• Job Description

  Req#: 3001149

  NOTE: This is a remote position; CRS will only consider candidates who are based in countries where we have existing offices. CRS does not sponsor visas for telecommuting employees.

  About CRS: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, health, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), social services, agriculture, education, microfinance, youth and peacebuilding.

  Job Summary: CRS envisions that more robust and child-sensitive social protection systems and the appropriate use of cash across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus will be critical to building more resilient futures in the face of global challenges such as pandemics, food insecurity, conflict and climate change and that all these challenges have a negative impact on child wellbeing. The Senior Technical Advisor, Social Protection & Cash (STA SP/C) is responsible for ensuring technical excellence and innovation for social protection and mainstreaming cash within development programming at CRS. They will provide technical leadership, assistance, guidance and support to a wide range to programs providing social protection and/or cash or voucher assistance (CVA) to vulnerable groups such as those living in extreme poverty, children, people living with disabilities, and older adults. Within Program Impact and Quality Assurance Department (PIQA), we consider the graduation approach to be a key area of growth for our social protection and CVA work. This position will promote inclusive, child-sensitive social protection, ensuring that CRS’ social protection and cash work contributes to child wellbeing and reduces intergenerational poverty. Technical assistance will be in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards , government policies , donor guidelines, and industry best practices and be provided to global, regional and Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable . This position sits within the Social Services Unit, PIQA and will be responsible for promoting high quality social protection and cash programming to advance the goals of the sector, the STA SP/C is expected to collaborate with other sectors such as agriculture, livelihoods, gender, governance, peacebuilding, youth, health & nutrition and education to align approaches and advance child-sensitive social protection and cash programming. They will also work closely with CRS’ humanitarian response team as a key counterpart to PIQA, ensuring consistency in approaches to response analysis, and cash and voucher assistance (CVA) implementation; leveraging best practices from humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction emergency for non-emergency development programing; and sharing best practice and technical guidance from social protection, graduation programming and CVA in development projects within the agency. Finally, the STA SP/C is encouraged to apply and promote systems thinking to catalyze outcomes at scale to advance the agency’s social protection goals.

  Qualifications

  • Master’s Degree in Economics, International Development or related field; PHD strongly preferred.
  • Minimum of ten years relevant international working experience in an advisory or management role with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, international organization or government, with minimum of eight years in the design and implementation of child-sensitive social protection and/or graduation programming.
  • Experience working in an advisory and/or management role on the implementation of cash assistance in humanitarian and/or development programming, specifically in relation to poverty alleviation, food security, financial inclusion, health, education, and/or child protection.
  • Experience in business development, partner identification, project design and proposal development in child-sensitive social protection programming, graduation programming and the integration of cash into other development sectors, including technical writing.
  • Experience providing technical assistance and developing successful proposals for external donors, including USAID/USG, UN (United Nations), World Bank and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
  • Experience providing technical assistance to governments, CP staff and local organizations to conduct appropriate analyses to inform intervention design, implementation modalities, and M&E (monitoring & evaluation) systems to support child-sensitive social protection programs, graduation programming, and integrating the use of cash in these and other development sectors.
  • Experience providing technical assistance to support implementation by governments, CP staff and local organizations in child-sensitive social protection and/or graduation programming and the use of cash in these and other development sectors.
  • Demonstrated application of technical principles and concepts in child-sensitive social protection, graduation programming, CVA as well as child safeguarding and gender transformative approaches. General knowledge of other related disciplines, to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
  • Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation, and training applying adult learning principles and practices.
  • Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
  • Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
  • Preference for candidates with extensive work experience in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

  Required Languages

  • English – fluency required.
  • Professional proficiency in a second core CRS language (Arabic, French, or Spanish) required.

  Travel Required

  • Must be willing and able to travel up to 30%, conditions permitting.

  Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

  • Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
  • Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment.
  • Strong written and oral communication skills.
  • Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills.
  • Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented.

  Key Working Relationships

  Supervisory: N/A

  Internal – PIQA, Regional and Humanitarian Response Department (HRD) technical advisors, Institutional Donor Engagement & Advancement, CRS Cash Task Force, Global and CP-based project staff engaged in social protection/cash/graduation programming and related sectors as well as Business Development, CRS Global Supply Chain, and CRS Finance.

  External – Host country governments, donors, United Nations agencies, World Bank, CaLP, peer agencies, Social Protection Inter-agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B), Leadership Collaborative and local partners.

  ***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

  Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

  Agency REDI (Respect, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Competencies (for All CRS Staff)

  • Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
  • Acts with Integrity - Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
  • Builds and Maintains Trust - Shows consistency between words and actions.
  • Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
  • Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

  Agency Leadership Competencies

  • Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
  • Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
  • Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

  Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
  
  Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.
  
  CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.
  
  CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.
  
  Equal Opportunity Employer

  Responsibilities

  • Lead the development and implementation of agency-wide strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in child-sensitive social protection programming, graduation programming and cash integration that effectively engage communities, partners, donors and governments. Ensure a cross-sectoral approach that is child-sensitive and integrates gender, disability, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
  • Provide technical solutions to regional and CP teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation.
  • Support CPs to engage with governments as they design, develop and roll-out social protection programs, or as they modify and improve the quality of existing programs.
  • Provide technical assistance to CP teams and/or governments to design, implement, monitor and evaluate child-sensitivesocial protection programming, graduation programming and the use of cash in development programming - including relevant analyses to select the most appropriate modality, delivery mechanism, participant selection criteria, and staffing for the context and use case.
  • Contribute to regional and CP efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities that include child-sensitive social protection programming, graduation programming and the use of cash in development programming. Lead or contribute to the development of the technical design for large and/or complex proposals, including determining modalities, defining targets, monitoring systems and indicators. Advise project teams on integrating donor strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ approach.
  • Strengthen the capacity of staff and partners in child-sensitive social protection and graduation programming through developing learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and mentoring and coaching to CP staff.
  • Actively contribute to agency efforts to align and harmonize its approach to cash programming across its humanitarian response and development efforts; Represent PIQA in agency-wide initiatives to mainstream consistent approaches to quality cash programming and facilitate input from relevant team members.
  • Coordinate with CRS’ humanitarian response team, supply chain and finance teams to develop or roll-out protocols that include cash programming, including vouchers, mobile money and other delivery methods, as necessary.
  • Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing program data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, capturing, and sharing lessons learned and best practices, and research and internal reports.
  • Establish and maintain relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions. Participate in forums in the areas of child-sensitivesocial protection programming, graduation programming and CVA to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

• About the company

  Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States.

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