International Protection Officer at Nonviolent Peaceforce

Job Title: International Protection Officer

Function: Programmes

Duty Station: Multiple Locations (Ninewa Governorate and Kirkuk Governorate – Northern Iraq)

Line Manager: Team Leader

Line Management Responsibility: NA

ABOUT US

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is a dynamic, international non-governmental organization. We work to reduce violence and protect civilians in countries affected by violent conflict and its aftermath through the implementation of unarmed civilian protection programming. NP implements programming through the deployment of civilian protection teams to the field and is continuing to scale up to meet the growing needs in the communities we serve. Programming is founded on unarmed civilian protection and is thematically focused on protection in displacement, child protection, gender-based violence protection, and inter-communal violence reduction.

JOB PURPOSE:

The International Protection Officer will implement community-based violence reduction and prevention programming in various locations in Iraq, in the context of an ongoing civil conflict and high levels of displacement. You will be a person with a genuine commitment to working at the community level, someone who is skilled at building trusting relationships in an extremely polarized political climate. You are someone who is not deterred by the complexity of conflict; you are able to analyze conflict dynamics; you are motivated and unendingly persistent in finding and implementing protection and prevention strategies. You will be responsible for working together with other international and national colleagues to directly implement the project and to participate in reporting and documentation. You are comfortable living and working in a physically demanding environment, living full-time in a shared compound environment.

The successful candidate combines creativity, innovation, and demonstrated knowledge of protection, conflict prevention and peacebuilding. S/he is experienced and skilled at converting protection, violence reduction and conflict analysis theory into practical, locally appropriate solutions that effectively increase the safety and security of civilians affected by violent conflict. S/he has excellent interpersonal skills and a flair for connecting and building trust with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. S/he is solutions-focused, strategic, and is driven by a keen interest and personal commitment to civilian protection. S/he is fluent in English and has strong spoken Arabic.

KEY OBJECTIVES/RESPONSIBILITIES:

A. Commitment to NP Principles

• Demonstrate a commitment to NP’s mandate, principles, and Code of Conduct.
• Facilitate a full-time approach to ensuring a positive image of the organization

B. Program Implementation

• Information gathering and context analysis
  • Assess security risks and develop conflict mitigation strategies for both host and IDP communities and returnees
  • Continuously monitor local conflict situations in order to track conflict trends and identify protection needs.
  • Work and live within conflict-affected communities to build trust, to establish deep contextual understanding, and to effect nonpartisan position
• Community Engagement
  • Identify and flag communities or individuals in need of specialized support services, maintain updated referral pathway, ensure effective dissemination of information
  • Establish and support community protection mechanisms, including intensive follow-up and support.
  • Facilitate active participation and leadership of women in community peace and security strategies
  • Monitor and report on breaches of locally negotiated peace agreements
• Training
  • Provide technical skills training in conflict analysis, nonviolent conflict resolution, and community-based protection strategies
  • Develop training materials and tailor existing training materials to field-level contexts
• Protective presence, accompaniment, and other interventions
  • Design and implement protection interventions appropriate to context and need within parameters of mandate and projects
  • Provide protective presence and accompaniment to vulnerable groups and persons with specific needs, with a particular focus on improving child protection and combating gender-based violence.
  • Facilitate communications and relationships between communities in conflict, providing proactive engagement to mitigate potential conflict including facilitated dialogue, shuttle diplomacy, and the development of specific implementable agreements
  • Manage cases of individuals who are vulnerable or under threat, including working with other service providers and managing a follow-up process.

C. Administration and Operation:

• Reporting
  • Produce activity, field, and training reports and support the Team Leader in internal and external reporting as needed
• Security
  • Support the team in consistent security analysis and development of security protocols.
  • Ensure all project work is consistent with agreed safety and security policies and procedures
• Logistics/Finance
  • Complete team-level finance reports as requested and support monitoring of team cash, spending, and financial documentation
  • Support team-level logistics and operations, including completing procurement requests, supporting asset management and compound management
  • Assist with procurement of supplies or other logistical matters when delegated by the Team Leader

D. Other

• Perform any other work duties assigned by the Team Leader
• Be available to work in any field site as needed by the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES:

1. Education, Knowledge, and Experience
2. 3 -5 years’ work experience in human security, child or civilian protection.
3. Demonstrated successful experience in working in complex security environments
4. Demonstrated experience working with state authorities, negotiation and mediation
5. Demonstrated ability to live, work and solve problems independently and effectively in remote, highly challenging locations
6. Demonstrated ability to analyze conflict, security, and political contexts
7. Post-secondary education in law, human rights, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, negotiation, mediation, human security or related, or equivalent experience
8. Skills:

A. Independent Judgment/Analytical:

• Ability to set priorities, solve problems and analyze data
• Ability to manage information with discretion
• Demonstrable conflict analysis skills, identify entry points, and design prevention and protection strategies
• Ability to communicate effectively with individuals and motivate and provide leadership to the team and work and live in a multi-cultural environment.
• Solutions-focused, creative problem solver.
• Proven ability to build relationships with the full range of actors including government, sheikhs, military, police, and non state actors
• Genuine commitment and interest in living and working at the community level.
• Flexibility and adaptability.

B. Language:

• Fluency in English
• Arabic highly preferred

C. Information Technology:

• Good skills in Microsoft Office applications