Senior Protection Coordinator (NES)

Title: NES Senior Protection Coordinator

Department: Program

Location: NES Syria – Hassaka

Reporting to: Hub Team Leader

Budget responsibility: yes

ABOUT Relief International.

Relief International (RI) is a leading non-profit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe. Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

Position Summary.

The Senior Protection Coordinator (SPC) is a critical part of the NES Syria team based in NES, working closely with NES hub team leader and other support departments, directly supervises the Protection Coordinator, and coordinate closely with the Amman-based Protection Advisor and the rest of the technical team (GBV and PSS).

The Senior Protection Coordinator is the “go to person” for all protection program aspects in NES (GBV, PSS support through women and Girls safe spaces and mobile protection units, protection monitoring and any other future protection activity implemented in NES). S/he will track progress, contribute to the design and implementation plans of activities, contribute to lesson learnt and recommendations for program improvement. The SPC is in charge of the overall quality implementation of activities in NES including monitoring the progress of program activities, ensure that operational and financial activities in line with RI policies and procedures, identify gaps and challenges affecting the implementation and support the field-based teams in addressing them in coordination with other support departments. The SPC will also have a key role in designing new interventions based on clear gaps identified at field level, contribute to proposal and report writing ensuring not only that data provided is accurate but also the monitoring of quality of services. The SPC will coordinate closely with the Amman based technical teams, including technical capacity building plans for the field-based staff are relevant, technical gaps are addressed on timely manner and with quality results, keeping all relevant parties updated on the progress of the program. The SPC will represent the NES protection program in all internal coordination meetings, and will represent RI in the relevant external coordination meetings as guided by the supervisor and the protection director in Amman

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

In coordination with the Hub Team Leader in NES and the Protection Advisor in Amman, the Senior Protection Coordinator will:

• Ensure proper implementation of all services and activities that are part of the protection programme
• Contribute to the design and implementation of monitoring activities (program, operational, financial) and program implementation and improvement plans
• Ensure work plans for each project are properly developed and updated
• Ensure sound budget management of all projects/activities related to protection; promptly flag budget-related issues concerning overspending and underspending and propose feasible and effective solutions
• Provide support to the field-based teams through active engagement with both the Protection Coordinator and the Senior Protection Officers, ensuring the implementation of activities is in line with the set workplans, targets are met and advice changes based on needs/changes in the context
• Evaluate activity progress, define performance indicators, structure operational data collection in coordination with M&E department and implement protocols for quality assurance
• Work closely with the MEAL team to ensure complaints response mechanism, is up to date and all issues are closely followed up, with adherence to the confidentiality principle
• Monitor level of project risk and the success of risk mitigation plans and report to NE Syria Hub team leader and Protection Director to promptly identify areas of concern and mitigate effectively
• Monitoring all levels of project cycle management and report to project program management team (NES and Amman based) to enable effective decision making by capturing detailed information on implementation of activities, identify and flag issues and propose mitigation measures and alternative solutions to overcome challenges
• Contribute to the development of SOPs (program and operational), and ensure they are implemented in line with RI and donor procedures
• Contribute to and ensure timely and quality reporting on project activities and progress on targets per set deadlines, and conduct regular on-track/off-track assessments with program team (for both internal and external reports)
• In close coordination with the technical coordinators in Amman, provide/ensure challenging of technical guidance, oversight and support to the GBV, PSS, outreach and protection monitoring team in the provision of quality services, and ensuring safe and ethical data monitoring
• Support in the development of community-based prevention activities and provide support to the field-based protection team in the oversight of implementing the community-based prevention activities to engage all community members including women, girls, men and boys in GBV prevention, response and risk mitigation
• Support Amman-based technical team in organizing and following up on the capacity building training activities of RI staff (protection specific and protection mainstreaming)
• Contribute to identifying the WGSS needs/gaps, and the needs are addressed in coordination with technical and operations focal points in the hub and in Amman
• Collaboration with other RI programs to ensure integration of activities where applicable, and protection is mainstreamed across RI activities
• In coordination with HR and Amman based technical teams, recruit staff and work with supervisors to ensure Performance Management Plan for all staff is in place and followed up regularly
• Ensure field-based protection staff understand and adhere to RI Way and GBV best-practice principles, including strict adherence to confidentiality
• Participate in all grant opening, mid-term and closing meetings, and ensure compliance with donor regulations during implementation of projects in close coordination with the protection manager
• Represent RI in external protection coordination meetings, such as protection working group, GBV sub-working group etc.;
• Ensure protection cases are responded to in compliance with RI and protection cluster guidelines.

Grants, Finance and Operational responsibilities:

• Oversee development and implementation of procurement plans.
• Coordinate with operations to follow up on procurement and report back to the hub team leader on delays
• Work on realistic and accurate spend down plans and regularly flag any under-overspend and plan mitigation measures
• Coordinate with NES hub finances any updates to spend down plan
• Liaise with support departments to monitor risks and develop a log to measure improvements
• In coordination with the grants department, ensure program follows RI and donor policies and procedures.
• Based on gaps identified at field level, actively participate in proposal development process to ensure relevance of proposed activities and link to the RI country strategy
• Safeguarding
• Uphold and promote RI’s commitment to ensuring the safeguarding and safety of the vulnerable communities we serve.
• Consistent with RI’s safeguarding and protection policies, ensure all people who meet Relief International are as safe as possible.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

This position will require a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

• Minimum of 4 years experience in implementing protection programs with supervisory responsibilities, preferably working with conflict affected populations
• Bachelor’s degree in social work, political science, Gender/Women Studies, or other appropriate fields;
• Demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation and results-based management, including capacity in remote management.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, public speaking, and strategic planning skills required;
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and tasks efficiently.
• Strong budgeting and budget monitoring skills.
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail.
• Strong communication, analytical and reporting skills and ability to present ideas effectively;
• Ability to communicate sensitively and without judgment; good diplomatic skills
• Familiarity with principles and practice of monitoring and evaluation
• Excellent knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and email/internet software.
• This position requires an individual who is accustomed to the pace of emergency response programming, does not require close supervision or direction, is flexible and highly responsive, and has excellent organizational skills.

Language Skills:

Fluency in English and Arabic is an asset

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Relief International is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Relief International (RI) is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to RI’s Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and accountability
• Agility and innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability