Senior Child Protection Specialist

About the role

Palladium is supporting ChildSAFE Cambodia, a U.S. Department of State-funded initiative led by Catholic Relief Services that strengthens child protection systems through workforce capacity, case management, information systems, data use and service delivery. The Senior Child Protection Specialist provides technical expertise on Cambodia's social work and child protection ecosystem, including case management, referral pathways, safeguarding and frontline service delivery. The consultant works under the direction of the Country Team Lead and in close coordination with the Senior Digital Systems Specialist, and leads analysis of policies, practices, workflows, roles, forms, supervision and service-delivery realities that information systems must support.

Key responsibilities

• Contribute child protection and social work content to the assessment methodology, tools, interview guides, document-review framework and evidence matrix, aligned with the approved Cambodia workplan.
• Review laws, policies, standards, procedures, forms and training materials, and discuss their current interpretation with government counterparts.
• Conduct or support interviews, focus groups, workflow observations and consultations with government social workers, case managers, supervisors, service providers and NGO partners.
• Assess how policy and practice support identification, intake, assessment, case planning, referrals, service coordination, follow-up, review, transfer and case closure, including variations across institutions and levels.
• Map the roles of multi-sectoral and sub-national actors, including MoSVY, provincial and district social affairs offices, CCWCs, decentralised administrations, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, police and anti-trafficking units, courts, health and education services and NGO partners.
• Map case-management and referral workflows, decision points, roles, handoffs, approvals, forms and information needs, and identify bottlenecks, duplication, gaps and informal workarounds.
• Represent Palladium in government-led and development partner technical forums and contribute evidence-based perspectives to policy dialogue with MoSVY and other ministries.
• Translate findings into clear requirements and recommendations for the digital readiness and interoperability assessment and the roadmap, ensuring they are grounded in child protection practice and the needs of children and families.