Social Protection – Technical Advisor-Programme Support Team (PST)

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in collaboration with a Development Partner UNICEF invites suitably qualified professionals for the following position within the Ministry:

Background

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (MOPSLSW) is central to Government of Zimbabwe’s achievement of national social development priorities. The National Development Strategy (NDS1 2021-2025) launched by the President in November 2020, commits the Government of Zimbabwe to improving the care and protection of vulnerable groups including children, persons with disabilities and the elderly. The MOPSLSW is the lead policy for a range of strategies and programmes aimed at improving the care and protection of vulnerable groups. Key strategies and programmes for achieving the care and protection objectives set out in the NDS1 include scaling up and strengthening of Zimbabwe’s flagship, National Case Management System for the Protection and Welfare of children, expansion of child protection services, family tracing and reunification of children living outside family environments, policy and legislative reform, access to child-friendly justice services and provision of timely and efficient probation services. In addition, Government and Development Partners will support strengthening of linkages between child protection and social assistance programmes by integrating protection, prevention and response services in the latter.

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in collaboration with Development Partners is establishing a Programme Support Team (PST) at national level to provide technical assistance and strategic support for the delivery and scaling up of the Ministry’s key priority programmes under the social development, disability and humanitarian assistance portfolios

Social Protection – Technical Advisor-Programme Support Team (PST)

The primary role of the Social Protection Technical Advisor is to strengthen the Ministry’s role in programme coordination and management of all social protection programmes, resource mobilization, standard-setting, implementation, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation such that the capacity of Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare is enhanced. The successful candidate will be contracted on a performance-based contract with clear deliverables and work plan.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Director, Social Development, the key responsibilities of the Social Protection Technical Advisor are as follows:

Policy, planning and coordination

• Working close with the Department of Strategic Policy, Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation
• Support the Ministry with the development of relevant social protection policies and strategies as and when required
• Support with the development of costed implementation plans for the developed policies and strategies
• Support the Ministry and Development Partners in the development of a joint costed annual work plan to deliver the priorities of the sector and prepare progress reports on their status through the key coordination platforms.
• Support the Ministry in the preparation of the Annual National Budget and development of the budget strategy paper and related discussions with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in mobilizing Development Partner support to cover any shortfalls.
• Provide support to the strengthening of the National Social Protection Steering Committee and its underlying Technical Working Groups and ensure their effectiveness as coordination platforms for social protection.
• Support coordination between key Ministries and development partners in implementation of social protection programmes in both rural and urban spaces.

Programme design and implementation

• Working closely with the Department of Social Development:
• Support with development of operational manuals for the key social protection programmes
• Provide technical support in improving the social protection delivery systems that are cost efficient, effective and interoperable.
• Support the Ministry in reviewing and conducting monitoring and evaluation activities in support of key Government and Development Partner social protection programmes and provide summary reports on achievements and challenges
• Provide technical support on designing and implementation of key social protection programmes and development of programme operational guidelines.
• Support with the development of a road map for closer alignment and integration between humanitarian and long-term social protection programmes.
• Support with the readiness of the social protection system and the scalability of key long-term social protection programmes to respond to different shocks and serve as conduits for channeling additional resources. Capacity building
• Support in carrying out capacity needs assessment of the Ministry and support the development of annual staff development plans
• Provide technical support to National, Provincial and District Social Development Offices in delivering the key social protection programmes in accordance with their operational manuals and to set standards

Qualifications and experience

• Master’s Degree in Development Studies, Economics or Social Work.
• At least 8 years of working on Social Protection in Zimbabwe
• Experience of working with Government
• Experience of working and collaborating with diverse sets of stakeholders, such as NGOs, government officials, donor representatives, and UN Agencies.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• Ability to work in teams and i ndividual
• A self-motivated individual with the ability to take initiatives and deliver results with little supervision and support

Duration

• This role is initially for a two-year period but with options for further renewal and the incumbent signing renewable contracts subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding.