Regional Ombuds - ASIA

About us:

The Ombuds Office for SOS Children’s Villages is an independent office supporting children and young people in situations that have not been successfully resolved by SOS Children’s Villages safeguarding processes. An Ombuds is a trustworthy person who listen, support, and guide children and young people. There are national, regional, and global Ombuds.

Developed with input from children and young people, the Ombuds Office functions on the fundamental principles of independence, impartiality, confidentiality, and informality. Honoring these principles are critical to the success of the Ombuds Office. The Ombuds Office work independently of SOS Children’s Villages, as a check and balance to safeguarding with the goal of finding a solution to the concern raised.

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 are committed for safeguarding and protecting children in our programmes by having zero tolerance policy in this regard. We work in 137 countries and territories, reaching over one million children, young people, families and caregivers each year.

We are now looking for a committed individual to fill the position of:

Regional Ombuds - ASIA

Fulltime

About the role:

Location: International Office Region-Asia, Faridabad, India. However, based on applications received, position can be located at South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka) and South East Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam)

Contract Period: Limited term appointment for two years, renewable

The Regional Ombuds in ASIA, as a designated neutral professional, will respond to concerns that the SOS Safeguarding Team has been unable to resolve to the satisfaction of the child, young person, or adult involved. The Ombuds Office is an innovative approach to strengthening child safeguarding and accountability within SOS Children's Villages globally.

The Regional Ombuds will operate independently from SOS Children’s Villages and will report to the Global Ombuds.

The Regional Ombuds will:

• Provide training and professional supervision to National Ombuds so they have the knowledge and skills required to support children, young people, care leavers, their families, and staff at the SOS country level when they are unsatisfied with how SOS Children's Villages has responded to their concern;
• Provide guidance, support, and training to National Ombuds to apply SOS Children’s Villages policies, regulations and processes. Help them navigate between SOS Children’s Villages and external processes and systems, as defined by national legislation and policy, in coordination with SOS Children’s Villages national and/or regional child safeguarding teams;
• Identify and communicate regional themes and gaps within SOS Children’s Villages programmes, services, and personnel practice related to strengthening child safeguarding and submit findings to regional management, including the regional Child Safeguarding Team and the Global Ombuds, as appropriate, while maintaining the confidentiality of the Ombuds Office;

Profile, skills and qualifications:

• Master degree level in a relevant area such as mediation, social work, child psychology, sociology, child rights or protection, child and youth studies, law, or psychosocial wellbeing;
• Minimum five years demonstrated experience in one of the following fields: ombudsperson or mediation, child safeguarding, child protection, or child rights. Three years minimum experience in management and leadership. Conflict management experience desirable;
• Highly skilled in managing people and building effective teams across cultural contexts;
• Knowledge of child rights, human rights, best interests of the child, safeguarding, and related issues;
• Ability to work using child-centred principles;
• Facilitation/training skills using participatory methods;
• Excellent problem-solving and mediation skills;
• Ability to work in a virtual office and global team;
• Ability to speak and write in English. Knowledge of more than one Asian regional language will be preferred;
• Have the permission/ right to live and work in Faridabad, India.

We offer

• The opportunity to work with a passionate, innovative and collaborative team in a multicultural environment.
• You will gain experience of working for a globally recognized organisation making a difference in the lives of children & youth.
• Excellent learning opportunities.
• Competitive remuneration commensurate with experience and industry standards.

If interested, please forward your motivation letter and CV by October 15th 2023.

* To protect the independence of the Ombuds Office, this position is not open to SOS Children's Villages employees or those who have been employed by SOS Children's Villages within the last 2 years.

** Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.

In case you have question, please reach out to us by email: hr@ombuds-sos-cv.org

You can find more detail about us here:

Ombuds Office - SOS Children's Villages (ombuds-sos-childrensvillages.org)

Note:

This position involves working with an INGO committed to children and adult safeguarding and is subject to strict safer recruitment checks. Accordingly, the successful candidate will be required to go through background verification checks to verify their suitability to work for SOS Children’s Villages International.

Keywords

Ombudschild safeguardingchild protectionchild rightsmanagement and leadershipconflict managementmediationsocial workchild psychologysociologychild and youth studieslawpsychosocial wellbeing