The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
CONTEXT
Following recurrent outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and the persistent humanitarian crisis affecting eastern DRC, IRC is implementing a multisectoral emergency response in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The response integrates Health, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), WASH, Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), and integrated Protection, including Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Cash for Protection and Community-Based Protection.
The Integrated Emergency Protection Coordinator will provide strategic, technical and operational leadership for all protection interventions implemented under the emergency response, ensuring that protection risks are identified, mitigated and addressed through high-quality, safe, accountable and survivor-centered programming.
JOB PURPOSE
The Integrated Emergency Protection Coordinator leads the design, implementation, monitoring and quality assurance of IRC’s integrated protection response within the Ebola emergency framework in Ituri and North Kivu.
The position ensures strategic coordination across Child Protection, GBV, MHPSS, Protection Monitoring, Community-Based Protection and Protection Mainstreaming, while ensuring alignment with humanitarian principles, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures and donor requirements.
The coordinator provides overall supervision to protection teams, contributes to emergency preparedness and response planning, oversees budgets and grants, supports resource mobilization efforts and represents IRC in relevant coordination platforms.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Strategic Leadership and Program Quality
- Provide overall leadership for integrated protection programming.
- Ensure effective integration of GBV, Child Protection, MHPSS, Cash for Protection and Community-Based Protection interventions.
- Lead protection risk analysis and identify protection priorities in outbreak-affected communities.
- Ensure all protection activities comply with humanitarian standards, IASC guidelines and IRC technical standards.
- Ensure all interventions systematically integrate Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures.
- Lead contextual and protection trend analysis and adapt response strategies accordingly.
- Ensure protection programming remains conflict-sensitive and follows the Do No Harm principle.
2. Program Management and Technical Oversight
- Oversee implementation of emergency protection activities in all operational locations.
- Develop annual, quarterly and monthly work plans.
- Supervise quality implementation through regular field visits.
- Ensure case management services meet applicable global standards.
- Monitor service quality, referrals, confidentiality and safeguarding compliance.
- Ensure quality data collection and analysis for decision-making.
- Lead adaptive management processes responding to epidemiological and protection trends.
3. Team Management and Capacity Building
- Directly supervise Senior Protection Officers, Protection Managers and technical focal points.
- Establish performance objectives and regular supervision mechanisms.
- Conduct individual performance reviews.
- Facilitate weekly technical supervision meetings.
- Develop staff capacity-building plans.
- Promote staff wellbeing and Staff Care initiatives.
- Strengthen emergency surge team readiness and deployment capacity.
4. Coordination and Representation
- Represent IRC in the Protection Cluster, Child Protection Working Group, GBV Working Group, MHPSS Working Group, Ebola Response Coordination Structures, and meetings with provincial and health authorities.
- Strengthen collaboration with Health, RCCE, WASH and IPC actors.
- Support harmonization of protection approaches across response partners.
- Lead protection advocacy initiatives based on evidence and field findings.
5. Grants, Budget Management and Reporting
- Lead protection grants implementation and budget monitoring.
- Conduct monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) reviews.
- Ensure expenditure rates remain aligned with implementation plans.
- Support proposal development and emergency resource mobilization initiatives.
- Contribute technical content for donor reports.
- Prepare high-quality monthly, quarterly and final reports.
6. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)
- Ensure quality monitoring systems are functional.
- Track protection indicators and project targets.
- Ensure accountability mechanisms are accessible and operational.
- Promote client feedback and participation.
- Use monitoring results to improve programming quality.
7. Safeguarding, Risk Management and Compliance
- Ensure compliance with IRC safeguarding standards.
- Strengthen safe programming approaches.
- Ensure confidential handling of protection information.
- Monitor security, operational and programmatic risks.
- Implement mitigation plans for identified risks.
- Ensure compliance with donor and IRC requirements.
KEY DELIVERABLES
- Protection strategy and implementation plan.
- Monthly protection trend analyses.
- Quality assurance reports from field monitoring visits.
- Donor narrative reports.
- Budget monitoring reports.
- Capacity-building plans.
- Protection emergency preparedness plans.
- Protection advocacy briefs.
- Final project reports.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Human Rights, Psychology, Social Work, Public Health, International Development, Humanitarian Affairs or a related field.
Professional Experience
- Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in humanitarian protection programming.
- Minimum 3 years in a senior coordination or management role.
- Demonstrated experience managing GBV, Child Protection and MHPSS programs.
- Previous experience in emergency response and outbreak settings is highly desirable.
- Experience managing multi-donor grants and large teams.
- Experience working within humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES
Strong knowledge of
- GBV programming.
- Child Protection programming.
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
- Case Management.
- Community-Based Protection.
- Cash for Protection.
Strong understanding of
- Ebola Virus Disease response.
- Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).
- Humanitarian principles.
- Sphere Standards.
- IASC Protection Policy.
- GBVIMS and CPIMS+.
Strong skills in
- Strategic planning.
- Team leadership.
- Budget management.
- Proposal writing.
- Coordination and representation.
- Advocacy and negotiation.
LANGUAGES
- French: Fluent (mandatory).
- English: Professional working proficiency (mandatory).
- Swahili: Highly desirable.
PROPOSED SUPERVISION
- Senior Emergency GBV Officer.
- Senior Emergency Protection Officer – Information Management.
- Integrated Protection Managers – Ituri & North Kivu.
The position will also maintain a dotted-line technical coordination relationship with the Health, RCCE, IPC and WASH emergency leads to ensure full multisectoral integration of the EVD response and smooth collaboration with Country Program counterparts.
French Version:
CONTEXT
Following the recurrence of Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks and in the context of a persistent humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC, the IRC is implementing a multi-sectoral emergency response in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. This response integrates Health, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), as well as integrated protection, including Child Protection, prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV), Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Cash for Protection, and Community-Based Protection.
The Integrated Protection in Emergency Situations Coordinator will provide strategic, technical, and operational leadership for all protection interventions implemented as part of the emergency response. They will ensure that protection risks are identified, mitigated, and addressed through high-quality, safe, accountable, and survivor-centered programs.
JOB PURPOSE
The Integrated Protection in Emergency Coordinator leads the design, implementation, monitoring and quality assurance of the IRC’s integrated protection response within the framework of the Ebola emergency response in Ituri and North Kivu.
The position ensures strategic coordination between Child Protection, GBV, SMSPS/MHPSS, protection monitoring, community-based protection and cross-cutting protection integration, while ensuring alignment with humanitarian principles, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures and donor requirements.
The Coordinator provides overall supervision of protection teams, contributes to the preparation and planning of emergency responses, oversees budgets and grants, supports resource mobilization efforts and represents the IRC in relevant coordination mechanisms.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Strategic Leadership and Program Quality
- To provide overall leadership for integrated protection programming.
- Ensuring effective integration of GBV, Child Protection, SMSPS/MHPSS, Cash for Protection and Community-based Protection interventions.
- Lead the risk analysis of protection and identify protection priorities in communities affected by the epidemic.
- Ensure that all protection activities comply with humanitarian standards, IASC guidelines and IRC technical standards.
- Ensure the systematic integration of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures into all interventions.
- Lead contextual and trend analyses of protection and adapt intervention strategies accordingly.
- Ensure that protection programs remain conflict-sensitive and respect the “Do no harm” principle.
2. Program Management and Technical Supervision
- Supervise the implementation of emergency protection activities in all operational areas.
- Develop annual, quarterly and monthly work plans.
- Supervise the quality of implementation through regular field visits.
- Ensure that case management services comply with applicable international standards.
- Monitor the quality of services, referencing mechanisms, confidentiality and compliance with backup standards.
- Ensure quality data collection and analysis to support decision-making.
- To lead adaptive management processes to adjust interventions to epidemiological developments and protection trends.
3. Team management and capacity building
- Directly supervise Senior Protection Officers, Protection Managers and technical focal points.
- Define performance objectives and put in place regular monitoring mechanisms.
- Conducting individual performance assessments.
- Facilitate weekly technical supervision meetings.
- Develop staff capacity-building plans.
- Promote staff well-being and team support initiatives (Staff Care).
- Strengthen the level of preparedness and deployment capabilities of emergency/surge teams.
4. Coordination and representation
- Represent the IRC at the Protection Cluster, the Child Protection Working Group, the GBV Working Group, the SMSPS/MHPSS Working Group, in the Ebola response coordination structures and at meetings with provincial and health authorities.
- Strengthen collaboration with Health actors, CREC/RCCE, WASH/EHA and PCI.
- Supporting the harmonization of protection approaches between the different response partners.
- Lead protection advocacy initiatives based on evidence and findings from the field.
5. Grant management, budget and reporting
- To lead the implementation of protection grants and ensure budget monitoring.
- Perform monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) reviews.
- Ensure that the level of spending remains aligned with the implementation plans.
- Supporting the development of proposals and resource mobilization initiatives for emergency responses.
- Contribute to the drafting of the technical content of reports intended for donors.
- Prepare high-quality monthly, quarterly, and final reports.
6. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)
- Ensure the proper functioning of quality monitoring systems.
- Monitor protection indicators and project targets.
- Ensure that accountability mechanisms are accessible and operational.
- Promote customer feedback and participation.
- Use the results of the monitoring to improve the quality of the programs.
7. Safeguarding, risk management and compliance
- Ensure compliance with IRC backup standards.
- Strengthen approaches to safe programming.
- Ensure the confidential processing of information relating to protection.
- Monitor security, operational and programmatic risks.
- Implement plans to mitigate the identified risks.
- Ensure compliance with the requirements of donors and the IRC.
MAIN DELIVERABLES
- Protection strategy and implementation plan.
- Monthly analyses of protection trends.
- Quality assurance reports from follow-up field visits.
- Narrative reports intended for donors.
- Budget monitoring reports.
- Capacity building plans.
- Emergency preparedness plans for protection.
- Advocacy notes on protection issues.
- Final project reports.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Formation
Master’s degree in social sciences, gender studies, human rights, psychology, social work, public health, international development, humanitarian affairs or in a related field.
Professional experience
- Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in humanitarian protection programming.
- Minimum of 3 years of experience in a senior coordination or management position.
- Demonstrated experience in managing GBV, Child Protection and SMSPS/MHPSS programs.
- Prior experience in emergency response and epidemic contexts is highly desirable.
- Experience in managing grants funded by multiple donors and in managing large teams.
- Work experience within humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Solid knowledge in the following areas
- VBG programming.
- Child Protection.
- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
- Case management.
- Community-based protection.
- Cash for Protection.
Good command of the following areas
- Response to Ebola virus disease.
- Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).
- Humanitarian principles.
- Sphere Standards.
- IASC Protection Policy.
- GBVIMS and CPIMS+.
Strong skills in
- Strategic planning.
- Leadership and team management.
- Budget management.
- Drafting project proposals.
- Coordination and representation.
- Advocacy and negotiation.
LANGUAGES
- French: fluent, required.
- English: professional level, required.
- Swahili: highly preferred.
PROPOSED SUPERVISION
- Senior Emergency GBV Officer.
- Senior Emergency Protection Officer – Information Management.
- Integrated Protection Managers – Ituri & Nord-Kivu.
The position also maintains a functional technical coordination relationship with the Health Emergency, CREC/RCCE, PCI and WASH managers, to ensure full multi-sectoral integration of the Ebola response and seamless collaboration with Country Programme counterparts.
Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.