of Programs, CRS Malawi Finance, Operations, and MEAL staff;
4Children HQ Technical, Program, MEAL, and Operations Staff; CRS
Department of Program Impact and Quality Assurance Technical Advisors, and
SARO Regional Technical Advisors.
4Children
Consortium and Implementing Partners:
4Children Consortium including Pact and Plan staff seconded to the project,
and Technical Service Organizations (TSOs)
External:
USAID, the USG, National and Local (District and Traditional Authority)
government and ministries, the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of
Education (MoE), Ministry of Gender, Children, Disabilities, and Social
Welfare (MGCDSW), and other sectors relevant to OVC and HIV, Child
Protection NGOs, USG implementing partners, and district social welfare
offices, district health offices, traditional authorities, and
community-based organizations in Malawi; donors; affected communities.
Supervisory
Responsibility: The Project Director directly supervises
the Technical Advisor. The Technical Advisor has no supervisory
responsibilities. The PD reports to the CRS/Malawi Country Representative.

Agency-wide
Competencies
(for all CRS Staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of
CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to
achieve the desired results.

Serves
with Integrity
Models
Stewardship
Cultivates
Constructive Relationships
Promotes
Learning

REQUIRED
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Master’s
degree in Sociology, Social Work, Public Health, International
Development, or a related field.
10+
years of experience in programs focused on OVC and/or child protection
programming; experience with parenting/family strengthening programs, case
management approaches and social service systems strengthening strongly
preferred.
Demonstrated
knowledge and technical capacity in systems strengthening, child protection
programming, coordinating with national and local social welfare and
health authorities in developing contexts.
Experience
in Case Management and Referral System Strengthening, Household Economic
Strengthening, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting a plus. Previous
experience in Malawi or in the Southern African Region preferred.
Flexibility
to work both in a team and independently.
Cultural
sensitivity, patience and flexibility.
Demonstrated
personal accountability and driven to serve others.
Ability
to travel nationally and internationally as required, up to 30%.
Excellent
English oral and written communication skills required.
Proficiency
in Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel and Outlook required.