Global Ombuds

About SOS Children’s Villages International

SOS Children’s Villages International is the umbrella organisation for the global federation of SOS Children’s Villages. As a non-governmental social development organisation, we support children without parental care and families in difficult living conditions through services in care, education, health and emergency relief, and we advocate for the rights of children and young people, in alliance with a great diversity of partners. We work in 136 countries and territories, reaching over one million children, young people, families and caregivers each year.

SOS Children’s Villages strives to create and ensure a safe environment for everyone who engages with us internally or externally. An environment that does not expose children, young people and adults to harm, sexual exploitation and abuse. As a child-focussed organisation, people are the focus of organisational safeguarding aspirations. Our care approach is distinct in that it provides 24-hour direct primary care to tens of thousands of children and young people through a system of primary caregivers directly employed by SOS CV.

Mission

The Global Ombuds and the rest of the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office (i.e., National Ombuds, Regional Ombuds) align to SOS Children’s Villages International policies and processes but work independently of SOS Children’s Villages. The Global Ombuds position is selected by and accountable to the Ombuds Board.

The Ombuds Office provides checks and balances to SOS Children’s Villages child safeguarding systems at the national, regional, and global levels. The SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office operates with a child-centred and rights-based approach in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Developed with input from children and young people, the Ombuds Office functions on the four Ombudsperson principles of independence, impartiality, confidentiality, and informality.

The Global Ombuds oversees the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office at the global level of the federation and manages Regional Ombuds in up to six regions. The Global Ombuds will support the Regional Ombuds as needed in determining solutions at the local level through National Ombuds. In addition, the Global Ombuds is responsible for overseeing the recruitment and training of new Regional Ombuds. Child safeguarding trends will be defined and communicated to the SOS Children’s Villages Senate, National and Regional Directors, National and Regional Child Safeguarding Teams, and the Ombuds Board and member association Boards.

The Global Ombuds represents the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office to SOS Children’s Villages management and Senate, the Ombuds Board, and external stakeholders. The Global Ombuds provides consistent management of the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office and acts independently, providing informal and confidential support to Regional Ombuds who are supporting the National Ombuds in resolving inquiries at the national level.

As such, the Global Ombuds ensures that the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office is consistently identifying and defining gaps in child safeguarding and making recommendations for how SOS Children’s Villages Safeguarding can strengthen its systems.

The goal of all Ombuds within the SOS Children’s Villages Ombuds Office is to promote fairness of process and successful conflict resolution within the SOS Children’s Villages’ federation and member associations.

Main activities

• Oversee the operations of the SOS Ombuds Office, which includes Regional Ombuds, National Ombuds, an Ombuds Coordinator, and Ombuds Human Resources personnel.
• Oversee the confidential, secure Virtual Office and database.
• Lead and manage the scale-up of the Ombuds approach.
• Supervise, train, orient, and support Regional Ombuds. Refer Regional Ombuds to appropriate SOS Children’s Villages departments, national agencies, legal advice, mediation, and/or community resources when appropriate.
• Support the Regional Ombuds to train, manage, orient, and support the National Ombuds across the Regions.
• Work with children and young people in SOS member associations to recruit new National and Regional Ombuds for the scale-up of the Ombuds approach.
• Ensure that SOS Children’s Villages procedures and policies are adhered to by SOS Children’s Villages Child Safeguarding at all levels.
• Review Ombuds’ concerns and communication challenges and find solutions in a timely manner with accurate and helpful information.
• Support Regional and National Ombuds to navigate between SOS Children’s Villages policies and processes and external child safeguarding processes and systems as defined by national legislation and policy.
• Oversee the fair and equitable treatment of Ombuds.
• Regularly meet and report to the Ombuds Board to ensure accountability across the Ombuds Office.
• Where inquiries or trends provide evidence that support is needed, give recommendations to SOS Children’s Villages International on how to strengthen safeguarding policies, trainings, and processes within the Federation.
• Produce annual overview of status and operations of Ombuds Office.
• Ensure that the trends identified by the Ombuds Office are communicated to the Ombuds Board and SOS Children’s Villages International Senate, submit recommendations for addressing the trends, and ensure that SOS Children’s Villages communicates both as appropriate across its programmes, services, and personnel.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree in a relevant area such as law, social work, psychology, sociology, child rights, or child and youth studies. A PhD or advanced degree or diploma is desirable.
• Ten years demonstrated experience as an Ombudsperson or a closely related role in child safeguarding or child rights.
• Full proficiency in English. The ability to speak and work in additional languages (particularly French, Spanish, Arabic or Russian) is strongly desired.
• Experience in management and leadership.
• Highly skilled in managing people and building effective teams, and managing risk across numerous cultural contexts.
• Highly skilled at working within and managing a remote office context with online platforms and applications.
• An open-hearted, honest, and kind person who respects and understands children and young people.
• Educated in children’s rights, safeguarding, and related issues, including international laws, conventions, declarations, and regulations relevant to children and young people.
• Responsible and courageous to defend children and their rights, to offer support, and to be impartial while also advocating for and with children and young people.
• An attentive listener with good observational skills and strong communication skills.
• Strong ability to oversee, develop, and facilitate effective trainings, orientations, and ongoing support workshops for Ombuds Office personnel and the Ombuds scale up programme.
• Committed to sharing information in accessible ways, to seriously consider children and young people’s views and feelings, while also ensuring careful consideration of their best interests, especially when making decisions.
• A problem solver, adviser, and an influential mediator to resolve referrals from the Regional Ombuds promptly and effectively.
• Committed to respect confidentiality and to act independently and impartially without bias.
• Calm, patient, humble, flexible, and respectful.

We offer

• Meaningful and stimulating work with the possibility to make a significant, positive contribution to innovating child safeguarding
• Remote and in-person work arrangements
• The opportunity to work for an NGO that is a member of a recognized international network

In accordance with the organisation’s child protection policy, this position will be subject to applicable background checks, including criminal record checks. The successful candidate will be required to understand and sign the SOS Code of Conduct.

What We Stand For

SOS Children’s Villages is committed to creating and maintaining a caring and protective environment, which promotes its core values, and prevents and addresses child abuse and exploitation. We strongly condemn all forms of child abuse and exploitation, be it within or outside of our organisation, and always respond to any case of proven, alleged or attempted abuse within our sphere of influence according to its nature. Efforts ensure that mechanisms are in place to raise awareness, aid prevention, encourage reporting and ease response. They range from human resource development actions such as training and counselling to measures such as suspension, dismissal, and legal action SOS Children’s Villages is committed to creating and maintaining a safe working environment for our staff, the children and young people and the communities that we work for. The organisation prohibits harassment, exploitation and abuses by or of any employee, supervisor, manager, child, young people, community, contractor, applicant, or other individual with whom SOS Children’s Villages employees come into contact by virtue of their work. All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our prevention and protection against Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse policy. In addition, SOS Children’s Villages apply a zero-tolerance concerning any fraud situation.

Appointment details

Location: Innsbruck, Vienna (Austria), Dakar (Senegal), Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Faridabad (India), La Paz (Bolivia), Skopje (Macedonia). Other locations where SOS has a registered presence may be considered.

Duration: 5 year contract

How to Apply

Closing date: 19^th March 2023

To apply please click ‘apply for job’

As part of the application process kindly submit an MS Word version of your CV and a cover letter. All application documents (cover letter and CV) should be submitted in English.

Need help? Should you require access to information in a different format to facilitate your application please contact us via [email protected]

Please name your submitted files with the following reference: SOS_GO

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Red Sea is committed to meeting the standards set out in our Equality and Diversity statement, acting in line with the UK Equalities Act 2010 and building an accurate picture of the make-up of the workforce in encouraging equality and diversity.