Purpose of Position

The EMERGE Social Development Advisor (SDA), under the supervision of the EMERGE Graduation Approach Lead, will lead a multi-organizational team to ensure interventions are responsive to the needs of marginalized groups and families within IDP camps and host communities. S/he will develop and oversee community engagement strategies, assessment tools, and communication materials, while creating knowledge management and learning products to promote social development best practices.

The SDA will provide technical guidance to implementing partners, ensuring standardized approaches to integrating social development issues into livelihoods activities such as savings groups, vocational training, and capacity-building for farmers and entrepreneurs. A key focus is on empowering women and men to participate meaningfully in sectors and value chains, through mentorship, training modules, and facilitating the sharing of best practices.

Working closely with the MEAL team, the SDA will develop methods to reach marginalized groups, monitor program quality, and implement sensitive feedback and complaints mechanisms. S/he will support household vulnerability-based targeting, tracking of household businesses, and identification of rising talents for recognition, ensuring program approaches are informed by participant needs.

The SDA will conduct field visits to assess program effectiveness, serve as the protection and safeguarding focal point, and liaise with health, psychosocial, and justice services. S/he will review project reports for donor compliance, contribute to learning products and research, and support proposal development. Additionally, the SDA will lead advocacy and external engagement efforts with UN, government, and other stakeholders to promote social development achievements, lessons learned, and program visibility.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

35%

Technical Leadership

• Develop and update people-centred, context-appropriate training tools targeting implementing partners and mentor networks, ensuring social development perspectives are integrated in all program activities.

• Collaborate with Social Development Technical Specialist from Elman Peace, and other World Vision technical advisors to identify entry points, additional interventions, and advocacy goals that advance the needs of vulnerable families within the program.

• Support implementing partners to analyse opportunities and barriers to program participants attaining and sustaining graduation out of extreme poverty and develop and monitor action plans to address them;

• Serve as the program’s focal point for protection and safeguarding issues, providing training to implementing partners and mentors, and establishing referral systems to health, psychosocial, and justice services.

• Establish community-of-practice with implementing partner and government focal points to share learning, identify/address program challenges, spotlight promising mentors and/or specific group/individual success/challenge;

• Lead training sessions on social development approaches for implementing partners, government officials, and mentor networks, fostering an environment of shared learning and empowerment.

30%

Monitoring Evaluation & Learning (MEAL)

• Work closely with the EMERGE MEAL teams to develop context-appropriate methodologies for engaging marginalized groups and families, ensuring program quality, measuring impact, and establishing sensitive complaints-response mechanisms.

• Develop and maintain a database of women-led businesses supported by the program, tracking success metrics that facilitate their graduation and sustainability

• Support vulnerability targeting processes by ensuring communication channels are open with the most vulnerable populations, including identifying sensitive vulnerability markers among specific groups.

10%

External Engagement, Coordination and Influence

• Represent the EMERGE program in UN and government coordination mechanisms at the federal and member state levels, advocating for social development issues and sharing best practices.

• Engage with other BHA-funded projects in target areas to establish linkages and explore collaborative opportunities that enhance social development outcomes.

• Participate in, contribute to federal-level working groups to share learning and identify best-practices and develop networks for advocacy and influence

15%

Research and Learning

• Take leadership of Social Development-related assessment processes (i) supporting Scope of Work development, (ii) recruitment of consultants; (iii) review of technical report; (iv) coordination multiple stakeholder tech. inputs into design of assessment process and tools, etc. 

• Support the EMERGE Strategic Learning Advisor to identify research topics, draft social development research products, and support research projects.

• Support SomReP Annual Resilience Measurement (ARM) to identify linkages/onramps for EMERGE program participants and develop standardized measures.

10%

Team Leadership & Safeguarding

• Oversee a team composed of World Vision staff and Consortium Members, guiding the recruitment process, performance management, and professional development to foster a skilled and motivated team.

• Promote a culture of mentorship and collaboration, working alongside implementing partners to identify challenges and opportunities, leading to the co-creation of action plans to strengthen program effectiveness.;

• You must adhere to strict child and adult safeguarding policy and protection principles integrated in your daily duties and ensure you strictly support humanitarian protection specific to your sector.

• Adhere to strict behaviour protocol that is signed on onboarding after protection and safeguarding induction.

• Report safeguarding allegations and incidents in Ethicspoint and to all other provided channels.

• Create a safeguarding environment in your project and support your staff/team to report and make use of the WVS (SIPP)safeguarding incident management plan and ensure you and your staff utilise the Check list for intake of information for GBV incident to refer incidents for redress.

• Use the flash incident report if it warrants the support of SLT and most especially the WV Somalia country Director.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

Required Professional Experience

• A minimum of 6 years of progressive experience in social development programs, working with men, women, boys and girls with NGO;

• Experience of leading and working with large teams.

• Previous experience with large USAID grants including Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA), Development Food Security Activity (DFSA), Development Food Assistance Programs (DFAP), Multi Year Assistance Programs (MYAP)s and/or Development Assistance Programs (DAP)s, multi-Sector programming is preferred;

• Familiarity with local cultural practices, social norms and approaches.

• Excellent organizational, analytical, and oral and written communication skills (in English)

• Demonstrated ability to deliver results and meet all donor deliverables.

• Strong English communication skills, particularly advanced writing skills

• Ability to build relationships cross-culturally.

• Strong workshop facilitation skills

• Strong networking skills

• Experience working with or in fragile context settings.

Required Education, training, license, registration, and certification

• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant academic area—e.g., a social science discipline or related a concentration.

• Demonstrated communication, creative problem solving, and management skills.

• Strong writing and oral presentation skills

• Must be fluent in English. 

• Conversational Somali and May dialect is preferred.

• Professional licenses, as required in the field and by the donor.

Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications

• Experience working with migrant communities and in an urban context.

• Experience in managing inter-agency consortiums is preferred. 

• Must adhere to set security standards.

• Ensure a gender perspective in the scope of work.

• Perform other duties as required.

Working Environment / Conditions:

• Work environment: Baidoa with occasional travel to the field.

• Travel: 50% Domestic/international travel is required

How to apply

https://worldvision.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/WorldVisionInternational/job/Baidoa-Somalia/Social-Development-Advisor_JR43526