Job Description

JOB TITLE: Safeguarding Specialist
LOCATION:  Aden, Yemen
DEPARTMENT:  HR & Administration
REPORT TO:  

• Administrative: HR Officer (Head of HR Department).  
• Technical/Functional: Executive Director for safeguarding-related matters, including complaint intake, investigation coordination, and technical safeguarding oversight.  

CONTRACT:  Full-time, Fixed-Term 
ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSING DATE: 2026/05/23

ABOUT FMF:

The Field Medical Foundation (FMF) has been operating in Yemen since 2012 during even the most dangerous peak of the conflict in the region. Our staff of dedicated professionals and passionate volunteers are the helping hand that delivers aid from local and/or international partners to those who require it the most, in a country that was already suffering before the war. Today we have helped humanitarian aid reach the hands of more than 9 million vulnerable people in Yemen to help them not only to survive but also to rebuild their lives. We aim to provide a comprehensive approach to providing aid through interventions, which is why we work in almost all sectors of international emergency relief.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Safeguarding Specialist serves as FMF's primary safeguarding focal point and provides technical and operational support to strengthen safeguarding systems across all staff, contractors, partners, suppliers, and incentive workers. Given the sensitivity and breadth of the duties, FMF should ensure the post holder receives appropriate authority, supervision, training, and escalation support.

AUTHORITY AND LIMITATIONS:

• Authority: The Specialist has the authority to conduct periodic safeguarding spot checks at FMF-supported health facilities and access training and compliance records. 
• Limitations: The role is responsible for administrative case tracking and documentation but does not make investigation findings, adjudicate complaints, or take disciplinary decisions. The Specialist coordinates investigations but shall not serve as a voting panel member in cases they received. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Safeguarding Training and Record Management:

• Follow up on all mandatory safeguarding trainings — Code of Conduct, Safeguarding, and PSEA/H — for all FMF staff, incentive workers, contractors, and partners.
• Maintain complete training records, attendance logs, and signed acknowledgement forms for all covered personnel.
• Track refresher cycles and maintain an organizational training calendar; alert relevant managers to upcoming due dates.
• Conduct safeguarding induction sessions for new staff and for incentive worker batches at health facility level.
• Support community-facing safeguarding awareness activities at facility and field level, including key messages on expected staff behavior, prohibited conduct, PSEA/H standards, and safe reporting channels.
• Ensure safeguarding materials and induction messages are accessible to women, men, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, and people with low literacy.

COI Acknowledgement Form Management:

• Collect, file, and maintain signed COI and safeguarding acknowledgement forms from incentive workers at health facility level as part of the onboarding process.
• Maintain a current COI register for all active incentive workers.
• Refer COI concerns identified during form collection to the HR Officer for adjudication; the Safeguarding Specialist documents and files but does not adjudicate COI cases.
• Escalate any suspected conflict of interest, intimidation, retaliation, or undue influence related to safeguarding reporting or case handling through the approved reporting line.

Safeguarding Complaint Intake and Record Management:

• Serve as FMF's primary safeguarding focal point for safeguarding complaints and concerns from staff, beneficiaries, partners, suppliers, contractors, incentive workers, and community members, while ensuring that alternative safe reporting channels are available, communicated, and activated when needed.
• Log all incoming complaints in the safeguarding case register within 24 hours of receipt and notify the Executive Director of the case existence and category on the same day.
• Ensure a backup reporting and escalation arrangement is in place for periods of absence, field travel, leave, illness, conflicts of interest, or where the complainant requests an alternative channel.
• Apply strict confidentiality protocols; share case details only on a defined need-to-know basis and with the complainant's awareness.
• Protect complainants, survivors, witnesses, and good-faith reporters from retaliation; immediately escalate any threat, intimidation, pressure, or adverse action linked to a safeguarding complaint.
• Maintain safeguarding records in a secure, access-restricted system; avoid sharing identifiable case information through personal email, personal messaging applications, or unsecured devices.
• Provide survivor support information and referral pathways at the point of complaint receipt, independent of the investigation timeline.
• Coordinate FMF investigation teams as directed by the Executive Director; maintain full impartiality and do not serve as a voting panel member in cases received by the incumbent.
• Ensure all safeguarding case handling follows FMF Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, PSEA/H Policy, and other related polices and SOPs.
• Manage administrative case tracking, documentation, referrals, follow-up of agreed actions, and closure documentation, without making investigation findings, adjudicating complaints, or taking disciplinary decisions.

Action Point Tracking and Reporting:

• Track all safeguarding action points from investigations, partner communications, and audit findings through to documented closure.
• Produce a monthly anonymized case register summary for the Executive Director review meeting.
• Produce a quarterly anonymized safeguarding report for the Executive Director to transmit to the FMF Board.
• Maintain anonymized reporting formats that separate statistical/management information from identifiable case files.
• Flag overdue action points, repeated safeguarding risks, or systemic gaps to the Executive Director for management action.

Policy Review and Safeguarding System Strengthening:

• Support the review, update, and roll-out of FMF safeguarding-related policies, SOPs, and tools, in coordination with the Executive Director and relevant departments. 
• Provide practical input on policy amendments based on case trends, field observations, partner feedback, and operational needs. 
• Support staff and partner awareness on approved safeguarding policy updates.

Field Spot Checks and Facility-Level Compliance:

• Conduct periodic safeguarding spot checks at FMF-supported health facilities; document findings and share action points with facility management and the Executive Director.
• Assess safeguarding risk environments at facility level and flag concerns for organizational response.
• Verify that community members at FMF-supported sites can identify at least one safe and accessible channel for reporting safeguarding concerns.
• Review facility-level safeguarding arrangements for privacy, safe access, visible reporting information, child-friendly and disability-inclusive communication, and risks related to staff, guards, cleaners, drivers, volunteers, and service providers.

Coordination:

• Act as FMF's operational focal point for safeguarding coordination with implementing partners and the Ministry of Public Health and Population, in support of the Executive Director.
• Ensure all partner-raised safeguarding action points are acknowledged, tracked, and responded to within agreed timelines
• Coordination with MEAL, Accountability, HR, Admin, and Procurement:
• Coordinate with MEAL/Accountability teams to ensure safeguarding complaints received through CFM/CBFM channels are immediately and confidentially referred to the safeguarding reporting line.
• Support MEAL teams to classify safeguarding complaints safely and prevent sensitive case details from being stored in general feedback databases.
• Coordinate with HR to integrate safeguarding checks into recruitment, reference checks, onboarding, Code of Conduct signing, and staff exit processes.
• Support Admin/Procurement to ensure suppliers, contractors, guards, drivers, cleaners, and other service providers receive safeguarding briefings and sign relevant Codes of Conduct or contractual safeguarding clauses.
• Monitor that partner and supplier safeguarding requirements are documented in agreements, orientation records, and action-point trackers.

In addition to the above, the Safeguarding Specialist may be asked to carry out other duties as requested by the Executive Director.

REPORTING STRUCTURE

• The Safeguarding Specialist reports to the HR Officer (Head of HR Department) administratively and to the Executive Director for safeguarding-related matters. Cases involving the HR Officer, or cases where the complainant requests an alternative channel, are escalated directly to the Executive Director without passing through the HR Officer.
• If the Executive Director is the subject of a concern, unavailable, or has a conflict of interest, the matter shall be escalated through the designated alternative governance channel approved by FMF, such as the Board focal point or another authorized safeguarding reporting route.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

• Education: Relevant university degree in social sciences, public health, law, community development, or a related field.
• Experience: Strictly 3 to 5 years of professional experience in safeguarding, PSEA, protection, HR compliance, MEAL/accountability, GBV, or related humanitarian or development functions is preferred.
• Languages: Arabic fluency (spoken and written); English working proficiency sufficient to read and act on policy and donor communication.
• Core Competencies: Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive personal information with strict confidentiality.
• Understanding of PSEA principles, survivor-centered approaches, and the do-no-harm principle.
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and exercise sound professional judgment.
• Prior experience in an NGO safeguarding, accountability, or protection function is an advantage.
• Experience in training facilitation and record management is an advantage.
• Ability to travel regularly to project sites across FMF areas of operation.
• Strong understanding of confidentiality, anti-retaliation, informed consent, safe referrals, and survivor-centered complaint handling.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate safely and respectfully with women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons, and other at-risk groups.
• Commitment to neutrality, non-discrimination, cultural sensitivity, integrity, accountability, and the do-no-harm principle.
• Willingness to receive regular supervision, debriefing, and technical coaching due to the sensitive nature of safeguarding work.

FMF is an equal opportunity employer. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply because a female Safeguarding Specialist can provide an accessible female-specific reporting channel for staff and beneficiaries, consistent with FMF's PSEA policy and survivor-centered safeguarding commitments.

*FMF provides a work environment which is free of sexual exploitation and abuse, discrimination, and all forms of harassment and abuse of the foundation.
*We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children and adult beneficiaries are allowed to join our organization. Our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children and adult beneficiaries from abuse.

How to Apply

-    The deadline for receiving applications is Saturday, May 23, 2026
-    Interested candidates should apply using this [Click Here]
-    Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.