Protection Coordinator (Protection of Civilians and Community Engagement)

We are now looking for a Protection Coordinator.

NRC Afghanistan now seeks a dedicated and courageous protection coordinator with international experience to help NRC reduce the impact of the armed conflict upon civilians, particularly through community-based measures, field-based protection advocacy, protection by presence, and field support to protection coordination, in line with NRC Afghanistan's Protection Strategy.

Read below for more details about the position. 

NRC in Afghanistan

Afghanistan remains a protracted and complex emergency. Conflict-induced displacement and recurrent natural disasters occur at the same time as ongoing return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) established operations in Afghanistan in 2003. We respond across Afghanistan, including in hard-to-access provinces, by providing  Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance, Education, Shelter, Food & Livelihoods, Camp Management and Emergency programmes.  For the past 2 years the  NRC Afghanistan programme has grown exponentially. Funding has grown to over 190 million NOK in 2018, with a dedicated team of over 1400 staff, in 5 areas offices and 8 field offices, our operations are spread across Afghanistan reaching highly volatile environments with lifesaving assistance and protection. NRC has been a champion for principled humanitarian action and reaching affected people in hard-to-reach areas. The government, UN agencies, donors and other stakeholders now recognize NRC as one of the most significant and important humanitarian players in Afghanistan. 

About the position

The intensifying armed conflict in Afghanistan has taken a heavy toll upon civilians.  In the past two years, over a million have felt forced to flee their homes due to armed violence, and this builds upon four decades of perpetual conflict.  Responding to this change in context,  NRC Afghanistan now seeks a Protection Coordinator whose purpose is to implement delegated Protection initiatives as defined by Country Office’s strategic and policy frameworks.

In particular, the position holder will be supporting close management, coordination and monitoring of field activities focused on Protection of Civilians components, reduction of exposure to secondary violence for NRC beneficiaries, sensitization, capacity-building, negotiations and advocacy with relevant stakeholders. The successful candidate will also support the development of early warning mechanisms, community-based conflict resolution, risk analysis and mitigation measures to prevent/mitigate exposure of vulnerable families to protection risks. This unique position will require routine travel to NRC Field Offices, particularly in Badghis, Faryab, Kunduz and Uruzgan, to support front-line protection activities.  The Protection Coordinator is secondarily expected to help assist or deputize for the NRC Protection Adviser, in co-facilitation of the Afghanistan Protection Cluster.

The Protection Coordinator will report to the Protection Adviser. 

Responsibilities:

• Adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
• Contribute to Protection strategy development, project proposals and provide input on needs and gaps
• Manage and implement delegated portfolio of Protection projects and/or project components (activities, budget and project documentation) in line with proposals, strategies and donor requirements, and ensure high technical quality
• Technical line management of Protection field staff
• Promote and share ideas for improvement and necessary changes in the activities
• Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy
• Recruitment, capacity-building and direct supervision of field staff
• Negotiation and advocacy with local authorities, community representatives and other relevant stakeholders on prevention/mitigation of exposure of conflict affected communities to primary and secondary violence
• Implementation and monitoring of field activities, with focus on developing community-based early warning systems and contingency plans, establishment of community safety networks, establishment of conflict prevention/resolution mechanisms through community-based humanitarian mediation and/or negotiation
• Supervision of referral mechanisms on sensitive protection cases identified at field level
• Support protection advocacy, particularly evidence-based advocacy on PoC-related issues, Gender and Child Protection issues
• Leading role in field data collection to inform relevant internal and externally-commissioned protection assessments, risk analysis, needs assessments

Download the detailed Job Description at the bottom of this page

For this position, our ideal candidate is:

A University Graduate with a minimum of  2 years’  protection related experience in a humanitarian/ recovery context.  Someone with experience working in complex and volatile contexts , and can withstand the rigors of frequent field travel. An individual who is well versed in protection related legal instruments, policy frameworks both domestic and international.  Someone with protection expertise with a focus on Protection of civilians and International Humanitarian Law. Our ideal candidate is a good communicator and has a knack for negotiating with different actors. Can work independently and has the capacity and experience to support our staff through training and coaching. We are looking for a dedicated and courageous individual that is highly motivated to be a part of enabling NRC to deliver high quality assistance. 

Fluency in English is a must. Experience with the Afghanistan context and knowledge of the local language (Dari or Pashto) will be an added advantage.

If you fit into the above profile and want to be a part of a stimulating and rewarding work environment, a collaborative workforce and a genuine place of passion responding to global refugee crises we look forward to your application. 

What we offer: 

• Contract period: 12 months
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions.
• Duty station: Kabul, Afghanistan 
• Grade 7  (See the NRC Global Job Grade Below) 
• Travel: 50%  travel expected to Afghanistan field offices. 

Additional Information

There are two Protection Coordinator positions, please indicate if you wish to be considered for the other Protection Coordinator role. You do NOT need to apply to both of them.

This is an unaccompanied post/non family duty station, with shared housing/ accommodation of moderate standard. Due to the unstable security situation, recreational and social facilities are limited. All international staff working and residing in Afghanistan are obliged to pay income tax to the Afghanistan authorities.

Approved health certificate will be requested before contract start. Selected candidate need to provide certified University diplomas prior to applying for visa to Afghanistan.

NRC may be required to verify the identity of its partners and to check that its partners have not been involved in illegal activities.NRC reserves the right to use electronic screening tools for this purpose.

Please note that you are required to enter the geographical location for all your previous positions while registering your CV. There is no specific field for this information in our CV form, but you can use the "Company name" field for both company and location.