Protection Officers at Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

Supervisor:   Project Director

Country of Assignment:  Nigeria

Regional Directorate:  West Africa

Place of Assignment:  Taraba

Supervisor’s Seat:  Taraba

Job Summary

The Protection Officer leads and coordinates JRS protection programme with the objective of providing timely and effective protection to populations of concern, as well as supervising protection interventions within an office.

The Protection Officer is responsible for supervising effective protection services, including needs assessments, protection monitoring, community-based activities in line with the UNHCR project.

Job Description

• Undertake regular field visits to conduct interviews with refugees, IDPs, host families, returnees, resettled IDPs and other relevant stakeholders in order to gather protection-related information.
• Identify and support community structures and entrance points for discussion and work on issues.
• Identify protection issues including focus group discussions and individual interviews in a safe environment.
• Preparing protection information in an easily-understandable format for communities.
• Plan, design and implement protection awareness-raising activities for refugees, IDPs, communities and NGOs, in consultation with the target audience.
• Design, with the participation of representative community groups, appropriate protection interventions, including referrals to relevant authorities and agencies.
• Initiate or support community or municipal level advocacy activities designed to improve the protection situation of refugees, IDPs, returnees and/or host communities.
• Identify protection issues in beneficiary communities and flag them for the attention of the supervisor.
• Follow up on individual protection cases within communities and with partner organisations.
• Conduct impact monitoring of project activities, in accordance with the organisation’s methodology.
• Co-operate and interact with partner organisations, relevant government departments and local authorities, UNHCR protection staff and other protection partners on a regular basis.
• Actively participate in the Protection Cluster and work with appropriate stakeholders.
• Accurately and responsibly document information and share with appropriate partners, with approval of supervisor or senior management.
• Work within an agreed work plan and ensure timely attention to priority tasks.
• Play an active role in developing new protection strategies within the organization.
• Prepare documentation of all relevant activities (protection monitoring forms, field trip reports, Collective Centre database, minutes of meetings, work plans, budgets etc.) in accordance with the organisation’s guidelines and regulations. Propose corrective actions where necessary.
• Supervise and support protection field assistants, Protection Monitors and Community mobilizers, where relevant.
• Perform any other duties as requested by the Project Director including performing the duties of a Field Officer when required.

Job Requirements

• Have a University Degree in Law, International Law, political Sciences or related field with advanced Master’s Degree.
• Minimum of two (2) years of relevant professional experience in a humanitarian organization or with displacement affected populations.
• Experience in project design, management and implementation of field-based protection programs.
• Experience in programmatic reporting.
• Experience in budget and financial reporting.

Job Qualities

• Adhere to JRS values and abide by the code of conduct and other policies.
• Excellent knowledge of English and good working knowledge of a local language preferably Hausa.
• Understanding of protection, human rights, international law, refugee law and humanitarian principles.
• Strong coordination, communication and advocacy skills.
• Flexibility to work in a diverse multicultural team.
• Ability to live and work in unstable, insecure environments and sometimes inhospitable conditions.
• Ability and willingness to work under tight deadlines.
• Strong computer skills, particularly in Microsoft Excel.