Faith and Development Project Officer - Protecting Futures Project

With 75 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.

Come join our 31,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!

Employee Contract Type:

Local - Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)

Job Description:

Job Summary

The Faith and Development (F&D) Project Officer leads day-to-day delivery of “Protecting Futures”, a four-year (FY27–FY30) faith-led integrated project in the Sulima and Mongo Area Programmes, Falaba District. Working with churches, faith leaders and partners, the coordinator ensures that registered children grow in faith through age-appropriate discipleship, that parents and caregivers nurture faith and love at home, and that churches sustainably embody holistic witness in their communities. The role safeguards quality, child protection, learning and timely reporting.

 

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Outcome 1 – Children’s faith development

• Source, procure and distribute age-specific Bibles and discipleship guides; coordinate stakeholder workshops to adapt Scripture and discipleship materials to the local context.
• Coordinate quarterly Spiritual Nurture for Children (SNC) sessions, annual Vacation Bible School, faith-integrated sports and creative scripture expression activities, and Sunday School strengthening.
• Establish and support Impact+ Clubs and adolescent-led initiatives (small-scale projects, faith innovation challenge, youth-led awareness campaigns).

Outcome 2 – Parents and caregivers nurturing faith at home

• Coordinate training of parents, caregivers and faith leaders in Celebrating Families, Becoming One, Biblical Empowered Worldview and child protection skills.
• Establish and support Celebrating Families support groups, Raising Children with Tenderness sessions, S4T savings groups and bi-annual community parenting campaigns.
• Procure and disseminate parenting and discipleship manuals; support the faith and family community radio simulcast pilot.

Outcome 3 – Church partnership and capacity strengthening

• Conduct the church leadership and resource needs assessment and Valuing Children barrier assessment; coordinate leadership, children’s ministry, safeguarding, church management and theological education training.
• Coordinate Travelling Together and Be the Hope, Biblical Empowered Worldview, Channels of Hope and Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) trainings for church leaders.
• Facilitate church resource-sharing networks, joint planning sessions, joint church-community campaigns and bi-annual learning forums.
• Build and maintain partnerships with churches, faith-based networks, theological institutions and government stakeholders.

Outcome 4 – Monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting

• Work with the DMEAL team to deliver the baseline (February FY27, aligned with the AIM+ ADP baseline), annual outcome reviews and endline evaluation.
• Hold quarterly monitoring and learning reflection meetings with AP staff and church partners; maintain participant registers separate from AP sponsorship records.
• Produce learning briefs and timely progress reports; lead annual performance reviews and feed lessons into each September’s next-year plan and budget.

Project management, compliance and safeguarding

• Develop and track workplans, procurement plans and budgets with Finance; coordinate and guide AP/cluster staff supporting the project.
• Ensure compliance with WV child protection, safeguarding, Do No Harm, gender and inclusion standards and with donor requirements.
• Identify and manage risks; perform other duties assigned by the line manager.

 

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in theology/divinity, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Education, Community Development or a related field.
• Training in children’s ministry, child protection/safeguarding and project management is an advantage.
• Minimum of 2-3 years’ experience coordinating community-based projects, including at least 2 years working with churches, faith-based organisations or faith-and-development/child-focused programming.
• Experience in participatory training and facilitation, partner coordination, budget monitoring, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Working knowledge of child protection and safeguarding principles.
• Demonstrated personal Christian faith and ability to articulate it, with respect for other faiths, in line with WV’s core values.
• Training or experience in WV F&D models: Celebrating Families, Empowered Worldview, Channels of Hope, SNC Curriculum, Citizen Voice and Action, Travelling Together, Be the Hope.
• Experience with Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, adolescent/youth clubs (e.g. Impact+) or church-based children’s ministry.
• Prior experience with World Vision or a similar child-focused NGO, and with theological institutions and interfaith networks.
• Experience of community-based programming in rural Sierra Leone and strong skills in documentation, MEAL and report writing.

 

Working Environment / Conditions:

• Frequent field travel to Sulima and Mongo communities, often on rough roads and in the rainy season, with occasional overnight stays.
• Occasional travel to National Office – Freetown and other locations; occasional weekend work for church and community events.

All successful candidates will be required to undergo a police (criminal background) check, appropriate to the role and location, as well as a Counter-Terrorism Sanctions screening, as part of the clearance process prior to commencing employment.

World Vision International also participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (https://misconduct-disclosure-scheme.org/). In line with this Scheme, we will request information from applicants’ previous employers, as part of the reference checking process, regarding any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, as well as any such incidents under investigation at the time of separation.

By applying for this role, applicants confirm their understanding of and consent to these recruitment procedures.

WOMEN ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

Applicant Types Accepted:

Local Applicants Only