Senior Protection Manager – Erbil or Baghdad ”National Position” At International Rescue Committee

Background/IRC Summary: Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (www.theIRC.org) is a world leader in relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict development services for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression. The IRC is currently working in over 25 countries around the world, addressing both the immediate and life saving needs of conflict affected people in emergencies and the reconstruction needs of post-conflict societies. The IRC has been working in Lebanon since 2012 to provide support to refugees and vulnerable host community members in the areas of women’s protection, children’s protection and cash assistance.

The IRC’s Protection Team works to safeguard the human rights and wellbeing of those affected by several years of conflict and displacement in Iraq. Newly displaced Iraqis, as well as those who were formerly displaced, often lack access to critical documentation, basic social services and key information about their civil rights.

The IRC’s Protection is focused on increasing the safety and legal protections of Iraqis who are currently or formerly displaced, as well as those returning to their area of origin. With Protection at the forefront of the crisis in Iraq, the IRC’s team is a leader in ensuring that vulnerable communities are receiving access to information and services through Protection Monitoring, legal Assistance and Legal Case Management, awareness raising and community-based protection assistance.

Job Overview/Summary: Under the direction of the Protection Coordinator, the Senior Protection Manager (SPM) will be responsible to oversee quality implementation of protection and rule of law programming in the 4 Governorates of Iraq as well as identifying the needs and supporting capacity building activities for the staff and participating in governorate level Protection Working Group meetings throughout Iraq. The SPM will mainly oversee the protection monitoring systems, tools, data collection and reporting, the referral systems and community based protection activities especially engagements with the community representative groups. . He/she will also lead on the identification, analysis and succinct reporting of protection trends and issues of concern to feed into protection sector strategy development, IRC programming as well as relevant humanitarian coordination fora, such as the Protection Working Groups. The SPM will also contribute to the continued development of the protection sector, and will contribute to drafting funding proposals and budgets, under the guidance of the Protection Coordinator and in close collaboration with Senior Legal Manager and other technical sector leads.

Reporting to the Protection Coordinator, the Senior Protection Manager will be based in Erbil or Baghdad and provide technical roving assistance to other field offices. The SPM will technically oversee 3 or 4 Protection Managers responsible for the day-to-day management of the program, and other staff depending on project development. The Senior Protection Manager will work extensively with the Senior Legal Manager to ensure that protection principles are being incorporated into the emergency programs, and that we have and outcomes-based approach.

Responsibilities:

Grant Planning & Project Implementation

· Lead the overall implementation of the Protection program in 3 or 4 governorates and provide guidance to the protection managers and staff to ensure that stated goals and objectives are met, that the project is appropriately monitored and evaluated, and that project reports are written and submitted in a timely manner.

· In coordination with the protection managers, prepare program work plans that meet the program objectives and prepare appropriate operational guidelines for project staff.

· Regularly update the grants metric.

· Provide significant inputs into donor reports in a timely manner, including up-to-date data for indicators.

· Ensure that project activities are implemented within the approved budget parameters, contribute to managing all financial aspects of the protection programs (budget follow-up, spending plans, cash forecasts, etc) and flag any irregularities with the Protection Coordinator, approve relevant expenses and review expenditures, in consultation with the Finance Team and the Protection Coordinator to ensure that project activities are implemented within the assigned budget parameters.

· Participate in strategic meetings for proposal development, grants opening and grants review meetings and support the Protection Coordinator in establishment/update of overall protection strategy.

· nsure IRC and donor reports as finalized per set schedules (monthly, quarterly and annually) and indicators and achievements are followed-up and reported upon, according to the work plan.

· Work closely and coordinates with IRC logistics, finance and grant staff to ensure timely and compliant program activities and expenditures; including active participation in grant opening/closing and review meetings

Technical Quality/Programme Management

· Provide technical guidance to field teams on all protection activities

· Develop quality systems and tools for protection monitoring and legal assistance to ensure the effective collection and analysis of qualitative data relating to the protection environment, including on physical safety and security, freedom of movement, eviction, detention, documentation issues, access to services, etc.

• Oversee the smooth implementation of mobile data collection system for protection monitoring, following appropriate data security protocol, and provide quality oversight of the information material developed by Protection monitoring team.

· Strengthen the capacities of national staff in the governorates of operation, specifically on protection monitoring reports, and, with the support of the Protection Coordination, ensure all monitoring and reporting tools are harmonized.

· Provide technical guidance to staff and partners, on confidential and safe data collection in line with internationally recognized best practices IRC data protection protocol.

· In coordination with the Protection Coordinator, maintain effective and safe referral pathways for protection concerns and other vulnerable cases between the protection programme, other internal IRC programmes and external partners, and ensure development and maintenance of SOPs for referrals.

· Assist the protection coordinator in the development of standard operating procedures on protection monitoring and community based protection interventions. .

· Support the Protection Coordinator in the development and delivery of appropriate trainings for IRC staff and partners on basic protection issues, humanitarian principles, human rights concerns, protection mainstreaming, prevailing legal framework and protection, and ensure that protection trainings for IRC Protection and other sector’s staff, as well as external actors are of high quality.

· Maintain open and professional relations with the Protection team members, promoting a strong team spirit and provide quality oversight and mentoring to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.

• Support the Protection Managers in the development and implementation of a context-appropriate, scalable community-based protection approach to foster self-protection capacities and engagement of conflict affected populations in camp and non-camp settings.

Staff Supervision & Development

· Overall responsibility for protection staff management including: development/revision of job descriptions, review of work plans and/or performance management plans, vacation schedules, timesheets, probation reviews, annual performance reviews and staff professional development activities.

· Technically supervises Protection Managers, and provides quality oversight to and mentoring of the protection teams in the field, with a strong focus on building the capacity of national staff to take on management responsibilities.

· Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback.

· Promote and monitor staff care and well-being, coordinate with respective Field Coordinators to manage all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage.

· In close cooperation with the Protection Coordinator and the Senior Legal Manager , participate in preparing basic protection training package for new IRC staff

· Coordinate with the HR department to undertake induction/ orientation for New PRoL staff

Reporting and Advocacy

· Analyse protection data to produce succinct, analytical monthly protection monitoring reports to be shared with both external and internal stakeholders, highlighting key protection trends and concerns.

· In Collaboration with the Protection Coordinator, advise on protection trends to inform country-wide and regional advocacy.

· Support Protection Coordinator in writing fact sheets, briefs and recommendations for Senior Management to circulate to UN agencies and other stakeholders.

• Use data analysis to put together effective advocacy initiatives with national staff, with the aim of improving the protection environment in areas of operations.

· Strengthen the capacity of the protection team on advocacy.

· Use protection information and survey findings to propose new areas of work for the IRC, and support in proposal development.

Coordination & Representation

· Develop and maintains effective coordination and long-term relationships with UNHCR and other external stakeholders, representing IRC positions, promoting long-term strategy and resolving problems/conflicts.

· Actively contribute and participate in the National Protection Cluster’s Protection Working Groups, and provide inputs to the Protection Coordinator for meetings held at the national level.

· Negotiate and maintain appropriate information sharing protocols within IRC programs and with external actors.

Other

· Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team; promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment for IRC programs

· Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: PROL Coordinator

Position directly supervises: Technically supervises field based PROL Managers

Indirect Reporting: Field Coordinators, Deputy Director (Programs), Deputy Director of Operations, Country Director

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Country Director; Country Program Sector Coordinators (WPE, CYPD, ERD); Field Coordinators; Advocacy Advisor; Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator; Grants Coordinator

External: UNHCR protection officers; Protection Working Group; Protection colleagues at peer agencies

Requirements:

· University Degree in law (Human Rights Law preferred), political science, Humanities, social sciences or equivalent

· At least 5 years professional experience in protection work, of which at least 3 in a managerial position, experience in emergencies, rule of law and human rights programming preferred

· Proven experience in implementing protection monitoring projects, including in drafting protection monitoring reports, and in legal assistance projects

· Experience with qualitative data collection, analysis and reporting

· Proven experience in setting-up and following up on referral systems

· Previous experience leading diverse teams and with remote management

· Strong program/technical and budget management skills, planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation skills

· Demonstrated experience in training/capacity building or national staff

• Good protection background and knowledge of refugee context, as well as demonstrated ability to identify and refer vulnerable cases, is desirable.

· Excellent drafting and oral communication skills in English

· Knowledge of Arabic preferred

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

· Strong management and organizational skills.

· Strong interpersonal communication skills, and ability to build and maintain strong relationships.

· Ability to determine priorities and great attention to detail.

· Patient, flexible and able to handle pressure well, team spirited and willing to learn.

· Good computer skills including, at minimum, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Working Environment*:*

The duty station as flexible with strong preference for Erbil or Baghdad, with frequent travels to program locations and IRC offices required.

Standards of Professional Conduct:

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Gender Equality:

IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including maternity leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Attention Returning National Candidates:

IRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff in our programs. We strongly encourage national or returning national candidates to apply for this position. If you are a national of the country in which this position is based and are currently located outside of your home country and possess over two years of international work experience, IRC has introduced an attractive remuneration package. The package includes competitive compensation, return flight to post, shipping allowance, temporary housing and a relocation allowance. Certain restrictions may apply.

Notice to all Job Seekers
IRC implements an equal employment opportunity policy
and our recruitment process is based on merit.
Applicants and/or successful interview
candidates (both internal and external) are not required to pay any fees at any
stage of the recruitment process.
If anyone asks you for any financial or
non-financial favors to help you secure a job at IRC, kindly report to Iraqhr@rescue.org
ملاحظة لكل الباحثين عن وظيفة
تعتمد لجنة الانقاذ الدولية سياسة فرص عمل
متساوية و ان عملية التوظيف لدينا تعتمد على الجدارة.
لايتوجب على المتقدمين لاي وظيفة او المؤهلين للمقابلات
(سواء كانوا موظفيين حالين او متقدمين من خارج المنظمة) دفع اي مبلغ مالي خلال اي
مرحلة من مراحل التوظيف.
اذا قام اي شخص بطلب اي خدمة مالية او غير مالية لقاء
مساعدتكم في تأمين فرصة عمل داخل المنظمة ،يرجى الابلاغ عن ذلك الى Iraqhr@rescue.org**

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.