internal and external vacancy announcement

The Representation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece invites qualified candidates to apply for the following Job Opening:

Job Opening ID: 21733 (Re-advertisement of Vacancy Notice: 2019/HRR/024)
Job Posting Title: Senior Protection Officer
Duration of appointment: One-year Fixed-term Appointment (with possibility of extension).
Position number: 10004454
Category and Grade: National Professional Officer, NOD
Duty Station: Athens
Closing date: 23 September 2020 (Midnight, Geneva)

Operational Context

Nature of the position:

There are over 120,000 asylum-seekers and refugees currently hosted in Greece who arrived and remained since the 2015-2016 humanitarian emergency. UNHCR supports the Government who coordinates the refugee and migrant response in the development of policy, capacity building and targeted interventions in the areas of reception, asylum procedures, and for finding durable solutions. In 2020, UNHCR continues to implement the cash assistance and accommodation programmes, while working with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum for the transition of these programmes to the Greek authorities. The situation remains challenging in the reception and identification centres on the islands where 23,000 people, awaiting the completion of their asylum procedures, cope with difficult living conditions and limited services.

Under the overall authority and direct supervision of the Representative, the Senior Protection Officer acts as a key advisor to Senior Management and leads the development of a comprehensive protection strategy under the area of responsibility (AoR). S/he represents the Organization to authorities, UN sister agencies, partners and other stakeholders on protection policy and doctrine. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for protection staff whose work may include RSD, community-based protection, registration, resettlement, internal displacement, complementary pathways, and education, among other areas. For the purpose of this Job Opening, the implementation of the Protection Cluster in the field is not applicable. All substantive correspondence and communication to Ministries should be cleared through the Senior Protection Officer acting as a Senior Liaison Officer.

The Senior Protection Officer plans, leads and coordinates quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. This includes ensuring that operational responses in all sectors are shaped in a protection optic, are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCRs doctrine, mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. Another important element of the incumbents functions is to ensure that persons of concern of all age, gender and diversity groups are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying and implementing appropriate solutions to their problems.

(Continues under Living and working conditions)

Living and Working Conditions

(Continued)

To undertake this role effectively, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with other relevant teams within the operation (including programme; PI and external relations; IM) and with DIP, communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and achieving solutions.

Further to his/her duties as reflected in the Job Description, the Senior Protection Officer will be required to:

• Assume functions of liaison of the Office and the Representative and maintain relations with State Officials at a senior level, Regions, Municipalities, other UN agencies and NGOs in order to promote UNHCR objectives.
• Provide advice to the Representative on advocacy and other initiatives towards these interlocutors.
• Provide advice and ensures consistency on the Office’s written advocacy interventions to the national counterparts on the various thematic areas of protection.
• Maintain relations with the press and develop public information activities to ensure greater knowledge in public opinion of refugee and asylum issues and promote UNHCR objectives in close liaison with the Public Information and Communication unit; Respond to queries from Government Officials, NGOs, individuals etc. and provide the information required or appropriately refer the queries elsewhere.
• Develop, propose and implement capacity building programmes for target groups (e.g. government, judiciary, law enforcement and academic institutions) with the aim of empowering State counterparts to get more involved and eventually take over protection related activities.
• Ensure that the protection strategy is fully integrated into the Country Operations Plan as well as with the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Three-Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.
• Supervise and lead Asylum, Legislation, Procedures functions within the Protection Unit.

Duties and Qualifications:

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships:

In the Bureaux, the Senior Protection Officer works under the direct supervision of the Bureau Deputy Director or Head of Bureau Protection Service or Senior Protection Coordinator. In the Field, the incumbent normally reports to the Representative, Deputy or Assistant Representative (Protection) or Head of Sub Office as appropriate. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for protection staff whose work may include RSD, community-based protection, registration, resettlement, internal displacement, complementary pathways, and education, among other areas. In HQ, the incumbent may report to a Chief of Section or Deputy Director and may lead a Unit and/or supervise other protection staff.

The incumbent acts as a key advisor to senior management and leads the development of a comprehensive protection strategy under the area of responsibility (AoR). S/he represents the Organization to authorities, UN sister agencies, partners and other stakeholders on protection policy and doctrine.

The Senior Protection Officer plans, leads and coordinates quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. This includes ensuring that operational responses in all sectors are shaped in a protection optic, are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCR¿s doctrine, mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. Another important element of the incumbent’s functions is to ensure that persons of concern of all age, gender and diversity groups are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying and implementing appropriate solutions to their problems. To undertake this role effectively, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with other relevant teams within the operation or the Bureau (including programme; PI and external relations; IM) and with DIP, communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and achieving solutions.

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:

• Provide technical guidance and support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues.
• Stay abreast of legal, political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
• Manage a consultative process with government counterparts, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement a comprehensive protection and solutions strategy addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identities (LGBTI persons), persons living with HIV/AIDS; gender equality and Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) priorities with regard to these persons.
• In operations applying the Cluster Approach, ensure the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in a strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations.
• Ensure that the protection strategy is fully integrated into the Country Operations Plan, the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the Humanitarian Country Team’s common humanitarian response plan as well as with the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Three Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.
• Promote relevant International, Regional and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct and ensure that all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations fulfil their responsibilities in mainstreaming protection.
• Promote the implementation of the AGD policy, including UNHCR¿s updated commitments to women and girls, and design, deliver and monitor programmes on an AGD basis to address identified protection needs.
• Develop, implement and monitor community-based protection strategies and ensure systematic application and integration of participatory and community-based approaches in protection and solutions planning, programming and strategies.
• Support the establishment of feedback and response systems and the incorporation of feedback received from persons of concern into programme design and adaptation.
• Guide the operation in the development and implementation of robust prevention, identification, and responses to fraud within protection processes and procedures, including registration, RSD, and resettlement, ensuring the integrity of interventions across all protection activities.
• Oversee the management of individual protection cases including those on SGBV and child protection.
• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documents to persons of concern (including women and others in need of civil documentation in particular birth certificates).
• As designated Data Protection Focal Point, assist the data controller in carrying out his or her responsibilities regarding the Data Protection Policy (7.2 DPP).
• Oversee eligibility and status determination in the Operation(s) under the AoR, ensuring compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
• Promote and implement strategies and measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
• Develop and implement an education plan as part of the protection strategy within the AoR as relevant.
• Develop and implement a child protection plan as part of the protection strategy within the AoR, ensuring programmes use a child protection systems approach.
• Monitor and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
• Work to safeguard the rights of persons of concerns in the context of mixed movements as relevant.
• Coordinate the preparation of, implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
• Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement and complementary pathways are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern including undertaking, supporting, and/or overseeing resettlement and complementary pathways activities, including implementation of the GCR Three Year Strategy.
• Coordinate the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related programming with implementing and operational partners.
• Develop and implement a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
• Ensure that the Protection Sector or Cluster has an effective information management component which provides disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
• Research, collect and disseminate relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery.
• Develop the protection capacity of national and local authorities, partners and civil society to assume their responsibilities vis-à-vis all persons of concern through protection training, mainstreaming and related activities.
• Coordinate capacity-development initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
• Advise and capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and civil society to strengthen legislation and status determination procedures and mechanisms.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education & Professional Work Experience:

• Years of Experience / Degree Level
• 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree.

Field(s) of Education:

Desirable:

• Law, International Law, International Refugee Law, Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, Refugee and Forced Migration, Political Sciences or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Desirable:

• Protection Learning Programme, RSD-Resettlement Learning Programme, Management Learning Programme

Language Requirements:

• Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language

Relevant Job Experience

Essential:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law, including experience in working directly with Field Offices. Very good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles, and of UNHCR’s protection strategies and policies. Excellent legal research, analytical skills and drafting.

Desirable:

• Diverse field experience. Good IT skills including database management skills.

Functional Skills

Essential:

• Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
• International Refugee Law
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)

Desirable:

• Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Coordination and Projects management
• Comprehensive Solutions Framework
• Refugee Coordination Model
• Inter-Agency Coordination
• Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
• International Humanitarian Law
• Judicial engagement
• Protection and mixed-movements
• Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation
• Climate change and disaster-related displacement
• Community-based Protection
• Accountability to affected people Principles and Framework

Competencies:

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below:

Core Competencies:

• Accountability
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:

• Empowering and Building Trust
• Judgement and Decision Making
• Leadership
• Managing Performance
• Strategic Planning and Vision

Cross-Functional Competencies:

• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Planning and Organizing
• Political Awareness

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.

Eligible Applicants:

• This Job Opening is available to eligible UNHCR staff members (as per paragraphs 39-41 of the RALS) and external applicants.
• Recruitment against this position is on a local basis.
• Candidates for positions in the National Professional Officer category must be nationals of Greece.
• A Functional Clearance by the functional Division might be required for a candidate to be shortlisted for an NPO position.

Additional Information

The closing date for submission is 23 September 2020 (Midnight, Geneva).

• No late applications will be accepted.
• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
• Shortlisted candidates will be required to sit for a written test and will have to undergo an oral interview

Kindly note that only electronic applications will be considered:

• Internal applicants are invited to apply on-line through the MSRP portal and fill in the letter of interest.
• External applicants are invited to apply using the external Careers pages and https://www.unhcr.org/gr-jobs/ .
• If you have questions during the on-line application, please contact the HR Unit at well before the deadline.

UNHCR is an equal opportunity employer and does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fees).