Technical Advisor, Child Protection

International Rescue Committee • Silver Spring, MD

2d • $85,000 - $11,000

About The Position

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future. The Technical Advisor (TA): Child Protection provides technical expertise and programmatic oversight as it relates to safety, permanency, and protection for children and youth. The TA provides oversight to key projects related to children, including project management, monitoring of deliverables, and supervising four associated staff. The position will liaise with numerous other teams to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to child protection concerns, including providing consultation to IRC staff when issues of child protection arise. Technical Advisor (TA): Child Protection will be expected to develop strategies, tools and resources that build the capacity of providers internally and externally to respond effectively to child protection concerns, and support business development as needed. Funding for the position is currently secured through September 2026.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in the behavioral sciences, human services or social services field; with at least three years of relevant experience in child protection, such as child welfare, family preservation, or similar, or a bachelor’s degree plus at least five years of progressive employment experience in child protection, such as child welfare, family preservation, or similar.
• Minimum of two years of program management experience, including program oversight, review and monitoring of cases, and compliance with contractual obligations
• Strong understanding of the unique needs of unaccompanied children, and other forcibly displaced children and families including those who arrived to the US as refugees, humanitarian parolees.
• Experience developing materials related to child protection including guidance, manuals, training, checklists, etc.
• Strong understanding of mental health and developmental concepts as they relate to trauma and crisis affected children and families.
• Strong organizational skills with ability to juggle multiple tasks, set priorities, problem-solve, effectively manage time and meet deadlines, and proven ability to work under pressure.
• Proven ability to manage complex client situations centering client safety and child protection principles.
• Demonstrated experience in business development.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook), Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other platforms.
• Available on evenings and weekends as needed to support case consultations.

Responsibilities

• Provide programmatic oversight to several key projects related to unaccompanied children, including ensuring quality service provision, monitoring deliverables, problem solving issues that arise, and elevating programmatic issues of concern to leadership.
• Supervise two to six staff to ensure successful delivery of quality case management services and that project deliverables are met.
• Provide technical assistance on the best practices in child protection, including acting as a point of escalation and consultation for complex cases, cases of concern, and client crisis. This includes liaising with child welfare and law enforcement agencies, as needed.
• Liaise with numerous other teams to ensure appropriate delivery of services and quality data.
• Develop and adapt tools, guidelines, assessments, policies and curriculum to support high quality, effective child protection response.
• Track, analyze and elevate new developments in child protection trends in the US as they interact with forcibly displaced families, including unaccompanied children.
• Support business development to maintain funding for child protection programming.
• Maintain a strong understanding of trauma-informed principles and approaches, protection and safeguarding, and mandatory reporting.
• Promote the mainstreaming of child protection principles in other RAI sectors
• Serve as a resource to IRC stakeholders seeking information child protection, including revenue, external relations, communications and advocacy teams.
• Support with hiring and onboarding of staff within the Child Protection team.
• Represent IRC in meetings and events with local partners and community stakeholders.
• Provide trainings and Community of Practice to internal and external stakeholders to increase knowledge about children and family needs.

Benefits

• We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days depending on role and tenure, medical insurance starting at $163 per month, dental starting at $6.50 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with immediately vested matching, disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees