Senior Protection Manager

Background/IRC Summary:  Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (www.theIRC.org) is a world leader in relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict development services for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression. The IRC is currently working in over 25 countries around the world, addressing both the immediate and life saving needs of conflict affected people in emergencies and the reconstruction needs of post-conflict societies.  The IRC has been working in Lebanon since 2012 to provide support to refugees and vulnerable host community members in the areas of women’s protection, children’s protection and cash assistance.

The IRC’s Protection/Rule of Law programming was initiated in 2014 and currently comprises protection monitoring and community-based protection programming targeting displaced Syrians in northern Syria, as well as new initiatives related to wider protection mainstreaming and capacity building of partners, and assessment of civil status documentation concerns in northern Syria. The program aims to improve the protection environment by documenting key protection concerns related to physical safety and security, access to basic services, and specific needs of certain groups (women, children, persons with disability, etc.) to support advocacy and facilitate provision of information and referral of vulnerable people to vital services. In addition to programming in Syria, the IRC is providing targeted outreach services for refugees in Turkey, focusing on the provision of legal information on rights and entitlements related to Turkey’s Temporary Protection regime for Syrians.

Job Overview/Summary: Under the direction of the Senior Coordinator for Integrated Protection (SCIP), the Senior Protection Manager (SPM) will be responsible to oversee the quality implementation of protection and rule of law programming in Turkey and Syria as well as capacity building and coordination of ongoing support to protection mainstreaming for IRC and LNGO partners in the design and delivery of humanitarian assistance. The SPM will focus on the development of effective protection monitoring systems and tools and lead on the identification, analysis and succinct reporting of protection trends and issues of concern to feed into protection sector strategy development, IRC programming as well as relevant humanitarian coordination fora, such as the Protection Cluster. The SPM will also contribute to the continued development of the protection sector, including drafting proposals and budgets, under the guidance of the SCIP and in close collaboration with other technical sector leads.

Reporting to the Senior Coordinator for Integrated Protection, the Senior Protection Manager will be based in Antakya, with travel to other IRC offices in Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, and Kilis as needed. The SPM will directly oversee a Protection Manager and a Protection Capacity Building Manager, and other staff depending on project development.

Responsibilities:

Technical Quality/Program Management

• Develop quality systems and tools for protection monitoring to ensure the effective collection and analysis of qualitative data relating to the protection environment, including on physical safety and security, freedom of movement, documentation, access to services, etc.
• Support the Protection Manager in the development and implementation of a context-appropriate, scalable community-based protection approach to foster self-protection capacities and engagement of conflict affected populations in camp and urban areas.
• Provide quality oversight of the “information” material developed by the Protection Manager and team and of the information sessions on rights and entitlements of the crisis-affected population.
• Oversee the quality provision of guidance on legal protection (e.g. civil status documentation) to crisis affected populations and assist in the development of standard procedures for assistance to the most vulnerable amongst the crisis-affected populations.
• Support the Protection Manager and other team members in the development and delivery of appropriate trainings for IRC staff and partners on protection mainstreaming and issues related to protection monitoring, including definitions, and guiding principles, human rights concerns, basic humanitarian needs and prevailing legal frameworks.
• Ensure that protection/human rights trainings for external actors and partners and IRC protection and other sector staffs are of high quality.

Human Resources Management

• Manage, supervise and develop all staff in the IRC Turkey/Northern Syria Protection Rule of Law Program with a strong focus on building the capacity of national staff to take on management responsibilities and replace this position by early 2016
• 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.
• Overall responsibility for staff timesheets, work plans, vacation schedules, and staff training/development activities.
• Take responsibility for discussing job expectations, performance, and objectives on an informal, quarterly basis with all staff and as a part of the annual Performance Review and Planning Process.
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures.
• Adhere to and serve as a champion of the IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct.

Grant Monitoring & Partner Management

• Implement and continually improve appropriate monitoring and evaluations systems; analyzing results to ensure and enhance program effectiveness and quality, and contribute regularly to all donor reporting requirements.
• Oversee smooth implementation of mobile data collection system for protection monitoring, following appropriate data security protocol.
• Manage financial aspects of the protection program (budget forecasting, development of spending plans and budget follow-up), approve relevant expenses and review expenditures, in consultation with the Finance Team and SCIP to ensure that project activities are implemented within the assigned budget parameters.
• Ensure proper oversight to capacity building program for local partners in protection mainstreaming, including engagement with organizational management and support to trainings and ongoing mentorship
• Actively seek appropriate partnerships, in collaboration with the partnership team, for implementation of protection activities when possible, including assessment and capacity building plans.

Program Growth and Strategy

• Actively contribute to completion of comprehensive protection program strategy for Turkey and northern Syria in conjunction with protection teams to guide current and new program direction.
• Support Senior Coordinator for Integrated Protection in establishment of overall protection strategy for Turkey/northern Syria with an aim to ensure intricate linkages with women’s and children’s protection.
• Contribute regularly to program growth through participatory program design, proposal writing, budget development, etc.

Reporting and Advocacy

• Analyze protection data to produce succinct, analytical monthly protection monitoring reports to be shared with both external and internal stakeholders, highlighting key protection trends and concerns.
• Advise SCIP on protection trends to inform country-wide and regional advocacy, such as on housing, land and property issues affecting IDPs.
• Write fact sheets, briefs and recommendations for SPIC and Senior Management to circulate to UN agencies and other stakeholders.

• Use protection information to propose new areas of work for the IRC, and support in proposal development.
• Review weekly protection reports to ensure validity and quality of data for internal distribution and support Protection Manager in follow-up on protection responses.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Senior Coordinator for Integrated Protection
Position directly supervises: Protection Manager; Protection Capacity Building Manager 

Indirect Reporting: DDP
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: CYPD Coordinator, ERD Coordinator, CP & Education Manager, EH Coordinator, NFI Coordinator, Sr. Field Coordinator (Idleb); Field Coordinator (Turkey)

External:  Protection Cluster; other protection service providers; UN agency leads for Protection

Requirements:

• University Degree in Law (Human Rights Law preferred), political science, or equivalent
• 3-5  years professional experience in protection work, experience in emergencies preferred
• Experience with qualitative data collection, analysis and reporting
• Experience with protection/human rights monitoring and legal aid service provision preferred
• Previous experience leading diverse teams and with remote management
• Proven training/capacity building experience
• Excellent drafting and oral communication skills in both English and Arabic.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Strong management and organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work independently, as well as part of a team.
• Excellent ability to interpret, analyze and synthesize information in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent organizational skills, timeliness, ability to determine priorities and great attention to detail.
• Proactive, flexible, team spirited and willing to learn.
• Strong computer skills including, at minimum, MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Working Environment:                                

The position will be based in Antakya, Turkey, with shared housing, and with frequent travels throughout the region.