NATIONAL OMBUDS Palestine

SOS Children’s Villages takes action for children as an independent non-governmental social development organization. We build families for children in need, we help them shape the development of the community, we respect varying religions and cultures, and we work in countries and communities where our mission can contribute to development.

Position Title: National Ombuds – Palestine

Line Manager: The Regional Ombuds.

Status: Full Time

Contract Type: Limited Contract - 12 months with the possibility of renewing based on existing founds

Location: Bethlehem - Palestine. In person work arrangements.

About us:

The Ombuds Office for SOS Children’s Villages is an independent office supporting children and young people in situations that have not been successfully resolved by SOS Children’s Villages safeguarding processes.

An Ombuds is a trustworthy person who can listen, support, and guide children and young people. There are national, regional, and global Ombuds.

Each Ombuds follows the four principles: Confidentiality, Impartiality, Independence and Informality. They work independently of SOS Children’s Villages as a check and balance to safeguarding with the goal of finding a solution to the concern raised.

Child Safeguarding Commitment:

SOS Children’s Villages works with children’s and youth. Any applicant he/she should act in a way that safeguards children and youth from all forms of discrimination, abuse, mistreatment and neglect, and will keep data about the children and youth in SOS Children’s Villages programmes confidential. He/she will report all concerns regarding actual or potential child abuse, mistreatment or any other violation of the Child Protection Policy according to our reporting and responding system. For sure, He/she would be protected and supported by the organization.

PSEA Standards:

SOS Children’s Villages, has a zero tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of beneficiaries.  Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is everyone’s responsibility and all staff are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct, that enshrines principles of PSEA, at all times (both during work hours and outside work hours).  Familiarization with, and adherence to, the Code of Conduct is an essential requirement of all staff, in addition to related mandatory training.  All staff must ensure that they understand and act in accordance with this clause. 

Equal Opportunity Employer:

SOS Children’s Villages is an equal opportunity employer and values. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

In order to further their mission, SOS Children’s Villages has decided to implement an Ombuds Office.

The National Ombuds Palestine, as designated neutral professionals, will build awareness, promote prevention, nurture child participation, and enable children and young people to be safe in all SOS CV programs and services.

She/He is a person of trust who has the skills and interest to work through their concerns and find a local solution by:

• Adhering to the principles of confidentiality, independence, informality and impartiality;
• Guiding a fair process through listening and supporting;
• Utilizing dispute resolution skills;
• Being a check and balance;
• Identifying trends and making recommendations to Palestine SOS Children’s Villages and General Secretariat (GSC).

The National Ombuds will operate independently from SOS Children’s Villages Palestine and will report to the Regional Ombuds.

Key performance areas and main responsibilities:

• Receive and address concerns in a timely manner;
• listen carefully to concerns, discuss an ‘action plan’, suggest next steps, guide Inquirers through the agreed process as needed, and be available for ongoing support;
• help Inquirers to understand SOS processes and navigate between SOS and community structures and systems; and
• make referrals to appropriate SOS departments, local child protection agencies, legal advice, and/or community resources when appropriate.
• Collaborate and support children, young people and staff:

within their roles as Children/Young People and Staff Representatives;

within child-friendly and staff-friendly Safeguarding and Ombuds policies and processes; and

to share their views and feedback to improve the Ombuds Office.

• Develop and maintain a confidential database that tracks concerns until they are resolved.
• Identify relevant national trends within SOS programmes, services, and human resources; recommend changes to the National Director, while maintaining the confidentiality of the Inquirers to the Ombuds Office.

Child Safeguarding (CS)

• Responsible within own area of work to raise awareness of the SOS Child Protection Policy principles and to prevent and protect children from all forms of abuse, abandonment, exploitation, violence and discrimination
• Responsible to report any CS suspicion, concern, allegation or incident immediately, following Child Safeguarding reporting procedures. CS reports should be made to the IOR CS focal person and/or to the respective line manager  

Qualifications and Competencies for the position:

Must Criteria Competencies – knowledge, skills, abilities

We offer:

• Training and development
• Support from the Regional Ombuds
• Satisfying and stimulating work
• The opportunity to work for an NGO that is a member of a recognized international network.

We are looking forward to receiving your motivation letter, application form Application form Palestine.docx and CV, all documents in English, by 18^th July 2025 on email: hr@ombuds-sos-cv.org. You can also apply directly on our system: Careers - SOS Children's Villages

 * To protect the independence of the Ombuds Office, this position is not open to SOS Children's Villages employees or those who have been employed by SOS Children's Villages within the last 2 years, or for those who have relatives working for SOS Children's Villages.

** Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.

In case you have question, please reach out to us by email: hr@ombuds-sos-cv.org

You can find more detail about us here:

Ombuds Office - SOS Children's Villages (ombuds-sos-childrensvillages.org)

In accordance with the organisation’s child protection policy, this position will be subject to applicable background checks, including criminal record checks.