Protection Advisor (National)

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine with 40% of trips to the project locations in East and South Ukraine. 

Reporting line manager: Program Quality Lead

Duration: 12 months (National Contract) 

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary starting from €4,263, Risks allowance of €300/month (high risks area), medical insurance and PSS. Annual leave of 28 days per calendar year. 

Starting date: 1st January 2025 

CARE INTERNATIONAL   

CARE International (CI) is among the world's largest international non-governmental humanitarian relief and development confederations. Drawing on more than 75 years of experience, CI's work reaches over 110 countries worldwide to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. CARE's vision is to seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice; where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE focuses heavily on women and girls, and the areas of gender equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty and social injustice until all people have equal rights and opportunities.   

CONTEXT     IN     UKRAINE      

On 24th February 2022, the invasion of Ukraine marked a significant escalation to the conflict that started in 2014. It continues to profoundly impact the lives of people across the country at various levels. The front line is continuously shifting and there are areas under Russian military control, as well as cities under siege. Attacks on military installations and critical civilian infrastructures are conducted in the entire territory of Ukraine, often resulting in collateral civilian casualties. The conflict has caused the largest population movement in Europe since World War II, with over 5 million currently displaced within Ukraine and 6 million refugees across Europe. OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) had counted 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. An ongoing priority for the international humanitarian response is to reach newly accessible areas in the East and South of Ukraine, and to provide aid to previously unreachable and particularly hard-hit areas of Ukraine.    

CARE    UKRAINE    

As CARE, we strongly believe in the importance of localization and recognize the invaluable skills and knowledge present in the local context. By working together, we can achieve quality responses and make a lasting impact on the lives of those we serve. CARE seeks to establish long-term, sustainable partnerships with civil society organizations especially WLOs/WROs that lead to more effective, locally driven, and impactful humanitarian responses, recovery, and development in Ukraine, improving the lives of the most vulnerable populations. In the first few weeks after the escalation of the war, virtually all humanitarian aid inside Ukraine was organized and implemented by local actors. These groups (together with local authorities) remain the principal aid providers but are quickly being exhausted of funds, fuel, and physical energy. Thereby, a considerable proportion of CARE's resources is dedicated to strengthening and supporting the capacities of local partners. As of September 2024, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with over thirty local/national organizations (incl. WLO's/WRO's). From the more than 75 million euros that have been raised for Ukraine so far, more than 77% is allocated to national partners. Through the activities that have been implemented so far, CARE Ukraine has been able to reach more than 1.4 million people. While CARE Ukraine's country office is currently located in Kyiv, we also have offices in Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.       

Role    Objectives       The Protection Advisor leads on providing overall strategic guidance and performance of CARE's protection programming in Ukraine. S/he will technically oversee protection activities including GBV prevention, response and risk mitigation and protection mainstreaming. S/he will manage the country level protection technical team and will be expected to mentor and build the capacity of CARE and partner staff involved in protection programming. The post holder will be expected to lead on protection assessments and implementation, project planning and budgeting, coordination with stakeholders, and supporting fundraising, recruitment, and procurement, at both CO and field level. The Protection Adviser will be managing a team of three (3) coordinators: PSS Coordinator, GBV Coordinator and Protection Coordinator, ensuring their capacity building and well-being. The Protection Technical Advisor will be the primary focal point for the Protection Cluster and GBV AoR in Ukraine.       

The   main responsibilities include:

 Program strategy and development 

• Lead the development of CARE's Protection sector strategy and portfolio in Ukraine. 
• Provide technical leadership and strategic direction to the team in the development of proposals and program planning. 
• In collaboration with relevant sector advisors, ensure mainstreaming of protection in all proposal development, theory of change and budget development. 
• Promote adherence to standards and best practices taking into account the need for local adaptation. 
• Ensure that humanitarian protection needs are identified by planning and coordinating joint, inter-cluster, initial rapid assessments which are adapted to the local context. 
• Contribute to the identification of critical issues that require multi-sector responses and coordinate with other CARE Ukraine's sectors to develop appropriate responses. 
• Coordinate external technical assistance and draw on the resources of program support in new program development exercises 
• Serve as the focal point for donor liaison, in the technical area of Protection, in close collaboration with the Program Quality Lead. 
• Promote integration of CARE's Women Lead in Emergencies (WLIE) approach in protection programming where applicable 
• Coordinate with other sectors to integrate Protection-related activities/ indicators, especially through awareness raising and mainstreaming protection aimed at enhanced well-being and access to Protection services among beneficiaries 
• Contribute to the improvement of protection sector strategy with a focus of psychosocial program activities, psychological first aid and case management in Ukraine, covering geographical and technical areas of focus informed by the presence and activities of the other protection components and other sectors of CARE. 

Technical leadership and capacity building

• Provide strategic and technical guidance and support to CARE and partners in protection programming 
• Provide technical supervision and support the timely and effective implementation of Protection projects and activities across operational areas, in line with budgets and work-plans. 
• Ensure protection and GBV interventions are implemented in line with CARE and Inter-Agency and Sphere standards. 
• Contribute to the preparation of timely program and donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal CARE requirements and any relevant external donor requirements. 
• Provide technical support to the recruitment of Protection-related staff (ie development of JD, technical short-listing, technical interviews) as needed. 
• Develop and deliver protection capacity building strategy for CARE and partners 
• Contextualize protection capacity assessment tools in coordination with Technical Advisors, Program Managers and Partnerships Coordinator 
• Identify learning needs and opportunities for project staff and work as a mentor and role model for CARE and partner staff 
• Ensure continuous capacity building and mentoring processes are in place to support partner staff in gaining key skills and experience required for Protection programming. 
• Provide technical supervision to technical staff across CARE field sites, in collaboration with Program Managers; 
• Facilitate the development/roll out of all protection/GBV training curricula and training materials. 
• Develop, update and contextualize tools, guidelines and supporting documents to provide technical support to CARE and partners 
• Promote harmonization of the standards, approaches among the implementing partners 
• Coordinate the dissemination of key technical material and organize trainings with a special focus on standards and best practices. 
• Build the technical capacity of CARE staff, partners, NGOs and government counterparts as required 

 Monitoring and Evaluation

• Maintain an effective monitoring and planning system in collaboration with the MEAL Manager, which informs reporting and project design. 
• Work with the MEAL team to identify and document projects' learning and success cases and disseminate learning on the humanitarian response. 
• Ensure that the monitoring framework within the protection program is implemented, including baseline data, secondary data, reviews, end line surveys, donor reporting and internal/external evaluations and capitalization of activities. 
• Ensure respect for data protection and confidentiality in data collection and storage. 
• Contribute in the preparation of all the necessary reports such as progress reports, annual reports, and Interim and final reports for donors. 
• Oversee the production of Protection-related research papers including advising on research design and methodology in collaboration with the MEAL team, recruiting required expertise where necessary. 
• Conduct monitoring visits to project locations, develop field reports and follow up on critical issues in a timely manner. 

Representation/Advocacy & Organizational Learning 

• Ensure that CARE's work is coordinated with efforts of other agencies and Government, and support Interagency coordination forums, advocating for the specific needs of beneficiaries. This may involve supporting coordination working groups. 
• Participate proactively and contribute in the Protection cluster and technical working group meetings. 
• Share information on CARE's activities and interventions and promote good relations and collaboration with other actors working on the humanitarian response. 
• With support from the Head of Technical Unit and other senior program staff, assist in advocacy activities that target decision-makers in-country. 
• Contribute to communications and media work as required 

General 

• Deliver high quality results in line with the terms of reference agreed in advance and to do this in a way which maintains the reputation of CARE. 
• Comply with CARE policies and practice with respect to PSEA, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures. 
• Contribute to the responsibility of the security of all staff. Ensure the security, health and well-being of staff and contribute to staff management and other processes and policies and systems reflect CARE's principles of equity and fairness. 

Additional Responsibilities: 

• The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to carry out additional duties assigned by the Program Quality Lead within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Key Internal Contacts

• Program Quality unit colleagues: Gender in Emergencies Advisor, Women Lead in Emergencies Advisor, WASH/Shelter Advisor, MEAL Manager.
• Programs department colleagues: Program Development Lead, Program Implementation Lead and Program Managers, Partnerships Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, Safeguarding Coordinator.

 Key External Contacts

• CARE implementation partners
• Protection Cluster and GBV AoR and technical working groups 
• Local authorities 
• Protection/GBV actors 

Requirements

Essential criteria

• Minimum 5 years of experience in managing humanitarian programs with international NGOs in complex and conflict-affected contexts 
• A minimum of 3 years' prior experience working in humanitarian emergency, conflict, post-conflict, or post-disaster settings AND in implementing protection programs, particularly in the area of GBV, PSS and/or PSEA/Safeguarding. 
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in people management and leadership 
• Strong and recent knowledge of Ukraine humanitarian context 
• Experience working with individuals/groups at risk or victims of abuse, exploitation, and violence. 
• Experience implementing sensitive protection services, including case management. 
• Experience developing technical guidance in line with humanitarian, protection, gender, and social inclusion principles and international standards, including Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies, Protection Mainstreaming, and Protection from Sexual Exploitation & Abuse. 
• Commitment to the principles of confidentiality, survivor-centered approach, and the Do No Harm principle 
• Experience developing project proposals and logframes. 
• Experience of, and commitment to working through systems of community participation and accountability. 
• Proficiency in English. Any relevant regional language would be an asset 
• Experience or knowledge in community participation. 

Desirable criteria

• Proven experience in humanitarian advocacy and networking with duty bearers (negotiation and influence skills) 
• Experience of training and capacity building. 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation, and coaching. 
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mind sets. 
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of an obvious way forward and ensuring buy in. 
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances. 
• Commitment to the aims and principles of CARE. 
• Experience of representation and ability to represent CARE effectively in external forums. 
• Knowledge of institutional donors and experience of developing proposals. 
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports. 
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact, and diplomacy. 
• Proven experience in developing partnerships with national aid organizations, CBOs, CSOs and/or WROs 
• Computer skills (including Excel and Word) 
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills 
• Good organizational skills 
• Capacity to work under a high level of stress 
• Adaptation capacities to dynamic context 
• Trustworthiness and sense of responsibility 
• Experience of implementing projects through implementing partners.
• Experience in building relationships, fostering interagency coordination and representing an organization to external stakeholders.
• Excellent computer skills, including experience of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Word).
• Demonstrated commitment to gender equality, empowerment of WROs/WLOs, and feminist principles.
• Experience of and commitment to working through systems of community participation and accountability. 
• Ability to work independently and proactively, manage a complex and diverse workload and to work to tight deadlines. 

 Accountability: 

A commitment to CARE values and CARE's integrity framework is critical to working with CARE. Any candidate offered a job with CARE will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability: 

• Comply with CARE's policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behavior protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area. 
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behavior of a CARE staff or partner.

 Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of CARE activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that CARE shows this ongoing commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates. 

 Gender equality:

CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2019). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of gender in programmatic and organizational practices. 

How to Apply:

CARE values equal opportunities and diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

Please send your CV (in pdf format max. 4 pages) and a cover letter in English to <   Відправити резюме  >, no later than 23 November 2024. Please name your documents Surname_CV, Surname_Cover Letter. Put  Protection Advisor  as the subject title of your email. 

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.