Only candidates who are not nationals of the country of assignment are eligible to apply to this position
Hardship LevelH (no hardship)
Family TypeFamily
Residential location (if applicable)
GradePR2
Staff Member / Affiliate TypeProfessional
* Staff members will not normally serve in International Professional positions in the country of their nationality. In addition, in case of a first appointment upon recruitment, the assignment must be outside the staff memberโs country of nationality.
In practical terms this means that you are not eligible to apply for International Professional vacancies advertised in the country where you are national of.
ReasonRegular > Regular Assignment
Remote work acceptedNo
Target Start Date2023-05-25
Job Posting End DateJune 15, 2023
Standard Job DescriptionAssociate 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, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) 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 GBV 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 Field(s) of Education Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field (Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential) Certificates and/or Licenses Protection Learning Programme (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential) 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 *PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination MG-Project Management PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards PR-International Humanitarian Law PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement CO-Drafting and Documentation (Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential) Language Requirements For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English. For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language. For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English. All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power. As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise. This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
Desired Candidate Profile The Associate Protection Officer needs to demonstrate a solid understanding of refugee protection and experience in a broad range of protection activities, such as border and protection monitoring, legal aid, community based protection, GBV and child protection. Field experience from a similar operational context will be desirable. The staff member needs to demonstrate strong English drafting and communication skills. He/she also needs to have experience managing a team, be proactive and have excellent inter personal and team work skills.
Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):
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Desired languages
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Operational context
Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:
To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel
Nature of Position:
By 18 February 2023, more than 2.8 million refugees from Ukraine had arrived in Romania. Prior to this, Romania was hosting some 4,000 asylum-seekers and refugees, with 10,000 persons being the largest number to arrive in a single year. The number of refugees arriving from Ukraine is therefore at an unparalleled scale for the country. Governmental coordination structures have been activated for the emergency and protection response. The emergency response has relied and built on coordination structures established for the COVID-19 pandemic, while the protection response is structured around thematic working groups.
UNHCR coordinates the response of UN agencies and NGOs in support of the Romanian Government, with inter-agency co-leads attending government-led working groups to inform the humanitarian response in alignment with and supporting governmental agencies. The Romania chapter of the RRP represents the commitment of 32 partners including UN agencies, and international and national NGOs to work jointly and through a coordinated sectoral structure on the complex challenges affecting refugees from Ukraine and the host communities in line with the Refugee Coordination Model.
The Associate Protection Officer will lead the Protection team under the direct supervision of the Head of Field Office in Suceava. The Associate Protection Officer will also have to manage and lead the protection team in its Area of Responsibility.
Living and Working Conditions:
Suceava, Romania, is a family duty station with H classification located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. FO Suceava is at the northern border of the country with Ukraine; Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. The official language in the country is Romanian with English as official UN working language.
Romania has a temperate-continental climate and four different seasons with temperatures varying throughout the year:
- Spring: (from March to May; mild)
- Summer: (from June to August; usually torrid and dry)
- Autumn: (from September to November; rainy season)
- Winter (from December to February; quite harsh with frequent snowfall).
Romania has a well-established public transportation network. The most common way to travel within the city is by taxi, bus, tram, or metro. Online taxis application is commonly used in the city. Trains are almost available to/from all major cities. The major international airport in Bucharest, Romania is Henri Coanda (IATA: OTP) International Airport. While major streets in larger cities and major inter-city roads are generally in fair to good conditions, many secondary roads are in poor repair, unpaved, poorly lit, narrow, and lacking marked lanes.
The accommodations with minimum standards are available in the field offices.
Additional Qualifications
Skills
EducationBachelor of Arts (BA): International Law (Required), Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law (Required), Bachelor of Arts (BA): Political Science (Required)
CertificationsHCR Protection Learning Program - UNHCR
Work Experience
CompetenciesAccountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaboration
UNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales
Compendium Add. 2 to March 2023 Compendium - Part B
Additional Information
Functional clearanceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance