Global Safeguarding and Youth Participation Manager

Who we are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that creates media that girls want, trust, and need. From chatbots and chat shows to TV dramas and tech, our content helps adolescent girls in Africa and Asia make choices and changes in their lives. We create safe spaces for girls to share facts and answer questions about health, nutrition, education, and relationships, empowering them with the skills to negotiate and redefine what is possible "for a girl."

Our reach is 50 million and counting, and we leverage technology to reach girls at scale, so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, health, learning, and livelihood. When a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so, too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, community, and country. That’s the Girl Effect.

Context of the Role

We are looking for a Safeguarding and Youth Participation Manager who will lead the delivery of safeguarding, youth participation and community engagement activities in our global team. This includes creating a safeguarding culture by embedding safeguarding agenda across the key functions of Girl Effect including its brands and products. It also entails ensuring meaningful youth participation and engagement of the adolescents and young people we are working with and for. 

What You’ll Do

Safeguarding 

• Support the implementation, contextualisation and monitoring of safeguarding policies and procedures at Girl Effect, ensuring a culture that prioritizes the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. 
• Lead global safeguarding technical support, focusing on Nigeria and Kenya, with potential expansion to other geographies, collaborating with geo focal points and functional leads to ensure safeguarding approaches are embedded throughout programme/activity design and delivery.  
• Collaborate with partners and ensure robust safeguarding checks,  agreements and risk assessments are in place.  Ensure safeguarding onboarding is conducted with partners (such as production, media, research, UX design companies) & consultants hired in-country to ensure they meet GE safeguarding requirements.
• Collaborate with the Director of Safeguarding to implement and continue strengthening digital safeguarding and its integration across online platforms, products and events. 
• Lead global Safeguarding inductions and provide capacity building to country teams, ensuring they have the skills and confidence to deliver safeguarding measures and practices as well as youth participation within their roles.
• Coordinate and oversee the response to disclosures of harm and abuse, facilitating case management meetings to ensure sensitive cases are handled with care and documented accurately. 

Youth Participation 

• Lead global youth participation technical support, focusing on Nigeria and Kenya, with potential expansion to other geographies, collaborating with geo focal points and functional leads to ensure alignment with global goals.
• Support revisions to and the roll-out of Girl Effect’s global youth participation strategy, tools and processes to ensure initiatives are meaningful, impactful and sustainable.
• Lead global efforts to ensure feedback loops are integrated into all youth participation initiatives, fostering transparent communication and driving continuous improvement informed by youth input.
• Work closely with MERL colleagues to track, evaluate and report on the impact of youth participation initiatives across Girl Effect geographies, using data to continuously inform and improve approaches.
• Collaborate with geo focal points to collate and disseminate best practice case studies, sharing them with the global communications team for external storytelling moments that involve co-creation with young people, where appropriate.
• Deliver quarterly youth participation inductions and refresher sessions for existing staff, partners and young people, enhancing their capacity to embed youth participation into their work.

Fundraising and Donor Engagement 

• Provide input into donor due diligence processes, ensuring compliance with safeguarding and youth participation standards. 
• Collaborate with teams on proposal development and preparation of donor reports. 
• Represent Girl Effect in donor meetings, providing technical expertise and updates on youth participation and safeguarding initiatives as required.

Who You Are

• Passion for and knowledge of youth engagement, with a commitment to amplifying youth voices and promoting their rights and well-being.
• A collaborative and inclusive team player who thrives in diverse, cross-functional environments and values open, transparent communication.
• A resilient and calm decision-maker, able to maintain composure and lead effectively in high-pressure situations, particularly when managing sensitive safeguarding issues.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, writing, and organisational skills, with the ability to engage and influence diverse stakeholders.
• A proactive learner, continually seeking to expand knowledge of safeguarding and youth participation best practices and policies to stay ahead of emerging trends and challenges.

Qualifications and Experience

• A bachelor's degree or higher in social work, psychology, child protection, international development, or a related field.
• Experience (5+ years) in youth participation, safeguarding, child protection, or related fields, including delivering youth-focused programmes in one of Girl Effect’s African geographies (Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, or Tanzania).
• Expert knowledge of international safeguarding and youth participation standards, best practices, and relevant legal frameworks.
• Proven experience in developing and implementing youth participation and safeguarding policies, tools, and operating procedures.
• Strong experience in case management and risk assessments, with an understanding of the complexities within international development.
• Experience designing and delivering training initiatives for staff, partners, and young people in safeguarding and participation practices.

What else you should know

We are hugely ambitious for our future, and we are looking for people who are driven to change the world for girls.

Our teams are a diverse mix across sectors (non-profit and commercial) and specialisms (from Brand and Creative through to Gender and Insight). You’ll learn and grow in an environment that will challenge you to think and work with a fresh perspective. In turn, you can expect to work somewhere where you will be stretched and developed in your role, a place where you can build your career and work with talented, engaged people committed to our cause.

Girl Effect is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to recruiting candidates with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.

This role is subject to a standard background disclosure.

This role is being recruited for on a 24 month contract basis.

Closing date for applications will be Friday 31st January 2025