Protection Officer

For Junior (P2), Mid (P3) and Senior (P4) Level Positions

The Protection Officer leads and coordinates UNHCR’s protection programme with the objective of providing timely and effective protection to populations of concern, as well as supervising protection interventions within an office. The incumbent must be able to contribute to or lead, depending on the level, development of a multi-year protection strategy that is solutions-oriented and based on a consultative process with multi-functional teams and partners. The incumbent must also have the ability to forge strong partnerships with government entities, other UN agencies, and NGOs to facilitate the operation’s protection objectives.

Typical functions include:

• Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
• Coordinate the design, implementation and evaluation of protection-related programming with partners. Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based protection programming through a consultative process with sector and/or cluster partners.
• Oversee and undertake refugee eligibility and status determination ensuring compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
• Ensure that UNHCR’s age, gender and diversity approach to protection is consistently applied through community-based protection methods.
• Build the protection capacity of national and local government, partners and civil society to assume their responsibilities vis-à-vis all persons of concern through protection training, mainstreaming and related activities. Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of civil documentation.
• Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on SGBV and child protection. Monitor and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
• Promote and implement effective measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
• Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR standards and ensure that all sectors and/or clusters in applicable operations fulfil their protection mainstreaming responsibilities.
• Ensure provision of durable solutions, through voluntary repatriation, local integration and, where appropriate, resettlement to the largest possible number of persons of concern.
• In operations applying the Cluster Approach, ensure the Protection Cluster covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations.
• Develop and implement country level protection plans in areas such as child protection, SGBV and education, as part of the protection strategy and ensure partnerships are forged with relevant government agencies and partners.

Minimum qualifications and professional experience required:

For positions at the P2 level

Education: University degree in Law, International Law, political Sciences or related field.

Job Experience: Minimum of 2 years of relevant professional experience with Advanced University/Master’s Degree (4 years with University/Bachelor’s Degree).

Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and good working knowledge of another UN language.

For positions at the P3 level

Education: University degree in Law, International Law, political Sciences or related field with good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law.

Job Experience: Minimum of 6 years of relevant (international) experience with Advanced University/Master’s Degree of which 2 years in the field and 3 years in an international capacity (8 years of relevant experience with University/Bachelor’s Degree).

Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and good working knowledge of another UN language.

For positions at the P4 level

Education: University degree in Law, International Law, Political Sciences or related field with good knowledge of International refugee, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

Job experience: Minimum of 10 years of relevant (international) experience of which 3 years in the field and 5 years in an international capacity (12 years with University/Bachelor’s Degree).

Languages: Excellent knowledge of English and good working knowledge of another UN language

HOW TO APPLY:

http://bit.ly/Emergency_deployment