Position: Social Protection Officer
Location: Amman, Jordan (the post is for a Jordanian national)
Contract: Full-time and Fixed-Term
Social Protection Officer
The Social Protection Officer position will be based in Shamil’s social protection technical team and will provide support to the team’s Senior Social Protection Specialist. The successful candidate will be provided with professional development to enable them to build significant level of expertise in social protection
Purpose
The purpose of the position will be to strengthen Shamil’s engagement in social protection in Jordan, supporting and engaging in project implementation and management, research, and communications.
Responsibilities
· Support the delivery of Shamil by providing, for example, background literature searches and reviews, desk-based research and data collection, analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, active participation in consultations on field missions and write-ups of reports, potentially leading and managing tasks.
· Support the development of communications materials, including background research, and drafting of technical sections.
· Engage in Shamil’s research on social protection, either in support of senior members of staff or by leading on specific areas.
· Author blogs and other publications to influence national thinking on social protection and support the drafting and publication of materials authored by senior members of staff.
· Contribute to developing and maintaining internal project knowledge sharing on Shamil’s SharePoint, enhancing its capacity to influence national social protection policy.
· Collaborate with the communications officer to develop communications products, such as the development of data visualisations and infographics or blogs, including the finalisation of publications.
· Support the development and delivery of training programmes.
· Engage in other areas as directed by your line manager.
Capacity Building
The position will incorporate a strong component of professional development and will work closely with senior members of staff. There will be opportunities to learn through active engagement in Shamil’s projects and research, as well as training opportunities.
Your capacity will be built in in social protection policy and operations, qualitative and quantitative research, as well as related areas such as governance, human rights and gender.
Staff are encouraged to shape the direction of their learning and to take advantage of the wide range of expertise that is within Shamil’s broader team. You will be required to learn to use research and analysis software and support further enhancement of the team’s capacity in conducting research projects.
Essential experience
· Master’s degree in social policy, economics, or a related field.
· A high degree of competence using Microsoft 365 (Office) applications.
· Excellent organisational skills.
· Strong analytical skills
· Excellent oral and written communication skills in Arabic and English.
· Strong interpersonal and presentation skills.
· A ‘can do’ attitude and a willingness to learn by doing.
· An interest in social protection and social policy in Jordan.
Desired experience
· Experience working in social policy in Jordan or overseas.
· Experience working on technical assistance programmes, including qualitative research, writing for publication, supporting development and delivery of training programmes.
Key competencies / qualities
· Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, and experience in preparing high-level reports.
· Advanced technology skills including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Smartsheet, Teams and other videoconferencing software.
· Resilience, agility and an ability to adapt to change and ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.
· Ability to contribute to a one team ethos, developing positive relationships internally and externally.
· Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team, and to work cooperatively and respectfully with a range of internal and external stakeholders including in cross-cultural contexts.
Applications
To apply for this role, please submit a CV and cover letter addressing the essential experience outlined in this Terms of Reference.
Closing date for this post will be March 6, 2024, 5:00PM.
Applications should be submitted to recruitment@developmentpathways.co.uk
Due to the high number of applications expected, unfortunately only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we encourage interested applicants to apply as soon as they can. High-quality applicants may be interviewed earlier than the closing date and we retain the right to close this role without notice.
Applicants should note the Privacy Notice on our website.
Shamil is committed to workforce diversity, and we encourage and welcome applications from women, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and mature age people. Shamil will work with applicants to meet their accessibility needs.
The Shamil technical assistance facility is a core component of the United Kingdom’s £95 million, five-year programme Strengthening Societal and Economic Resilience in Jordan (SSERJ). The goal of the SSERJ programme is to support the Government of Jordan to build an inclusive and sustainable social protection system, protecting people from shocks, based on a strengthened social contract. SSERJ consists of the following components:
· Technical assistance to strengthen the social protection system
· Financial assistance to pilot new social assistance and/or social insurance schemes
· Financial assistance for vulnerable refugees and research to promote refugee economic inclusion and self-reliance
· Technical assistance for monitoring, evaluation and lesson learning.
Shamil is a four-year project that runs from 2023-2027 and aims to support the government of Jordan to build a national social protection system that ensures access to social security for everyone, across the lifecycle. The project will promote greater gender equality, women's empowerment, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups within the national social protection system and more broadly across society.
Shamil adopts a flexible, demand-driven and partner led approach to supporting social protection system strengthening by closely collaborating with key stakeholders in Jordan’s social protection space, including government, non-government and development partners. Shamil will work with key government partners to identify and address needs and priorities for system strengthening. Shamil will also foster collaboration with the other key technical assistance providers and development partners working in the social protection sector to ensure synergy, complementarity and greater effectiveness of results.
Shamil supports the Government of Jordan across all aspects of social protection, including analysis of the challenges Jordan faces that can be addressed by social protection; policy development; evidence generation; and strengthening the design and effectiveness of social protection schemes.
Shamil is being implemented by Development Pathways, in partnership with Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and MMIS Management Consultants.
About Development PathwaysDevelopment Pathways is an internationally renowned organisation at the cutting edge of social protection, inclusive programming and management information systems. We deliver high-quality consultancies throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific engaging in social protection policy development; programme design and implementation (including as the leading provider and authority in management information systems); impact and process evaluations of social protection schemes; research (across a wide range of thematic areas, including poverty, social and economic analysis, disability, gender); and training and capacity building. In recent years, we have also become recognised for our work on disability-inclusive social protection.
Development Pathways has headquarters in the UK, and offices in Kenya, Australia and Jordan. Pathways has been delivering projects in Jordan for a number of clients, including FCDO, ILO and the Ford Foundation.
