Protection Manager - Beirut - Lebanon

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All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

1. Background:

   NRC provides humanitarian aid to refugees from Syria, Palestine and vulnerable Lebanese host communities.  This assistance includes education; shelter; community management and coordination; water and sanitation; and information, counselling and legal assistance services. NRC also engages in advocacy with governments and donors to expand and safeguard refugee rights and protection.

   NRC is the lead agency for an ECHO funded protection-focused programme, delivered by a consortium comprising Gruppo Volontariato Civile (GVC) and Action Contre la Faim (ACF). The challenge for humanitarian actors is to improve the overall accountability and effectiveness of aid; ensuring that programming outside of multi-purpose cash assistance is community-driven, where appropriate, and based on vulnerability analysis, prioritisation of needs and appropriate and timely response. The overall framework of the programme revolves around three inter-related and complementary outcomes to address this challenge: 1. generating the required data appropriate to inform the response and the advocacy; 2. the provision of a targeted and adequate response with clear protection outcomes; and 3. evidence-based programme advocacy with a focus on the coercive environment and ensuring effectiveness of aid.  

    The Protection Manager will be based in Lebanon, Beirut to ensure minimum protection standards and core humanitarian principles are institutionalised and integrated within all consortium activities.

   This position will be hosted by the lead agency, NRC, which has been working Lebanon since 2006. Although hosted by NRC, including in terms of organisational procedures such as logistics, finance, and security, there will be a degree of separation and independence of the Consortium Manager and Consortium Management Unit, as NRC is also implementing within the consortium.

2. Role Summary:

   The Protection Manager will be responsible for supporting the Consortium Manager and members with context analysis on key protection trends and protection advice in relation to Lebanon Protection Consortium.

   The position will be part of the Consortium Management Unit and work closely with the Consortium Manager, Community Protection Approach Manager, as well as field programme teams, including Area and Project Managers. The Protection Manager will provide advice on humanitarian principles and protection issues in relation to consortium activities; analyse information and data to produce analysis and briefing documents; and manage referral tracking and procedures. The position holder will support project teams to identify, monitor and reduce protection risks faced by beneficiaries and staff in relation to humanitarian programming in Lebanon.

   The position holder will also coordinate with other protection actors, UN agencies and National coordination mechanisms, including active participation in Protection Working Groups processes at national level, and close engagement with protection staff of main humanitarian actors, as well as with protection staff in other NRC country programmes and at Head Office.

   Generic Responsibilities:

1. Provide technical advice and assistance for the analysis of protection, gender, diversity, child protection, and inclusion issues as they relate to humanitarian planning and programming.

1. Provide analysis and advice regarding key humanitarian protection trends and risks, and monitor how they interact with the current and planned activities in Lebanon.
2. Ensure compliance with NRC (global and national) policies and procedures, handbooks and guidelines and/or propose new initiatives to bridge gaps and implement these.
3. Institutionalise and further develop systems that address protection needs and follow up on their implementation with all related parties.
4. Support the training, capacity building and mentoring of all related staff on minimum protection standards including primarily: safety, dignity and ‘do no harm’, meaningful access and responsiveness to diverse needs and accountability to affected populations.
5. Develop policies and tools and provide technical advice in relation to identifying ‘red lines’ and supporting application of humanitarian principles and protection standards in programme development and implementation.
6. Review proposals and budgets to ensure that adequate attention is paid to the protection response and adherence to humanitarian principles.
7. Identify, analyse and evaluate key processes and gaps on protection and humanitarian principles in the team activities and provide guidance and support to programme management on policies and recommendations.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide guidance and support use of tools to monitor ongoing adherence to humanitarian principles

• Ensure complementarity of protection with further initiatives aimed at ensuring programme quality.
• Oversee and be responsible of mainstreaming protection guidelines in all related activities as per NRC’s Protection mainstreaming guidelines and ensure that all breaches/concerns reported are properly resolved.
• Receive the referral information related to protection cases on a monthly basis from the related focal points and take proper actions to ensure that the referral system is functioning to the best interest of beneficiaries as per NRC’s referral’s procedures.
• Contribute to joint initiatives with programme and advocacy colleagues on issues related to protection-related concerns including, but not limited to, emergency response, evictions and returns.
• Develop the consortium internal and external referral mechanism and pathways, including harmonization of interagency/members referrals and referral management systems.
• Advise on Protection priorities and manage the overall referral system.
• Continually identify and assess the protection assistance requirements of affected populations, including target groups, geographic locations, and existing relief programmes and ensure that all assessments include appropriate protection questions and support the field staff to analyze the data produced and develop responses.

• Produce periodic protection reports, and regular context analysis updates on key protection trends and contribute to programme development and advocacy responses.
• Work with the Consortium Manager, Community Protection Approach Manager and Advocacy Manager and members’ staff on advocacy initiatives, to include situation reports and assessment reports, background documents, briefing papers, talking points, information memos, and other relevant protection-specific documents as necessary.
• Contribute to the strategic development of the Consortium, including proposal and strategy development in relation to protection contribution.

• Develop an information management, access and confidentiality policy for the recording and storing of beneficiary personal data.
• Continue building systems, capacities and tools for applying minimum protection standards and humanitarian principles across all consortia activities.
• Provide support as needed to develop protection indicators and then support with analysing the data generated.
• Participate in the Protection Working groups and similar fora, as well as coordination with protection partners and coordinating bodies.

 

Critical Interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Steering Committee: consortium members’ senior management staff and donors
• Consortium Board: consortium members’ senior management staff
• Head of Consortia Programmes: Consortium Manager’s  line manager
• Technical Working Group: Consortium members’ technical staff
• Lead / host agency and Members’ staff: Heads of Programme; Area Managers; Field Teams
• UN Agencies, Protection Actors, and Protection Working Groups

 

1. Competencies:

1. Professional Competencies:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in related protection programming in conflict / post-conflict environments
• Bachelor degree in any related field
• Strong knowledge of global protection standards and relevant bodies of international law (international human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law)
• Experience in developing and delivering high quality protection-related training and tools to support practical implementation of protection standards
• Experience in working with partners and supporting development of their organisational and programmatic protection capacities
• Knowledge of Lebanon, the Syria conflict and/or the Middle East regional context
• Fluent in written and oral English and Arabic, French is a plus

2. Behavioural Competencies:

• Working with people
• Analysing
• Empowering and building trust
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Strategic thinking
• Handling insecure environments

This position is posted on rolling-basis, shortlisted candidates will be contacted until a selection is made.