Associate Protection Officer (PN10007538) - Ankara

This position is open to applications from Group 1, Group 2 and all external candidates, provided that requirements regarding professional experience, academic qualifications, language, etc. are fulfilled.

Candidates must be primarily Turkish nationals. The minimum educational requirement for this position is a university degree.

Applications must be supported by documentation of fully effective performance history and demonstrated potential to assume professional responsibilities.
Interested staff members should consult Recruitment and Assignment of Locally-recruited Staff (RALS) para 39-40-41. Associate Protection Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Associate Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024),  Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support  and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Associate Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern, ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that persons of concern are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of persons of concern. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.


All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
- Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
- Foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern.  
- Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Conduct eligibility and status determination for persons of concern in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
- Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
- Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy to ensure programmes use a child protection systems approach.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan.
- Implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities which integrate AGD sensitive procedures.
- Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on SGBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
- Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of persons of concern through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other persons of concern.
- Participate in the organisation and implementation of participatory assessments and methodologies throughout the operations management cycle and promote AGD sensitive programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
- Promote and integrate community-based approaches to protection and contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
- Support activities in the area of risk management related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, fraud, case-processing, data protection, and human rights due diligence at country level.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
- Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR.
- Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P2/NOB - 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Relevant Job Experience
Essential:
Professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles.
Desirable:
Field experience, including in working directly with communities. Good IT skills including database management skills.

Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*LE-International Refugee Law
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)


Language Requirements
Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language. Shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a test. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. No late applications will be accepted.

UNHCR is committed to diversity and welcomes applications from qualified candidates regardless of disability, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, race, color or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.
Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fees).

REMUNERATION

A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. The monthly net salary is between TRY 13,742 and TRY 17,582 depending on relevant experience, dependency status and language proficiency. For more information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, please visit the portal of the Office of HR Management of United Nations.
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See below for this postion's Operational Context
======================================================================================================== Nature of the Position

In the course of 2019, UNHCR Turkey's role in protection case processing changed to be in line with developments in the operational context, namely progressively stronger engagement with the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services (MoFLSS) - the state authority responsible for provision of protection services - as a way to support the national institutions to provide access of persons with specific needs (PSN) to timely and effective services. UNHCR Turkey¿s Protection Unit at the country-office, and within this, the Case Processing team is thus re-defining its role, transitioning from (in parts) a more direct engagement with the individual cases of refugees and asylum-seekers to identifying and helping address the legal, administrative and practical obstacles that refugees with specific needs may face, while simultaneously enhancing the national capacity to support timely protection responses. This position is responsible for managing the central case processing team and overseeing this transition through support to partners and institutions. This includes providing daily technical support and guidance to UNHCR and partner staff on individual cases, monitoring the work of the team, developing and maintaining tools and systems to ensure quality and consistent case processing for refugees and asylum seekers, and providing on the job coaching/training to develop the capacity of national system and structures. This position is also responsible for overseeing UNHCR's assistance provided to persons of concern, including in-kind/emergency assistance, the cash for protection programmes in collaboration with CBI, and referrals to relevant units/stakeholders for tailored support. Experience in case
processing/management, including database management and interviewing persons of concern, as well as experience managing a large team and assistance is desirable.    

Interaction with Persons of Concern or External Stakeholders

This position is further expected to liaise closely with protection partners (both direct and operational partners) to ensure consistency and adherence to case processing standards across the operation. These partners include both NGO and governmental counterparts. As the lead of the individual case processing team, this position also has regular interaction with both refugees and asylum seekers. This includes conducting protection interviews and providing protection counselling to persons of concern, particularly for complex cases. 

Reporting and Managerial Expectations

This position is a member of the CO Protection Unit based in Ankara and reports directly to the Protection Officer. As the overall manager of the case processing team, this position directly supervises case workers and reviewers. Further, as the case processing team lead, this position is responsible for setting and maintaing collaborative relationships with other technical units in the operation, including, but not limited to, Resettlement, Operational Data Management, and Cash-Based Initiatives, and for ensuring cooperation with protection teams within the operation's field offices. 

Additional Languages, Skills and Qualifications

As part of the regular duties include reviewing data entry in proGres from a quality control perspective, and as the operation will transition to proGres IV, familiarity with the system is desired. The closing date of the Job opening is 07 July 2020.