Protection Adviser

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. Role Summary

NRC’s programming in Lebanon requires a strong protection and resilience focus, to ensure integrated programme responses that meet diverse needs of vulnerable populations. The Protection Adviser will be responsible for ensuring that minimum protection standards and core humanitarian principles are institutionalised and integrated within all programme, support and partner-implemented activities.

The Protection Adviser will work closely with the Programme Management Unit and Area based staff, including protection coordinators, to continue the development and application of NRC’s protection mainstreaming tools, providing guidance and technical support to NRC staff. This role will have a large responsibility in the provision of capacity building through trainings and awareness raising sessions on minimum protection standards. The Protection Adviser will work with the Protection Coordinators to support project teams to fulfil their responsibilities for protection mainstreaming, by developing the capacities of a cadre of protection mainstreaming focal points within NRC’s core competency teams – to ensure quality in NRC's programme response, ensuring integrated and robust protection outcomes for all interventions.

1. Generic Responsibilities:

1. Provide analysis and advice regarding key humanitarian protection trends and risks and monitor how they interact with NRC’s 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 the Head of Programme, implementing teams, and other members of the Programme Unit.
4. Support the training, capacity building and mentoring of field 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.

2. Specific Responsibilities:

1. Oversee and strengthen the programme internal and external referral mechanism and pathways.
2. Support the accountability unit in developing and rolling out an accountability framework, including a beneficiary feedback mechanism that is appropriate given the context and resources available.
3. Produce a quarterly protection report, and regular context analysis updates on key protection trends.
4. Contribute to the development of awareness-raising, reporting and response processes in relation to Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse; and participate in investigating allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse in coordination with NRC Lebanon Senior Management.
5. Follow up on the protection mainstreaming strategy, technical guidance, and related policies and procedures including implementation of NRC Lebanon’s Protection Mainstreaming Strategy and further development during delivery of the Country Strategy 2018-2020.
6. Provide technical advice and guidance for the analysis of protection, gender, diversity, child protection, and inclusion issues as they relate to humanitarian planning and programming in NRC’s Lebanon programme.
7. Ensure that key learnings are extracted from implementation, and incorporate them in staff development processes.
8. Represent NRC in relevant forums, such as Consortia Protection Technical Reference groups, and including forums with other NGOs and UN agencies.
9. Promote the rights of refugees in Lebanon, in line with the advocacy strategy, and contribute to joint initiative with programme and advocacy teams on issues related to protection-related concerns

3. Critical Interfaces:

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

• Protection Coordinators, Area Managers, Project Managers and Programme Field Staff
• Programme Management Unit management and staff, Accountability Unit, Monitoring and Evaluation team
• Support teams
• Consortium Managers, Relevant NGOs and UN Agencies
• NRC MERO and Head Office

2. Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following three categories:

1. Professional Competencies:

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

• Bachelor degree in protection, social sciences, or any other relevant field. Masters’ and/or Certification in protection related topics and matters is a plus
• Minimum 5 years of experience within protection, preferably in a humanitarian context
• Knowledge of Lebanon, the Syria conflict and the Middle East regional context
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Strong knowledge of global protection standards and relevant bodies of international law (international human rights law, international humanitarian law and refugee law)
• Fluency in English and Arabic, both written and spoken

2. Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, the following are essential for this position:

• Planning and delivering results 
• Strategic thinking
• Empowering and building trust
• Analysing 
• Initiating action and change
• Handling insecure environments