Safeguarding Officer

Safeguarding Officer

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, India

Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) India was established in 2016 with the vision of creating habitats that allow communities to be resilient to disasters, adapt to climate change, and thrive. With a focus on urban resilience, various initiatives of AKAH work to reduce vulnerability to climate change and disasters through community-led efforts with a strong synergy between traditional knowledge, innovation, and technical integration. It is a Section 8 nonprofit organization and a member of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Headquartered in Mumbai, AKAH works in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana. It has directly impacted 2.5 million individuals.

The Safeguarding Officer role has been created to ensure that AKAH continues to protect people from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) and safeguard the organization’s assets and reputation; that this is managed in a professional, sensitive, coordinated, accountable way, in line with best practices within AKAH and the sector, local legislation, and cultural sensitivities. It therefore plays a key role in fostering the organisations capacity building efforts and monitoring, whilst enforcing compliance. The Safeguarding (SG) Officer will be responsible for ensuring that the different aspects of safeguarding are systematically embedded into the organizational systems and processes.

The Safeguarding Officer will be based in Mumbai with frequent travels to area offices and programme implementation areas.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Act as a resource to staff at the field level and volunteers as they work to fulfil their responsibilities and obligations under AKAH’s Safeguarding policies
• Identify potential Safeguarding risks at the organisation and in all the programme activities and report them to the Country Safeguarding Manager
• Champion safeguarding policies and accompanying policy guidance support materials, including strong advocacy for safeguarding across all levels of business to promote a culture of respect, safety and inclusion.
• Update the organisational risk register
• Gather information on the progress with implementing the SG arrangements in functions and across regional offices
• Support the Senior Manager Safeguarding with the implementation of annual safeguarding action plan
• Support the design of and delivery of induction sessions, short training events as well as longer refresher trainings on safeguarding
• Support the Senior Manager Safeguarding with the roll-out/implementation of complaints mechanisms in the region, and work to establish community-level reporting mechanisms for beneficiaries
• Support programme teams in building partner capacity in the areas of safeguarding.
• Conduct regular visits to the regional and area offices to ensure that SG arrangements are working effectively, and staff and beneficiaries know how to report SG cases to the organisation
• In partnership with the relevant teams, identify, map out and regularly update the directory of local support services/referral pathways available in different regions.
• Serve as a point of contact for safeguarding disclosures and support the Senior Manager Safeguarding in managing safeguarding cases
• Network with external experts/organisations who have skills related to safeguarding

Required Qualification & Experience

• A university degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., social work, gender studies, conflict resolution/mediation, international development, humanitarian law, HR-training & development, political sciences,
• A minimum of 5 years of experience working in Child Protection, Safeguarding, Gender Based Violence, Gender, Social Mobilisation.
• Ability to travel and work within challenging environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentational skills; ability to communicate complex ideas to a wide range of audiences.
• Highly organised with programme management skills and consistent attention to detail.
• Experience of planning and undertaking training programmes/workshops at a range of levels (e.g. field workers, community-based staff, project staff, senior management and beneficiaries).
• Approachable, highly confidential and discreet, demonstrating ethics and integrity.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in Hindi and English required

AKAH’s recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to equal opportunity and protecting children and at-risk adults from safeguarding violations. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work with children and at-risk adults are recruited to work for us. In the process of recruitment, selection and appointment AKAH implement a range of procedures and vetting checks including criminal records disclosures to ensure everyone associated with AKAH is kept free from harm and abuse is prevented.

Please apply via the ADKN Career Centre www.the.akdn.org/careers/2251778

Closing date 29 August 2025