Cash and Voucher Assistance Technical Adviser (CVA TA)

TITLE: Cash & Voucher Assistance Technical Advisor (CVA TA)
TEAM/PROGRAMME: Programme Development & Quality LOCATION: Cairo with extensive travel to the field in Egypt
GRADE: NAT2 CONTRACT LENGTH: One Year

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

The post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently or intermittently- because they either work at country programs; or are visiting country programs; or the post holder needs to carry out field visits. Save the Children has a zero-tolerance policy toward any kind of abuse, exploitation or harassment.

CONTEXT

Egypt is going through an important refugee and economic crisis. According to the UNHCR, there were 682,945 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Egypt in June 2024, with the majority being Sudanese having fled their country following the outbreak of the Sudan conflict in April 2023, and adding significantly to the pre-existing refugee population from Syria, among other countries. The average 27% inflation rate in 2024 coupled with high currency devaluation is exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and creating new ones. Loss of purchasing powers put an additional strain on host Egyptian communities and refugees/asylum-seekers alike, the latter being also denied access to some essential services, in turn reducing capacities to meet basic needs and invest in livelihoods.

Save the Children Egypt is currently leading Cash & Voucher Assistance programs as part of its Sudan and Gaza emergency responses, through institutional and private funding, to strengthen households’ capacities to meet their basic needs and reduce the adoption of negative coping strategies, and ensure access to essential education, health, nutrition and protection services through integrated and multi-sectorial interventions, including but not only through direct implementation by local partners.

ROLE PURPOSE

Save the Children Egypt has an ambition to strengthen and expand its CVA programming base. To support this ambition, Save the Children Egypt is looking for a Cash & Voucher Assistance Technical Advisor who will be responsible for strengthening internal CVA systems and capacities, be the technical lead for program design and implementation and ensure effective internal and external coordination and representation. The post holder will assure the highest quality standard of all CVA programming of Save the Children Egypt.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Context: Humanitarian and development

Scope: Egypt (nation-wide)

Primary Technical area: Cash & Voucher Assistance

Primary Sub technical area: Market-based programming for child outcomes

Reports to: Program Development and Quality Director

Staff reporting to this post: NA

Technical Support received from: Global Cash & Voucher Assistance Technical Advisor

Budget Responsibilities: None

Role Dimensions: The role holder ensures the highest level of quality CVA programming, providing cutting edge strategic and technical leadership to strengthen internal CVA systems and tools, and ensure quality program designs, implementations, monitoring and evaluation, in line with sectoral minimum standards, best practices and evidences. He/she will also build internal capacities to relevant Functions and sectoral program teams (i.e. Livelihoods, Protection, Education, Health/MHPSS, Nutrition and WASH) and foster relationships with a wide range of internal stakeholders, including the Programme Development & Quality team, the Operations team (i.e. Supply Chain and Finance), the MEAL team, the Awards team, Global CVA Technical Advisors and Save the Children Members. The role holder will manage Save the Children’s CVA team and ensure the provision of high-quality technical support and strategic guidance to local partners. He/she will lead the generation of solid evidence and lessons learnt and contribute to New Business Development initiatives. He/she is also expected to coordinate pro-actively with other CVA agencies, notably as part of the Cash Working Group, to pro-actively engage, in a strategic manner, with donors and government authorities, and to take part in CVA-related initiatives within Save the Children’s Movement.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Strategy & Programme Quality(40%)

• Monitor humanitarian and CVA sectoral trends in Egypt to act early, lead technical design and implementation and coordinate effective with other CVA stakeholders externally;
• Lead the design and implementation of Save the Children Egypt’s CVA strategy in coordination with the Senior Management Team, the Program Development & Quality Team and the global CVA Team;
• Support the drafting of Save the Children Egypt’s Humanitarian Plan and Country Strategic Plan (CSP) to ensure CVA inclusion in a strategic and coordinated manner;
• Provide technical leadership and oversee the development and strengthening of internal CVA systems and tools for quality CVA preparedness, design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation: needs assessments, feasibility and risk assessments, sourcing and management of financial service providers, market assessments and monitoring, development and update of standard operating procedures etc;

· Provide technical oversight and guidance to the programme implementation teams to ensure that CVA components are technically sound, implementation methods are consistent with national and global strategies and good practice (e.g. Save the Children Common Approaches), in order to achieve equitable and sustainable results at scale;

• Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases the overall impact of CVA at community level;
• Undertake frequent field visits to project sites; work with implementation teams to understand impacts, operational challenges, and continuously identify opportunities for learning and improvement.

Resource Mobilization (20%)

· Work closely with the New Business Development team to identify and pursue funding opportunities, and engage with technical partners, donors and colleagues across Save the Children accordingly;

• Lead the technical scoping, planning, design and drafting of high-quality project proposals in close coordination with the New Business Development team, the Program Development & Quality team, the Operation teams, the MEAL team, and while closely engaging with the global CVA team;

Capacity Development (15%)

• Regularly assess the capacity gap of the CVA team and other Functions of Save the Children Egypt as well as of local partners, and develop and roll-out capacity building plans accordingly;
• Design/adapt technical resources to address the identified capacity gaps and needs;
• Organize trainings and other capacity building measures such as webinars and on-site coaching/mentorship, with a special focus on quality design, implementation and monitoring & evaluation;

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) (15%)

• Lead the definition and implementation of a CVA research and advocacy agenda in collaboration with the MEAL team and in line with the global CVA research agenda;
• Ensure the design and update of robust monitoring & evaluation systems and tools, in close collaboration with the MEAL department to monitor and evaluate CVA appropriateness and safety, risks, gaps and achievements as well as best practices at process, outcome and impact levels;
• Ensure appropriate data and knowledge management related to CVA in collaboration with the MEAL team;
• Disseminate key achievements and challenges and advocate for best practices and evidence-based learnings, internally and externally;

Coordination and Representation (10%)

• Ensure effective and timely internal coordination across relevant Functions involved in CVA programming to develop synergies and contribute to better impacts. This includes sectoral technical advisors, the Award and New Business Development teams, Program Managers, the MEAL team, Finance, Supply Chain, and IT teams as well as the communication and advocacy team;
• Represent Save the Children Egypt externally and coordinate with relevant stakeholders in a timely and appropriate manner, including government departments, donors, UN agencies and other relevant members of the humanitarian community;
• Pro-actively represent Save the Children Egypt at the Cash Working Group and any other CVA-related coordination mechanisms, leading strategic engagements and positioning, being propositional and contributing to inter-agency initiatives;

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

· holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values

· holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

· sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same

· widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others

· future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

· builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters

· values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength

· approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

· develops and encourages new and innovative solutions

· willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

· honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS

· Significant experience in delivering high quality humanitarian program on CVA and providing technical support

· Minimum five years’ experience in the field of CVA delivery, preferably from both a technical and operational role

· Multiple years’ experience living and working in a context where humanitarian CVA is currently delivered

· Ability to build relationships quickly with a wide range of people, across departments and sectors, both internally and externally

· Fluent in written and spoken Arabic and English, additional fluency in French and/or Spanish are appreciated

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

· Significant previous experience in the design, implementation, and monitoring of CVA delivery;

· Fair understanding of CVA principles and practices

· Fair experience on capacity building and mentoring;

· Can identify, explain, and troubleshoot the challenges to the delivery of CVA, balancing humanitarian imperatives with contextual constraints

· Previous experience & knowledge of key steps of CVA Operations, including: feasibility, risk and appropriateness analysis; market and financial provider assessments. analysis of response options and choice of CVA modalities;

· Ability to undertake significant and regular international travel more than 50% of time

Essential

· At least 5 years of practical experience in CVA programming at national level

· Ability to develop programme tools, technical resources and guidance as required

· Experience in proposal writing for the key donors such as BHA/PRM, ECHO and UN agencies

· Experience in representing the organization, coordinating and networking at national level

· Demonstrated experience in capacity building

· Proficiency in Arabic and English

Desirable

· Demonstrated experience and strong understanding of sectoral CVA, notably CVA for Protection, Education and/or Health outcomes, in refugee and urban contexts

· Trained on CALP CVA modules

· Strong communication skill, ability to facilitate and lead group meetings

· Strong analytical skills: secondary/primary data analysis

· Knowledge on key donors’ policies and priorities

· Good understanding of donor proposal / report writing skills

· Knowledge on gender, tackling inequality and exclusion

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience. The role holder is also expected to work outside the normal role profile during emergencies and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the Save the Children Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

JD written by: Augustin Thomas Date: 8th August 2024
JD agreed by: Ingy Akoush Date: 29th of august 2024
Updated By: Date:
Evaluated: Date: