Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children - Safe to Learn Director (P5), FT - NYHQ ( 113068)

Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 208,877 USD and 261,770 USD.

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SAFE TO LEARN

Safe to Learn was launched in 2019 as a global initiative to catalyse commitments and evidence-based action to end violence in and through schools by 2030. As a joint initiative of the violence against children (VAC) and education sectors, Safe to Learn is an opportunity to unlock the multiple wins of ending violence in schools, improve learning outcomes, better leverage investments in education, and raise awareness and change attitudes towards VAC more broadly.

The Safe to Learn Call to Action, a high-level political tool, sets out five areas where change needs to happen to end violence in and through schools. A strategic Roadmap details these areas and identifies how diverse partners can accelerate the achievement of Safe to Learn's ambitious goals.

Safe to Learn is hosted by the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (End Violence Partnership), which has guided its progress to date and engaged key education organizations and funders in its development.[1] To deliver on its full ambition, Safe to Learn now needs even greater buy-in, co-creation and co-ownership from both the VAC and education sectors.

END VIOLENCE PARTNERSHIP

Every year, over 1 billion children experience violence. Violence in childhood undermines all other investments in children: in their health, education and development, often with negative lifelong consequences and intergenerational impact. Recognizing the devastating impacts of violence against children, in 2015 world leaders committed to end all forms of violence, abuse and neglect by 2030, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. In July 2016, the UN Secretary-General launched the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children and an associated Fund.

The End Violence Partnership includes governments, UN agencies, international organizations, civil society, faith groups, the private sector, philanthropic foundations, research practitioners, academics and children themselves - uniting their voices, actions and resources in a unique public-private collaboration focused solely on ending all violence against children.

In its first four years, the Partnership has helped develop and promote the INSPIRE solutions to end violence; enrolled 30 governments as 'Pathfinder' countries; launched an innovative initiative with education sector partners to end violence in and through schools; awarded over $40 million in grants to tackle violence against children online and in humanitarian situations; welcomed over 450 organizations as members; and galvanized those working to end violence through collective advocacy and events including the inaugural End Violence Solutions Summit.

THE OPPORTUNITY

COVID-19 has disrupted learning for nearly all children. At times during 2020, almost 1.5 billion children were out of school and physically isolated at home due to the pandemic, facing higher risks of domestic violence and greater exposure to online abuse as learning and leisure moved more online. COVID-19 has also raised awareness of violence against children, and the important role that schools play for children's health, well-being and safety, beyond the educational benefits.

Building on the initial progress of Safe to Learn, and as COVID-19 prompts educationalists to reimagine some aspects of learning, there is an opportunity to translate the audacious ambition of zero violence in schools into a reality in every country. This will require leadership-level agreement on a small number of priority actions that will make a significant difference in every country, coupled with a step-change in collective advocacy, action and investment to make it happen.

The Safe to Learn Director will work with current and new partners to develop this vision and the shared workplan that will be needed to deliver it. The ideal candidate will be a proactive leader with experience of galvanizing high-impact coalitions within the international development sector. Experience and understanding of how international partners/funders operate at country level will be important, as will an appreciation for how a global initiative can catalyse country-level change. Knowledge of both the VAC and education sectors and strong networks within both would be an advantage, as would experience of mobilizing financial resources. S/he will have a proven ability to lead a (small) team, balancing short-term deliverables with measurable progress against an ambitious longer-term strategy. S/he will build relationships with Safe to Learn partners, thought leaders and experts, the wider VAC and education sectors and champions, to deliver change and help influence global attention and approaches to ending violence in and through schools.

MANAGEMENT, LOCATION, TRAVEL AND DURATION

The Safe to Learn Director will be hosted by the Secretariat of the End Violence Partnership, based in New York. S/he will work alongside and in close partnership with the Executive Director to deliver Safe to Learn's ambitious goals. S/he will be a member of a small End Violence Leadership Team, collaborating with those leading complementary work to make children Safe at Home and Safe Online. S/he will manage a small team and will contribute to a culture of professionalism that emphasizes curiosity, learning, collaboration and delivery.

COVID-19 has prompted remote and more flexible working, and we do not expect to return to full-time office-based working. Therefore, the location of the Safe to Learn Director is open to discussion with well-qualified applicants; our priority is to identify the right person to lead Safe to Learn in its exciting next phase.

COVID-19 has also temporarily curtailed international business travel. As and when business travel is possible, some international travel will be expected.

The position will initially be for two years.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition to leading the Safe to Learn team and contributing to the Leadership Team of the EVAC Secretariat, the primary responsibilities of the Safe to Learn Director are to:

1. Provide visionary leadership to Safe to Learn as a co-owned, co-created initiative of the VAC and education sectors;
2. Facilitate/lead the development of a multi-year strategy that builds on the Call to Action and Roadmap and includes a set of evidence-based interventions - jointly developed by VAC and education actors - that will deliver a step-change in collective advocacy, action and investment to end violence in and through schools by 2030; and
3. Mobilise resources to implement the strategy and realise Safe to Learn goals.

Provide visionary leadership and develop a multi-year strategy for Safe to Learn

• Inspire partners to translate the ambition of zero violence in schools into a reality in every country
• Work with VAC and education partners to secure leadership-level agreement on a small number of priority actions that will make a significant difference in every country
• With current and new Safe to Learn partners, co-create a multi-year strategy that builds on the Call to Action and Roadmap and delivers progress on the priority actions, supported by a step-change in collective advocacy, action and investment to end violence in and through schools;
• Build and sustain effective working relationships with an expanded Safe to Learn coalition (UK FCDO, UNICEF, UNESCO, CSO, UNGEI GPE, WB, ECW etc.) navigating competing organizational priorities to ensure action in support of the collective ambition for safe schools and the policy, advocacy and programmatic synergies needed to deliver that;
• Inform, excite, guide and support End Violence governing body members as Safe to Learn advocates, donors and programmatic partners; and
• Champion and expand the Safe to Learn network by securing the buy-in of diverse partners and constituencies (civil society, business, academia, young people, etc.).

Mobilize resources to implement the strategy and realise Safe to Learn goals

• Develop and deliver with Safe to Learn partners a resource mobilization plan to raise the resources to support delivery of the ambitious multi-year strategy;
• Mobilize resources for the Safe to Learn window of the End Violence Fund to support delivery of the multi-year strategy, building on its value and impact through investments in replicable and scalable initiatives to generate evidence of what works
• Ensure robust governance and donor accountability of the Fund's Safe to Learn window through the team's high-quality grant management, working with and through existing and new mechanisms; and
• Build and maintain relationships with Safe to Learn investors, currently including the UK FCDO, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and members of the End Violence Investors Forum.

Lead the End Violence Safe to Learn team and contribute to wider End Violence leadership

• Manage and develop a small, high-performing Safe to Learn team, empowering team members to lead on their respective areas and maximise collective progress against the Safe to Learn strategy;
• As a member of the End Violence Leadership Team, contribute to wider cohesion, development and delivery of Partnership strategy, priorities, effective governance and resource mobilization;
• Develop links and leverage synergies with other priority initiatives of the End Violence Partnership to ensure maximum in-country impact for children;
• Maintain oversight of the Safe to Learn budget, ensuring effective spend which represents strong value for money.
• Contribute to donor reporting where appropriate; and
• Contribute to a positive and constructive team culture through playing a strong and active team role and modeling positive behaviour, working style and a collegiate attitude.

Experience and qualifications

The successful candidate will be highly collaborative, creative and results-oriented with a proactive, flexible approach and a commitment to working with and through others to achieve results. S/he will have:

• Passion for End Violence's mission to end all forms of violence against children by 2030, including to end violence in and through schools;
• At least 10 years of progressive professional experience working within international settings on policy, advocacy, partnerships and programming;
• An understanding of the political, technical and financial drivers of social change;
• An advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in education, economics, psychology, sociology or other relevant technical field; a first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree;
• Experience in identifying and establishing strategic partnerships, effectively networking and advocating with partners across constituencies, seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances and establishing relations and quickly building trust and credibility with key stakeholders (external and internal);
• Experience/demonstrated ability related to mobilizing resources;
• A strong understanding of the international development architecture, including how international partners/funders operate at country level; understanding of the VAC and education sectors and networks at national, regional and global levels, and understanding of gender and inclusion issues is highly desirable;
• Strong project management skills, with an ability to multi-task, prioritize work and set clear goals for self and team in a fast-paced and evolving setting (e.g. wide range of tasks, ambiguity, flexibility);
• Demonstrated ability and commitment to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment inside an international organization with a complex stakeholder network
• Excellent verbal and written communications and analytical skills;
• Oral and written fluency in English is required; knowledge of other UN languages is desirable.

As a UNICEF-hosted partnership, End Violence is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

End Violence has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. End Violence also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

[1] Partners include UNESCO, UNICEF, UK FCDO (formerly DFID), UNGEI, the End Violence CSO Forum, World Bank, Education Cannot Wait, the Global Partnership for Education, WHO, Global Affairs Canada, the Global Business Coalition for Education, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.