Emergency Protection Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 30 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.

Job Overview

The Emergency Protection Coordinator is a full-time position, responsible for starting up and leading protection rule of law (PROL) programming in acute emergency responses. This may include rapid assessment, program start-up, strategy development, proposal development, technical oversight, staff recruitment and management, budget management, grants compliance and local partner relations. This role will specifically focus on delivery of high-quality protection services to address protection risks and barriers to humanitarian services for affected populations, ensuring services are inclusive and in line with IASC guidelines and humanitarian principles and standards. When not deployed, the ERT Protection Coordinator will contribute to IRC’s strategic objectives and technical workstreams for PROL and violence prevention and response in emergencies. A successful candidate will demonstrate track record working independently in fast-paced environments and applying creative, flexible design to protection programming in humanitarian contexts.

Major Responsibilities:

Technical support and guidance

When not deployed, the Emergency Protection Coordinator will:

• Contribute to IRC’s strategic priorities for violence prevention and response in emergencies, and lead on PROL-specific ambitions, including: developing or refining emergency PROL program models, toolkits, and technical guidance; supporting emergency preparedness and readiness; contributing to integrated and multi-sectoral program design, etc.

• Provide technical support, coaching, and backstopping to PROL emergency responses in countries with existing IRC programming, as needed

• Participate in cross-departmental collaboration and coordination with WPE, CP, and other sector colleagues to ensure that linkages between programs are made and programs gain from protection best practice

• Contribute to delivery of IRC’s Emergency and Humanitarian Action strategic action plan and commitments to partnerships, safeguarding, and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI)

Emergency Responses:

ERT can expect to engage in response-centered work approximately 65% of the fiscal year, inclusive of in-country and remote emergency assignments.

Context evaluation

• Following the onset of an emergency, identify areas with greatest impact, highest needs, and emerging protection risks for marginalized groups and individuals experiencing barriers to claiming their rights and accessing services and information

• Conduct stakeholder and partner analysis: continually review existing actor mapping with a view to identifying key actors and establishing partnerships with focused on the delivery of protection services

• Design and conduct multi-sector needs assessments

• Support response strategy and implementing team in identifying, monitoring and analyzing data and information on patterns in rights violations and humanitarian access, especially as related to un(der)reached or un(der)assisted populations. Training of IRC Protection teams (and others as appropriate) to construct and use analysis for decision making and communicate with senior leadership, safety and security focal points in order to inform strategic direction of the response.

Program design and management

• Provide strategic direction, leadership and overall technical management of IRC’s PROL response aligned to the response strategy and emergency outcomes, while ensuring high program quality and alignment with IRC’s standards and approaches. Provide support and / or leadership to IRC’s integrated protection response as needed.

• Lead and directly contribute to the start-up, implementation and coordination of emergency PROL programming, including responsive information services, emergency protection assistance, cash assistance, protection and legal case management, psychosocial support, protection analysis, protection of marginalized people at risk or experiencing violence, abuse, and exploitation, and protection mainstreaming. Ensure quality program design and implementation, with a specific focus on identifying and mitigating obstacles to inclusive access across all intervention areas.

• Oversee IRC’s partnerships, ensuring co-design, regular exchange, and project performance monitoring to achieve program objectives

• Ensure – through program design and practice, team capacity and behavior – that clients, especially the most marginalized and hard to reach, participate in the design and implementation of IRC programs, and that their access to services and programs is meaningful and safe

• Develop and/or adapt technical tools and approaches, and deliver creative solutions to mitigate challenges in the operating context, to facilitate response start-up and day to day implementation

• Support emergency PROL staff to implement and monitor work plans ensuring that activities reflect the commitments IRC made to the donor and the community

• Design and implement appropriate monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems ensuring consistent reporting and analysis of results to improve program effectiveness and quality

• Provide a comprehensive handover to successor, including ensuring transfer of all related documentation, program data and staff performance information

Grant and financial management

• Manage emergency grant/program implementation including recruitment and training, work plan development, procurement and inventory planning, budget management, and M&E plans

• Develop high quality technical proposals and reports with relevant program staff in line with IRC and donor requirements

• Collaborate with IRC grants and finance staff to finalize proposals and respond to any requests for additional information

Staff management

• Recruit, onboard, and supervise emergency PROL staff, and provide ongoing training and targeted capacity building, including technical guidance, on the job coaching and supervision, and capacity development plans on technical and managerial skills

• Comply with and ensure that new PROL staff understand the IRC Code of Conduct and policies related to Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Child Safeguarding. This includes ensuring that staff and communities have knowledge of and safe, confidential access to reporting mechanisms and support services

• 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

Coordination and representation

• Actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key actors, including donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors

• Regularly attend emergency GBV and other relevant coordination and task force meetings, at appropriate levels to feed in IRC priorities from the field

• Ensure protection concerns and challenges are brought to relevant fora to advocate for standards and procedures that systematize how PROL programming is implemented and coordinated at the field level

Job Requirements:

• Education experience in social sciences, law, international development, social work, psychology, other related field, or equivalent work experience

• At least five years’ experience working in the field of protection programming at the Coordinator level or above required, with consistent track record managing multi-donor portfolios in acute emergency response, program and project start-up

• Experience working with IRC and an understanding of IRC’s systems and processes is strongly preferred

• Familiarity with key donor regulations such as UNHCR, FCDO, BPRM and ECHO

• Experience in working with and coordinating with the UN, donors, INGOs and other humanitarian actors

• Demonstrated experience in staff supervision, capacity building, project design and budget management

• Demonstrated skills in effectively leading and building programs and/or operations in high-pressure, fluid environments. Leadership and team management skills are critical.

• Proven communication, writing and editing skills, including the ability to effectively write and edit grant proposals and reports.

• Flexible work attitude: Be flexible and yet focused & reliable in an environment of limited resources and changing demands. Ability to work well, promote teamwork, be comfortable in a multi-cultural environment.

• Good digital literacy: Facility with MS Word, Excel, and email/internet software.

• Fluency in English and working knowledge of Arabic, French and/or Spanish required. Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality 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 parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances

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, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.