Protection Officer

 Vacancy Announcement

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is an international humanitarian organization implementing relief and development activities in more than 30 countries. DRC is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-religious organization and, in DRC, people’s right to a life with dignity is central to all that we do. DRC has been operating in Myanmar since 2009, responding to humanitarian needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict-affected populations by providing shelter, NFIs, Economic Recovery, humanitarian mine action and community assistance. The DRC programme is rooted in a strong protection outreach that includes protection monitoring, tailor-made assistance and programmatic integration through humanitarian mine action (HMA) including provision of Mine Risk Education (MRE) and Non-Technical Survey (NTS) in the most contaminated and conflict-prone areas of Myanmar.

To support and strengthen the DRC programme in Myanmar we are looking for highly motivated and capable candidates to fill the position of

Protection Officer (1 Post)

Duty Station                    : Bhamo Office, Kachin State

Reports to                        : Protection Team Leader

Direct reports                 : No direct report but supervisor of Protection Assistants

Overall purpose of the role:

Ensure the quality of protection monitoring by protection assistants’ working with communities at risk of displacement and with other affected communities to identify and monitor their needs/risks, monitor any changes that affect the protection environment mobilize and train community members on a variety of topics to make the Community Based Protection interventions sustainable in the long term, to be able to exist without external support. In particular, the Protection Officer will provide technical support to build the capacity of DRC Protection team and CSO partners in implementing community-based protection and protection monitoring quality particularly for DRC protection team.

Geographic Scope: Northeast Area

This role has an area focus and ensures compliance with DRC procedures and guidelines in protection monitoring and community-based protection. The role contributes to the development of area strategies, which are translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks. The role provides support and/or technical guidance to base operations mainly in case management and community-based protection and minimal supervision in awareness sessions and group/structured PSS activities to meet program target per relevant workplan every month.

The Protection Officer (Monitoring and CBP) works as part of DRC's Protection team, under the guidance and direct supervision of General Protection Team Leader and Protection Project Manager. This position is based in Bhamo, regular travel to project locations including partner’s locations.

Main responsibilities

Protection Monitoring

• Lead the DRC Protection Team in daily protection monitoring activities (daily monitoring calls, protection incidents monitoring, direct observation, key informant interviews, focus group discussions) in IDP camps and other conflict affected communities.
• Provide guidance and supervision to Protection Team to ensure that activities are carried out in accordance with relevant DRC standards, DRC Code of Conduct, Protection Monitoring SoP and Data Protection Protocols
• Regularly accompany with Protection Assistants on field visits to provide technical guidance, to coach and supervise protection assistants on their monitoring skills and to ensure quality of monitoring activities.
• Develop monthly and weekly work plans to ensure coverage of all relevant locations and that targets of protection monitoring are met.
• Conduct bi-weekly review of protection dashboards (PIM Dashboard, DO Dashboard, KII Dashboards) to analyze protection trends for developing workplans.
• Ensure relevancy and accuracy of protection monitoring data and liaise with Protection IM focal person for data quality on bi-weekly basis.
• Review FGD reports by Protection Assistants and give regular feedback on those reports.
• Produce quality protection monitoring report on monthly basis and submit it to Protection Team Leader and Project Manager according to deadline.

Community Based Protection in Partnership

• Assist Protection Team Leader in capacity building and supervision of CBP implementing partners on how to do the whole process of CBP (community consultations and discussions, CBP introduction, selection process of CBPG members, training to CBPG on protection risk analysis, developing and implementation of community action plans) in accordance with key CBP approaches and CBP SoP.
• Support capacity development through training and coaching of CSO/CBO partners, Protection Focal Points in supporting the community in the identification and understanding of protection risks and problems and prioritizing key protection risks in addressing through CAP.
• Monitor and provide technical support to CBP implementing partners on their facilitation of CBP training, identifying capacity/vulnerabilities and developing community action plans.
• Support CBP implementing partners to be friendly with CBP tools and carry out the activities per CBP SoP and data protection guidelines.
• Assist Protection Team Leader in the capacity assessment of CBP implementing partners through field visits and meetings by applying relevant tools.
• Submit internal bi-weekly protection reports/trackers in English to Protection Team Leader; these reports should summarize activities carried out by the Protection teams and CSO partners and underline key weekly findings.
• Regularly liaise with the DRC IM and MEAL Office based staff, and CSO partners and ensure the accurate management of data records and trackers.

Awareness and Group/Structured PSS

• Develop monthly and weekly workplan for Protection Assistants to do protection awareness session and group/structured PSS to meet project targets, in addition to protection monitoring exercise.
• Ensure protection awareness sessions and PSS activities reflect protection trends and community needs over time and are conducted per DRC’s internal guideline and curriculum.

Partnership development and engagement

• Support Team Leader and Project Managers to strengthen local networks and build relationships with other relevant stakeholders and partners in Kachin State.  Actively explore and identify potential partners in line with localization strategy in coordination with Partnership team.
• Work closely with CSO/CBO partners to implement community-based protection, etc.) and provide capacity building training for CSO/CBO partners.

Coordination

• Coordinate with CSO partners and relevant stakeholders in the field and liaise with relevant authorities and individuals to ensure a smooth implementation of activities.
• Provide support as needed and motivate CSO partners for a quality product and cost and effectiveness.
• Coordinate with MEAL team bi-weekly share/check the data and documents for the data accuracy, MEAL team to conduct necessary survey after the activities implemented.
• Strengthen coordination with protection case management team for effective responses to protection incidents and bring key protection concerns to Protection Project Manager.

Finance and HR support

• Under supervision of the Protection Team Leader, draft relevant financial and procurement documents such as PRs, Advance Requests, Cash transfer requests, payment of salaries of field-based staff, etc.
• Support the Protection Team Leader in recruiting new Incentive workers.

*Conduct and/or support on other duties as assigned by the Protection Team Leader and/ Protection Manager.

Experience and technical competencies:

• At least 2 years of work experience, preferably in humanitarian and/or similar programs with (I)NGOs or UN agencies with excellent references.
• Strong understanding and experience of Protection Principles, Protection Monitoring and Community Based Protection Approaches and principles.
• Good analytical report writing skill.
• Experience in working with local CSOs/CBOs, partnership engagement and networking.
• Understanding of protection issues in Kachin State context.
• Excellent skill in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Education: (include certificates, licenses, etc.)

• Relevant university degree (e.g., political science, international development, or economics) or equivalent professional qualification.

Languages: (indicate fluency level)

• Fluency in Burmese language, intermediate English Skill and additional local languages especially Kachin would be an asset.

Key stakeholders: (internal and external)

• Protection Team staff
• Other DRC teams e.g., Economic Recovery, Mine Risk Education
• CSO/CBO partners
• Incentive workers
• Local leaders, Camp Management committees
• Community members

All DRC roles require the post-holder to master DRC’s core competencies:     

• Striving for excellence: Focusing on reaching results while ensuring efficient processes.    
• Collaborating: Involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.    
• Taking the lead: Taking ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.     
• Communicating: Listening and speaking effectively and honestly.    
• Demonstrating integrity: Upholding and promoting the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. "

We Offer:

• Starting date of employment: ASAP.
• Contract length: Until 31 Dec 2023 includes a probationary period of 3 months. Renewables depend on both funding and performance.
• Salary: Competitive salary according to DRC Myanmar salary scale.

This position is open for Myanmar National only. DRC strongly advocates for equal opportunity and promotes a diversified and inspiring working environment. Therefore, qualified candidates of ethnic minorities and women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application process:  

Applicants who meet the above-mentioned requirements should apply by submitting their applications in English (consisting of Cover Letter and CV of no more than 4 pages, including contact details of 3 professional references) and CV only applications will not be considered. Apply button.

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for a written test in English and an interview.
• After the closing date, applications are not to be considered. Please note that due to the urgency of this position, applications will be reviewed on an on-going basis and DRC reserves the right to initiate the recruitment process before the deadline for applications.   

Deadline for submission of applications: 08-Feb-2023 (COB)