Greece: Senior Protection Coordinator

BACKGROUND:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, providing relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of oppression and violent conflict. IRC has worked for over seven decades and today is involved in over 42 countries worldwide. We address both the immediate, life saving needs of conflict affected people in an emergency and the reconstruction needs in post conflict societies. IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and thorough accountability to those we serve.

The world is currently witnessing the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. An unprecedented number of refugees have fled to Europe over the last three years, the vast majority seeking to escape conflict in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Greece is currently the epicenter of the crisis in Europe. The number of people entering Greece, particularly through the islands of eastern Aegean, surged dramatically from the spring of 2015. Nearly a million people transited through Greece, 60 percent via the island of Lesvos, and into Europe in 2015 alone. In 2016, political changes in the European Union resulted in border restrictions and subsequent closure in the March, shifting the response from addressing the needs of a transitory population to a static one in multiple sites across Greece.

IRC was one of the first humanitarian agencies to respond to the crisis in Greece and our response programme is one of the largest. IRC seeks to restore dignity to refugees and to enhance their physical and psychosocial safety through the provision of tailored and targeted response services. The IRC Hellas' protection programme ensures that crisis-affected populations in Greece have an improved access to life-saving and humanitarian services, rights and entitlements. We aim to achieve this through an integrated approach to protection, which includes information sharing, awareness-raising on rights and entitlements; as well as risk reduction actions to reduce protection issues for affected populations. At the core of our approach is targeted assistance to women and children through safe space programming, the provision of quality case management services and referrals to other protection services to aid women and children recover effectively from violence. IRC Hellas is now seeking a dynamic Senior Protection Coordinator with strong management experience and programming skills to provide strategic programme leadership to one of the largest humanitarian response actors in Greece.

Job Overview/Summary: Under the supervision and guidance of the Deputy Director Programs (DDP), the Senior Protection Coordinator (SPC) will be responsible for providing strategic direction and vision to the IRC's Protection programming (inclusive of Child Protection, Women's Protection and Empowerment and Protection and Rule of Law), including liaising with key Government and NGO/UN sector stakeholders. The SPC will also provide guidance and management to the sector specialistsWomen and Child protection Coordinators and Protection Manager-responsible for the delivery and technical quality of our programming in Greece.

The SPC will be responsible for overall design, supervision, management and quality implementation of all aspects of the protection program. S/he will oversee the collection and analysis of protection-related information by the field staff, in camp and out of camp locations, and will ensure that succinct and accurate protection reports are submitted to key institutional and other donors on a regular basis. The Senior Protection Coordinator will work closely with the DDP to ensure that the Protection portfolio is appropriate for the refugee crisis in Greece and that the in-country protection strategy is aligned with IRC's global protection strategy and that programming meets and follows IRC's quality standards and procedures. The Senior Protection Coordinator will work extensively with other sectors to ensure that protection principles are being incorporated into all areas of IRC Hellas' response in Greece.

Major Responsibilities:

Strategy and Implementation

• Lead the development of the Protection strategy for IRC Hellas (inclusive of CP, WPE and PRoL), incorporating current projects and future opportunities/directions, including a framework for emergency response;
• Liaise with key Government, partner and sector stakeholders to support programme implementation and inform the development of relevant and responsive strategy;
• Provide overall management to the protection portfolio and support to IRC Hellas protection activities as needed;
• Ensure that protection information is used effectively by the Country Program to advocate on important issues as well as longer term planning for target populations;
• Provide technical guidance on protection mainstreaming and risk reduction in the transit sites, liaising directly with other IRC program units and external actors to ensure that sites uphold internationally recognized best practices such as SPHERE standards, Child Protection Minimum Standards and the IASC GBV guidelines.
• Ensure the roll out of regular staff trainings and refresher sessions to maintain a high standard of capacity among the protection field teams in all areas;

• Support the Protection Manager in the development of an effective protection monitoring and information system.

  Coordination and Representation

• Develop and maintain effective coordination between and among protection sector specialists and other technical coordinators to ensure coherent, quality programming;

• Build long-term relationships with external stakeholders, representing IRC positions and promoting long-term strategy;

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

• Effectively represent IRC at high-level coordination fora and in protection coordination forums as appropriate;

• Negotiate and maintain appropriate information sharing protocols within IRC programs and with external actors;

• Lead on the development and maintenance of effective and safe referral pathways for protection concerns and other vulnerable cases.

• Support the CP and WPE Coordinators in the implementation and delivery of the respective sector activites, ensuring effective coordination at field and national level.

  Grant Monitoring & Reporting

• Development/ maintenance of effective and efficient oversight, support, quality control and reporting systems and processes.

• Ensure technical quality and accuracy of program reports.

• Responsible for ensuring that programs meet stated objectives within the timeframe and on budget, with specific attention to ensuring quality interventions.

• In coordination with sector Coordinators, develop budgets and spending plans and monitor project expenditure through Budget vs Actual (BvA) reports and other tools, with support from the grants and finance teams.

• In coordination with the Grants Coordinator, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager and Deputy Director Programs, monitor the progress of existing grants and develop new proposals as required.

Job Requirements:

Education:

• MA/MSc equivalent in social science, social work, law, humanities or other related discipline

Work Experience:

• At least 8 years work experience on protection related projects in humanitarian environments. Experience of providing technical advice to field teams is desirable.
• At least 5 years of staff management and team building experience gained in the humanitarian sector
• Prior experience working in emergency settings or insecure environments.
• Strong program/technical and budget management skills, planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external parties.
• INGO experience required.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building and mentoring of national and international staff
• Must be capable of applying their skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others.
• Proven track-record in understanding international law, refugee law and humanitarian contexts.

Language Skills: Should have fluent spoken and written English. Greek preferable; Fluency in Arabic, Farsi would be a plus.

Working Environment: The position will be based in Athens and will provide coordination and management oversight of programming in all IRC Hellas sites in Greece.

Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=YXN0cmlkLm1hdGhldy45OTk5OS4zODMwQGlyYy5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20