Protection Officer Ukraine Kharkiv

Contract

This is a Professional contract, Grade 5 (NRC) contract. More about Professional contract, Grade 5 (NRC) contracts.

*This position is open to Ukrainian candidates only*

NRC in Ukraine

The Norwegian Refugee Council has been present in Ukraine since 2014, helping more than 700,000 people with food, shelter, water, sanitation, and legal assistance. The rapid change of situation in February 2022 during which the whole of Ukraine became affected by the conflict required a significant scale-up of emergency programmes. Today NRC is providing support to people affected by armed conflict and those fleeing in search of safety.

Prior to the escalation in armed conflict in February, NRC’s operations focused on government-controlled areas (GCA) of the Donbas Region (Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts). Following the February 2022 invasion, NRC has implemented a temporary relocation of NRC’s staff and operations to Central and Western Ukraine. NRC will continue to support populations in the East through our office in Dnipro with emergency, life-saving food, NFI and emergency shelter assistance to people trapped in hot zones. In the West, NRC established area offices in Lviv and Ternopil, with the country office based in Kyiv. Additionally, NRC is looking to establish additional field offices in the north and east of the country. The Western response will focus on assisting people on the move with cash and ICLA services and provide multi-sectoral support to key transit points. The Eastern response is focusing on the provision of shelter assistance, ICLA, livelihoods and food security, WASH, and protection assistance.

We are seeking highly qualified, resilient, dynamic professionals to respond to Ukraine crisis and support people in Ukraine.

Purpose of the role

The purpose of the Protection Officer position is responsible for conducting protection monitoring at the community and household level, as well as provide specialized protection responses including Immediate Protection Assistance (IPA) such as in-kind or cash support to persons in need and conducting referrals to other service providers, in accordance with NRC Country Office’s strategic and policy framework, based in Kharkiv.

In particular, the Protection Officer will conduct protection monitoring activities at the household and community level for the purpose of understanding individual and community-level protection risks and in order to identify individuals who have endured a protection violation and require Immediate Protection Assistance and/or referrals to specialized service providers. Protection Officers will follow established protection monitoring and IPA guidance in all data collection and management and activities. Protection officers will need to be able to conduct trauma-informed interviewing with key stakeholders and individuals in need of protection support, including but not limited to: identifying needs, vulnerabilities, protection risks, and protection violations; identifying referral needs and safely conducting referrals to specialized service providers; identifying needs for and provision of assistance of in-kind or cash assistance to address a protection risk; and identify needs for and provide psychological first aid.

The Officer will be directly supervised by the Protection Team Leader. This position does not supervise any staff, aside from potentially managing volunteers.

What you will do

1. Ensure adherence with NRC policies, tools, handbooks and guidelines
2. Implement protection monitoring and Immediate Protection Assistance (IPA) with a client-centered approach, including the identification of protection needs and understanding how to address protection needs and provide specialized protection support, including through in-kind or cash assistance.
3. Implement protection monitoring, write protection monitoring reports on the community and household level to understand both community and household-level protection risks
4. Provide psychological first aid services as needed. Assess and address needs contributing to protection outcomes requiring in-kind or cash assistance
5. Conduct safe referrals internally and to external specialized service providers, working with Protection team leaders and Case Workers to ensure service mappings and referral pathways are up to date and utilized.
6. Prepare and develop status reports as required by management, including timely reporting on programmatic and contextual issues
7. 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.
8. Ensure that projects target beneficiaries most in need, and explore and asses new and better ways to assist
9. Promote and share ideas for technical improvement. Provide inputs on needs and gaps to support operational and strategic initiatives. Ensure close monitoring of project activities and ensure they are implemented based on agreed upon plans
10. Support Community-level Civilian Self-Protection programming, as needed.

Specifically you will;

• Conduct Household and Community-level protection monitoring
• Provide Immediate Protection Assistance (including in-kind support, cash assistance, accompaniment, safe and dignified referrals) to persons at risk of or exposed to protection threats
• Provide psychological first aid to individuals in need of psychological support
• Ensure regular collection, analysis and internal dissemination of protection information

• Support field data collection to inform relevant internal and externally-commissioned protection assessments, risk analyses, and needs assessments

  Professional competencies

• At least 2 years of professional experience

• Previous experience working in the humanitarian sector, preferably in protection activities, is an advantage
• Flexibility and creativity in addressing protection risks and needs
• Good reporting skills
• Understanding of humanitarian and protection principles
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook
• Knowledge of English, both written and verbal essential
• Previous experience working in Protection or Protection-related projects is an advantage
• Deep knowledge and understanding of the local context, including socio-cultural, political, security and humanitarian situation

What We Offer

• This position is open for Ukrainian Nationals Only
• Duty station: Kharkiv
• Contract: national employment contract for 12 months
• Shortlisted candidates will be contacted by email

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 invite applications from all qualified and interested candidates. Candidates are encouraged to apply early, as applications will be screened on a rolling basis.