Senior Community Based Protection Assistant

Organizational Context

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant is part of the Protection Unit, reporting to a Protection Officer or similar. This role works directly with communities of concern to identify risks and capacities, supporting the application of community-based protection standards in field operations. A significant portion of the work involves direct engagement with communities to build relationships and enhance protection planning.

Job Purpose

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant's primary purpose is to work directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and leverage their capacities for self-protection, family, and community safety. This involves supporting the implementation of community-based protection standards and operational procedures at the field level. A core aspect of the role is developing and maintaining constructive relationships with the persons of concern (PoC) to measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming, and results. The incumbent also supports the design of community-based protection strategies, ensuring they are informed by direct consultation with PoC, and assists in integrating participatory approaches into the overall protection strategy.

Responsibilities

Assist functional units, the Multi-Functional Team (MFT), and senior management in integrating participatory and community-based approaches into the overall protection strategy. Maintain awareness of political, social, economic, and cultural developments impacting the protection environment through relationships with PoC and partners, advising the protection team accordingly. Understand and communicate the perspectives, capacities, needs, and resources of PoC, highlighting specific protection needs of diverse groups (women, men, children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, marginalized groups). Assist in initiatives with host communities to involve national civil society groups in PoC protection. Support implementing partners and displaced/local communities in developing community-owned activities addressing social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organizational, and livelihood concerns, including child protection and GBV prevention/response. Aid in analyzing the capacities of communities of concern and the risks they face. Support participatory assessments by multifunctional teams and ongoing consultations with PoC. Contribute to building the office's capacity for community-based protection and support communities in establishing representation and coordination structures. Ensure community understanding of UNHCR's commitment to accountability and quality assurance in its response. Collect data for program and budget monitoring from an Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective. Draft routine correspondence, documents, and reports, maintaining filing systems. Act as an interpreter for routine information exchange, contribute to liaison activities, and respond to queries. Enforce compliance of implementing partners with global protection policies and professional integrity standards in service delivery. Support risk management and opportunity identification within the area of responsibility, ensuring risk-based decision-making and reporting concerns to supervisors.

Work Experience

2 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma, or 1 year of relevant work experience with a Bachelor's degree or equivalent or higher. Experience with UNHCR learning programmes (PLP) and knowledge of MSRP are desirable.

Skills

Community-based Protection - Principles and methodologies, Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community, IT-Computer Literacy, IT-Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), UN-UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations and Procedures, AGD sensitive analysis and interventions, Risk management, Data collection and monitoring, Report drafting, Interpretation

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