Faith and Development Specialist

Overview

Integrate faith into programs and partnerships for child well-being.

You have:

• A first degree in relevant field such as Practical Theology/Missiology, International Development, Community Development, or related discipline.
• At least 5 years experience of working with national level Church/Other Faith institutes and leadership and proven record of successful collaboration with Faith leaders in cross cultural settings.
• 5+ years working on holistic, Christian development.
• Experience in interfaith engagement required for contexts where there is a significant presence of faiths other than Christianity.
• Knowledge of the World Vision Transformational Development approach, WV project models and operational framework.
• Demonstrated expertise in partnerships especially church or faith partnerships in cross cultural environments.
• Excellent technical/impact report writing skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English (or language of instruction in own country, e.g. French or Portuguese).
• Basic knowledgeable and abilities in program design, documentation, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Comfortable and confident working in a culturally diverse and inclusive team environment.

With 75 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 33,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Key Responsibilities:

The Faith and Development Specialist strengthens World Vision’s Christian identity and integrates faith-based approaches across programs. The role promotes spiritual nurture for children, builds strong partnerships with faith institutions, and supports staff to live out the organization’s mission and values. It also ensures evidence and learning demonstrate how faith contributes to lasting child wellbeing and community transformation.

People – Harnessing Faith Identity (15%)

• Facilitate rollout of the Mission Immersion Programme (MIP) for staff and leaders.
• Lead onboarding that emphasizes WV’s mission, vision, and values.
• Equip staff and leaders to articulate WV’s Christian identity and integrate faith into work.
• Develop or adapt Christian formation materials for staff spiritual well-being.
• Represent WV as a thought leader on holistic and transformational development.
• Provide guidance and tools for integrating faith into daily work and leadership practice.

Programmes – Faith Integration in Strategy and Implementation (40%)

• Conduct and apply Spiritual Landscape Assessments (SLA) to inform programming.
• Guide Technical Programmes to integrate Faith & Development (F&D) Core Project Models (Channels of Hope, Empowered Worldview, Celebrating Families).
• Ensure monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of F&D components using DIQA tools.
• Support Area Programmes in implementation and backstopping of F&D activities.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of F&D contributions to child well-being.
• Lead periodic reviews and lessons learned to improve F&D programming.

Focused Spiritual Nurture of Children (20%)

• Develop and adapt contextually relevant and age-appropriate spiritual nurture content.
• Strengthen capacity of faith leaders, parents, caregivers, and youth leaders for child nurture.
• Monitor implementation of the 3 F&D Core Models and their impact on social norms.
• Coach community support groups to sustain child spiritual nurture initiatives.
• Track and report changes in norms, values, and beliefs affecting child well-being.

Partnerships with Churches and Faith Institutions (20%)

• Implement WV’s Partnering with Churches Policy and approach.
• Develop and manage transformational partnerships with churches and faith-based actors.
• Conduct due diligence, capacity assessments, and partnership agreements.
• Design and lead capacity-building initiatives for church and faith leaders.
• Facilitate faith-based advocacy and community dialogues addressing child well-being.
• Collaborate with MEAL/PQ teams to ensure measurable partnership outcomes.

Knowledge Management and Learning (5%)

• Promote learning, documentation, and innovation in Faith & Development.
• Collect and share best practices and success stories from F&D implementation.
• Research and design new faith-based partnerships and funding opportunities.
• Strengthen WV’s role in external dialogues on holistic and transformational development.

The Specific Requirements for this role include:

• Integrity in personal and public life, bearing a track record that is befitting of the role.
• A first degree (Honours or graduate degree will be an added advantage) in relevant field such as Practical Theology/Missiology, International Development, Community Development, or related discipline.
• Ability to intersect theological and developmental issues and capable of offering practical guidance that informs strategic directions and operational decisions.
• Appreciation of faith diversity (churches and other faiths), with depth of understanding of major church traditions in the nation, their approach to mission and protocols for engagement with the same [Experience in interfaith engagement required for contexts where there is a significant presence of faiths other than Christianity].
• At least 5 years experience of working with national level Church/Other Faith institutes and leadership and proven record of successful collaboration with Faith leaders in cross cultural settings.
• Consistently demonstrates high-level influence and strategic engagement skills and adaptability to WV’s constantly changing development tactics.
• Knowledge of the World Vision Transformational Development approach, WV project models and operational framework.
• Demonstrated expertise in partnerships especially church or faith partnerships in cross cultural environments.
• Comfortable and confident working in a culturally diverse and inclusive team environment.
• Proven ability to collaborate with all levels of staff and to motivate and mobilize individuals outside their reporting line to achieve agreed strategic plans.
• Basic knowledgeable and abilities in program design, documentation, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Excellent technical/impact report writing skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft products including Excel and Outlook.
• Excellent written and spoken English (or language of instruction in own country, e.g. French or Portuguese).

Additional Required Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years working on holistic, Christian development.
• 5+ years working with diverse churches at local and national levels.
• 5+ years of practical field experience in Faith and Transformational Development will be an added advantage.

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only

Apply now

Potential interview questions

Added 11 months ago - Updated 11 months ago - Source: wvi.org