The purpose of the Protection Officer position is to deliver NRC protection interventions in East Ukraine. The position will be managed by the Protection Manager under the overall management of the area manager and with technical support from the country level Protection Specialist.
We are recruiting for a Protection Officer based in Dnipro with reach to Eastern region Oblasts as required. The focus of this position will be to deliver Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) with a client-centred approach, to vulnerable people who have been affected by conflict in the country, and ensure the appropriate and effective referral of individuals with identified protection needs and risks. This will involve the assessment of cases, including in person, as well as liaison with stakeholders, including relevant NGOs and national institutions, and NRC implementing protection partners.

Generic responsibilities:

• Ensure compliance with NRC policies, guidelines and standards.
• Ensure compliance with Protection strategy, tools, handbooks, guidelines and standards
• Technical responsibility for implementation of Protection activities within the East region of Ukraine
• Tracking of financial expenditures and maintenance of accurate project documentation with compliance with sensitive data handling principles, for Protection activities.
• Prepare and develop status reports as required by management, including timely reporting on programmatic and contextual issues
• Provision of technical support and capacity building towards project staff
• Assess, promote and document ideas for technical improvement and further program development options
• Ensure that projects target beneficiaries most in need, and explore and asses new and better ways to assist
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy
• Support with monitoring, documentation, and technical support for implementation of project activities done by implementing partners as required

Specific responsibilities:

• Provide Individual Protection Assistance (including in-kind support, cash assistance, accompaniment) to persons at risk of or exposed to protection risks
• Conduct safe referrals internally and to external specialized service providers, working with Protection Coordinator to ensure service mappings and referral pathways are up to date and utilized
• Conduct trauma informed needs and risk assessment of individuals.
• Provide psychological first aid to individuals in need of psychological support.
• Ensure regular collection, analysis and internal dissemination of protection information.
• Ensure proper data protection of sensitive information at field level, development and maintenance of databases, filing of documents, etc. All data collection, information/data storage, and sharing of all information must be done in compliance with existing data protection protocols and standards of confidentiality.
• Support field data collection to inform relevant internal and externally-commissioned protection assessments, risk analyses, and needs assessments.
• Support the enabling of a protective environment in collective sites through protection mainstreaming activities, and protection training provision to relevant staff teams.
• Ensure Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) approach to protection is consistently applied through community and right base participatory methods.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationship with relevant stakeholders including partner agencies, community leaders/representative and service providers.
• Represent NRC at external meetings as delegated by the protection coordinator, including bilateral meetings with partners and local authorities.

Generic professional competencies:

• Minimum 2 years of professional experience preferably including experience within the humanitarian sector
• Previous experience working with vulnerable populations
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Good reporting skills with working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Working knowledge of English, both written and verbal preferable

Context/ Specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Experience with Civilians Self-Protection activities and programming.
•  Experience conducting community engagement processes and consultations.
• Experience conducting participatory assessment.
• Previous training in protection risk reduction.
• Well-developed organizational and communication skills.
• Experience working with information data management (protection).
• Previous experience working in Protection or Protection-related projects in the humanitarian or NGO sector, or previous experience or training in social work.
• Knowledge of protection principles and global protection best practices preferrable.
• Awareness of national social support systems within Ukraine preferrable.
• Deep knowledge and understanding of the local context, including socio-cultural, political, security and humanitarian situation.
• A commitment to provision of protection assistance according to global and local best practices.
• Flexibility and creativity in addressing protection risks and needs.

What do We Offer

This position is open to candidates who have the legal right to work in Ukraine. Please note that we are unable to provide work permits or visa sponsorships for this position.

We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

We are also looking for people who share our values:

• To be dedicated in what we do;
• To be innovative with our solutions;
• To act as one unified and inclusive team;
• To be accountable to the donors that make our work possible;

We invite applications from all qualified and interested candidates. Candidates are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be screened on a rolling basis and interviews will be assigned instantly until a suitable candidate is selected.