Protection Manager Ukraine East Dnipro

Duty station:  Kyiv, with regular travel to field locations.

1. Background/Context

The Norwegian Refugee Council has been present in Ukraine since 2014, helping more than 700,000 people with food, shelter, water, sanitation, and legal assistance. The rapid change of situation in February 2022 during which the whole of Ukraine became affected by the conflict required a significant scale-up of emergency programmes. Today NRC is providing support to people affected by armed conflict and those fleeing in search of safety.

Prior to the escalation in armed conflict in February, NRC’s operations focused on government-controlled areas (GCA) of the Donbas Region (Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts). Following the February 2022 invasion, NRC has implemented a temporary relocation of NRC’s staff and operations to Central and Western Ukraine. NRC will continue to support populations in the East through our office in Dnipro with emergency, life-saving food, NFI and emergency shelter assistance to people trapped in hot zones. In the West, NRC established area offices in Lviv and Ternopil, with the country office based in Kyiv. Additionally, NRC is looking to establish additional field offices in the north and east of the country. The Western response will focus on assisting people on the move with cash and ICLA services and provide multi-sectoral support to key transit points. The Eastern response is focusing on the provision of shelter assistance, ICLA, livelihoods and food security, WASH, and protection assistance.

We are seeking highly qualified, resilient, dynamic professionals to respond to Ukraine crisis and support people in Ukraine.

The purpose of the Protection Manager position is to oversee the implementation of all protection activities run under the auspices of the North Area Office based in Kyiv. The Protection Manager oversees all protection implementation in their area of responsibility and contributes to strategic undertaking on the area and country-levels.

In particular, the position holder will be overseeing the implementation all protection activities, which will include protection monitoring, case management services, individual protection assistance, and community self-protection mechanisms. The Protection Manager will work in close coordination with the Protection Programme Development Manager to regularly update the protection analytical framework and country-wide protection strategy based on the outcomes of protection activities in their area of responsibility.

The position holder will directly supervisor case workers and team leaders who are implementing protection programming. As such, the position holder will be expected to make regular field visits to support the teams. The position holder will be responsible for managing all relevant budgets and all elements of the project management cycle for North Area Office protection programming. The position holder will report to the Area Manager, will supervision and technical support from the Protection Programme Development Manager.

2. Role and responsibilities

The following is a brief description of the role:

1. Oversee implementation of Area North protection project portfolio according to plan of action, including protection monitoring, civilian self-protection programming, case management services, and IPA assistance.
2. Ensure teams are meeting targets and following established work plans, monitoring and evaluation plans, logistics and procurement plans, and budgeting plans.
3. Represent NRC in appropriate coordination fora (sub-national clusters and working groups, and others as delegated by the Protection Programme Development Manager)
4. Prepare and develop status reports as required by management, including timely reporting on programmatic and contextual issues.
5. Ensure maintenance and use of secure databases, filing systems, and storage of protection information management data, tools, and information. Work closely with Protection PDM and IMO to ensure databases are user-friendly and data protection compliant. Ensure teams are trained on data protection mechanisms and ensure compliance with data protection protocols.
6. Support team leaders and case workers in reporting requirements and in writing programmatic reports such as protection monitoring and protection assessment reports in a timely fashion. Identify key issues that should be flagged to the Protection PDM or advocacy team for further follow up.
7. Ensure communities and beneficiaries targeted are in the most need; coordinate with other actors and cluster systems to ensure no duplication in provision of protection assistance.
8. Promote and share ideas for technical improvement.
9. Supervise team leaders and caseworkers in their implementation of case management, civilian self-protection modalities, protection monitoring, and individualized protection assistance services.
10. Provide inputs on needs and gaps to support operational and strategic initiatives.
11. Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders as necessary.
12. Ensure close monitoring of project activities and ensure they are implemented based on agreed upon plans and are aligned with designated M&E and implementation planning; work with M&E team to ensure protection activities are monitored through the set modalities.
13. Supervise protection teams in the geographic coverage of the North Area Office.
14. Manage budgets, monitoring and evaluation plans, implementation plans, procurement plans, and plans of action for all protection programming in the North Area Office.
15. Lead case supervision for caseworkers.
16. Ensure team leaders and staff are meeting performance objectives and project deadlines and objectives.
17. Support negotiation and advocacy with local authorities, community representatives and other relevant stakeholders based on project implementation priorities as communicated by management as needed.
18. Ensure regular collection, analysis and internal dissemination of protection information in a principled and safe manner.
19. Representation of NRC Protection in relevant meetings at field level as delegated by management. The Protection Manager will be the standing representative of NRC Protection at the Sub-national protection coordination structures based in Kyiv/north region.
20. Ensure timely publication/sharing of all reports. Act as liaison between country office and East Area Office for protection.
21. Support Protection Programme Development Manager with strategic protection decisions, including supporting in the creation of a multi-year country-level protection strategy, inputs and analysis for protection risk analysis and analytical framework, and other core strategic protection needs.

3. What We Are Looking For

• 3-4 years of experience working in humanitarian protection, preferably with conflict-affected populations.
• Extensive knowledge of protection case management, protection monitoring, community-based protection mechanisms, and individual protection assistance. Ability to provide case work supervision.
• Experience managing a diverse team, including starting up programming/teams.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Strong English skills, including writing, are mandatory; Ukrainian and/or Russian would be an asset.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• Previous experience working in Protection or Protection-related projects for conflict-affected populations is required.
• Knowledge and understanding of the local context, including socio-cultural, political, security and humanitarian situation would be beneficial.
• Knowledge of humanitarian coordination structures.
• Planning and delivering results.
• Empowering and building trust.
• Communicating with impact and respect.
• Handling insecure environment.
• Working with people.
• Influencing.

Find more details about the role HERE with the Job Description (JD) of the position.

4. What We Offer

• Type of contract: 12 months.
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC salary scale, terms and conditions.
• Duty station:  Kyiv, with regular travel to field locations.
• Travel: Regular presence in field locations.

Internal candidates are encouraged to apply but we are also open to external applicants who can show a commitment to NRC and being part of a challenging, but important mission to make a difference.

NRC might review applications before the adverted deadline, therefore interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.