Ombudsman for Children: Head of Participation and Rights Education [1]

Title of Position: Head of Participation and Rights Education

Grade: Assistant Principal

Employing Authority: Ombudsman for Children

Location: Dublin

OCO Background:

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) is an independent statutory body, which was established in 2004 under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 (as amended). The Ombudsman for Children is independent and directly accountable to the Oireachtas in relation to the exercise of his statutory functions under the 2002 Act. These functions are:

• to promote the rights and welfare of children
• to examine and investigate complaints made by or on behalf of children in relation to the administrative actions of public organisations that have, or may have, adversely affected a child.

Further information about this work is available on the OCO’s website at www.oco.ie [2].

Role overview

The OCO has a dedicated Participation and Rights Education Unit, which plays a key role in giving effect to a range of obligations that the Ombudsman for Children has in the context of the OCO’s statutory function to promote children’s rights and welfare (Section 7 of the 2002 Act). Core areas of the Unit’s work concern the design and delivery of a children’s rights awareness and education programme and dedicated initiatives to consult with children and to highlight their views and concerns.

Areas belonging to the OCO’s rights awareness and education programme include: the delivery of education workshops to groups of children and young people visiting the OCO through their schools and youth services; the development of education resource materials on children’s rights for use in schools and other settings; a seminar and lecture programme for third level students who are undertaking programmes of study relating to children and children’s rights; and a dedicated platform called It’s Your Right (www.itsyourright.ie [3]), which aims to provide young people with information about children’s rights and related issues in Ireland.

The OCO’s work in the area of children and young people’s participation has included initiatives to facilitate children and young people’s involvement in the OCO’s work and organisational development (Youth Advisory Panels, Big Ballot, Tune In) and dedicated projects to hear and highlight the views of children and young people. These dedicated projects have involved engaging with and highlighting the experiences and concerns of children and young people in specific circumstances (e.g. separated children seeking asylum, young people in prison, young people experiencing homelessness, children and young people in hospital) as well as more broad-based consultations with children and young people on thematic issues (e.g. bullying in schools).

Since its establishment in 2004, the OCO has engaged with thousands of children and young people through these areas of its work.

The OCO wishes to expand its work in this important area and is seeking to recruit a new Head of Participation and Rights Education to oversee the effective development and delivery of the Participation and Rights Education Unit’s work programme in this regard.

Job Purpose:

The Head of Participation and Rights Education will have responsibility for assisting the Ombudsman for Children in delivering his key statutory obligations under Section 7 of the 2002 Act to:

• promote awareness among members of the public, including children and young people, of matters relating to children’s rights and welfare, including the principles and provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• consult with children and young people and to highlight issues relating to children’s rights and welfare, which are of concern to children and young people themselves.
• encourage public bodies to develop policies, practices and procedures that are designed to promote children’s rights and welfare;
• collect and disseminate information on matters relating to children’s rights and welfare.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the development and operation of the OCO’s Participation and Rights Education Unit, including the line management of at least two Participation and Rights Education Officers and other third-party contractors.
• Be a key member of the management team in the OCO, reporting directly to the Ombudsman for Children and contribute to strategic planning and deliver on key business plan objectives.
• Manage a budget and deliver on key performance measures.
• Be a key liaison on promoting matters relating to children’s rights and welfare, including the provisions of the UNCRC, with key government departments, public bodies and non-governmental organisations.
• Manage the effective growth and delivery of the OCO’s rights awareness and education programme and initiatives to consult with and highlight the views of children and young people.
• Oversee research projects as determined from time to time by the Ombudsman for Children.

Essential Requirements:

Candidates must, on the closing date for this competition, satisfy the following requirements:

• A qualification of at least Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications from a recognised University or Institution in a relevant discipline.
• At least 5 years’ practice experience of working directly with children and young people in a professional capacity relevant to the role of Head of Participation and Rights Education.
• Possess the core competencies described below.

Specialist Knowledge/Expertise:

• Proven experience in the design and delivery of effective consultative and participative initiatives with children and young people, in accordance with good practice.
• Proven experience in managing the design, delivery and review of education programmes and initiatives for children, young people and adults.
• Demonstrable knowledge of children’s rights and children’s rights education and proven experience of designing and delivering children’s rights education, in particular for children and young people.

Analysis and Decision Making:

• Ability to effectively source, analyse and evaluate information to promote the rights and welfare of children.

Interpersonal & Communication Skills:

• Knowledge and experience of network development and proven ability to engage with diverse stakeholder groups, including children and young people, professionals working with/for children and young people, government departments, state agencies, and civil society organisations.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills, with a demonstrable ability to deliver presentations.
• Demonstrable ability to use innovative, inclusive, appropriate and effective facilitation techniques and communication styles to support engagement by stakeholders, in particular children and young people.

Report Writing Skills;

• Ability to write reports presenting complex information in an easily understood and accessible format for publication.
• Possess strong computer skills with advanced skills in Word and Outlook, and a working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite.

Management and Delivery of Results:

• Excellent organisation and project management skills, including an ability to prioritise and exercise flexibility.
• Excellent people management skills with proven ability to motivate teams to achieve results.

Drive and Commitment:

• Demonstrated commitment to the promotion of the rights and welfare of children.
• Be self-motivating and committed to a high standard of work performance.
• A strong commitment to the values that underpin the work of the OCO and to promoting the rights and best interests of children, without prejudice.

Desirable Requirements:

• Fluency in written and/or spoken Irish

Key competencies for effective performance at Assistant Principal level:

• Leadership
• Analysis & Decision Making
• Management & Delivery of results
• Interpersonal & Communication skills
• Specialist Knowledge of Public Sector and government policies for the sector
• Drive & Commitment to Public Service Values

It is an absolute requirement that candidates declare any potential conflict of interest at the application stage of the recruitment process. Failure to declare such conflicts of interest which later come to light may result in the candidate being disqualified from the competition or if the candidate is offered and takes up a role with the OCO on the basis of misleading information may result in immediate dismissal from the OCO.

How to Apply:

All candidates should visit www.ocojobs.com [4] where there is a full list of available positions in the OCO with the corresponding downloadable information booklet for each position. There will also be a link to the online application portal to where all applications must be submitted.
To apply, candidates must provide an up to date Application Form and submit their application form via the online application portal

Only Application Forms fully submitted online will be accepted into the campaign. Applications will not be accepted after the closing date.

Closing Date:
Your application must be submitted on the online application portal by the Friday 10th November 2017, 17:00 exactly. Applications will not be accepted after this time.