SOS Children’s Villages Malawi is a non-governmental child protection and development organisation established in Malawi in 1991. Our vision is that every child belongs to a family and grows up with love, respect and security. Our mission is to build families for children in need; we help them shape their own futures, and we share in the development of their communities. In pursuit of the vision and mission, we work in collaboration with the Government of Malawi and other partners to implement various projects focusing on child protection and development; entrepreneurship and vocational skills training for young people; livelihood improvement for vulnerable households; child and youth education, as well as advocacy in the areas of child rights and protection. Our programme coverage is country-wide, operating from Chikwawa, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzimba and Mzuzu.

It is in this context that we are looking for a suitable candidate to fill the position of Field Officer at our SOS Children’s Villages, Ngabu Iceland Project in Ngabu, Chikwawa District as follows;

Responsibilities or duties

Field Officer is responsible for facilitating the capacity building of project-participating families, Community-Based Organisations, and other duty bearers for the survival, development, and protection of children at risk of losing parental care within their families of origin, with a focus on care, education, and health.

Qualifications or requirements

Bachelor’s degree in development studies, Social Work, Agriculture, or any other relevant qualification from a recognised university.

Experience needed

• At least 3 years’ experience in implementing child and community development programmes.
• Sound understanding of child rights, rights-based programming, and management of CBOs.
• Good communication and reporting skills
• Possession of a motorcycle license is a must.

Note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The job posting may close before the listed deadline if the required volume of suitable applications is received.

• Support Community Task Forces in the identification of project participants.
• Facilitate active participation of children in all FS processes.
• Facilitate the identification and training of community facilitators/peer educators in Family Development Planning.
• Support Community Task Force, families, and communities in the assessment of root causes leading to child abandonment at family and community levels through the use of appropriate participatory tools.
• Facilitate the identification of opportunities and mobilization of local resources for the action plan to meet the needs of each household and community.
• Facilitate the empowerment of facilitators/peer/ peer educators in Family Development Planning for their effective and efficient contribution to the strengthening of families.
• Organise and facilitate families/caregivers’ access to child rights and other paralegal issues training and support;
• Facilitate and support the initial CBO capacity assessment to come up with the CBO Development Plan.
• Facilitate the development of the CBO’s organizational management capacity. that is, formation of properly constituted boards & committees, writing CBO constitution, legal registration of CBO, developing the CBO vision statement, mission statement, strategy and values.
• Support the CBO capacity building of systems in Financial and Accounting policies, procurement policies and procedures, resource mobilization strategies, human resource management policies, project reporting procedures and strategic plans.
• Facilitate stakeholder analysis within the project, maintaining and updating stakeholders’ profiles.
• Collaborate with community development structures, other NGOs and government departments for effective service delivery to programme participants.
• Identifying opportunities for partnerships within the project area.
• Support the CBO capacity building in emergency preparedness and response.
• Support Humanitarian work in the Programme.
• Participatory monitoring and evaluation of the project interventions.
• Carry out regular visits to CBOs, family support groups and other partners in the respective community for timely and relevant project support.
• Prepare and submit timely progress reports to the FSP Coordinator on project interventions.
• Adhering to child safeguarding and PSHEA policies and ensuring that all child/ adult safeguarding procedures and ways of working are successfully observed and implemented.

• Good communication and reporting skills
• Possession of a motorcycle license is a must.

• Bachelor’s degree in development studies, Social Work, Agriculture, or any other relevant qualification from a recognised university.
• At least 3 years’ experience in implementing child and community development programmes.
• Sound understanding of child rights, rights-based programming, and management of CBOs.