Türkiye: Protection Advisor (Northwest Syria)

ACTED is committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer-term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential. ACTED endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

The commitment of ACTED and that if our teams are guided by 4 core values:

1. Responsibility: we ensure the efficient and responsible delivery of humanitarian aid with the means and the resources that have been entrusted to us.
2. Impact: we are committed to having the most sustainable impact on the communities and the people with whom we engage.
3. Enterprising spirit: we are enterprising and engage in our work with a spirit that creates value and overcomes challenges.
4. Inspiration: we strive to inspire all those around us through our vision, values, approaches, choices, practice, actions, and advocacy.

Greening Strategy:

Acted’s greening strategy aims to tackle environmental degradation and climate change while meeting the needs of the most vulnerable who are often those most affected by the deepening environmental crisis. Each Acted employee will adhere to these principles through key green programming responsibilities:

• Contribute towards the adherence and development of the greening strategy plan.
• Explore innovative green programming opportunities and/or solutions within your realm of responsibilities and roles
• Encouraging and promoting environmental safeguarding processes and environmental programming standards in accordance with SOPs and technical guideline notes

Acted PSEAH Policy:

The Protection Advisor has the responsibility to adhere to the PSEAH Policy (Protection against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment). The Protection Advisor has the obligation to complete all mandatory training related to the Code of Conduct and the PSEA policy and report any safeguarding concern such as breaches of organizational policies or codes of conduct according to Acted’s procedures. The Protection Advisor carries out work duties in a way that does not harm children, vulnerable adults, or other staff or volunteers.

Chain of Command: 

• Under the authority of: Country Director
• Under the line Management of: Deputy Country Director Operations
• Line Managing: N/A
• Direct Technical support: Protection Technical Coordinator

Working Relations: 

Internal:

• Program Coordinators
• Areas Coordinators
• Program teams
• MEAL department
• Other departments include HR, Security, and logistics.
• PD department
• PSEA Units and PSEA FPs

External:

• Service Providers (Health, Education, FSL, etc.)
• Protection Partners
• Protection Cluster & AoRs coordinators
• Affected populations
• Local authorities

Objectives: 

• Play an active role in the planning and execution of the country protection sector strategy in Northwest Syria with the support of the DCD operations, DCD Program, and the WOS Protection Technical Coordinator.
• Act as a reference point for other sectors’ colleagues for mainstreaming protection in NWS.
• Participate actively in building technical capacity for the protection of the field staff in different sectors and of partners. Provide regular technical support and guidance to protection and other sectoral teams in both a structured and on a case-by-case basis.
• Ensure that suitable tools, guidelines, and SOPs are developed and followed to ensure harmonization and respect of protection standards and processes.
• Support for business development opportunities and identify new protection activities which could be implemented and proposed by Acted, particularly empowerment activities with youth, persons with disabilities, and women, community-based protection activities, and community initiatives.
• Represented Acted in relevant protection coordination platforms at governorate and NWS levels (e.g., Protection Cluster).
• Ensure strong relationships and information sharing with protection organizations across NWS and provide required information on activities, trends, and gaps to relevant parties.
• Identify best practices and lessons learned and propose new and/or innovative protection activities and risk mitigation measures.
• Support protection analysis efforts and protection strategy implementation plan based on the evolving context in Northwest Syria through continuous analysis, program learning, and engagement with internal and external stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Protection Sectoral Technical Responsibility: 

• Participate - in coordination with the Protection Technical Coordinator - in identifying gaps and areas of growth in protection programming and support in designing protection activities.
• Identify new protection activities which could be implemented and proposed by Acted especially empowerment activities for youth, persons with disabilities, and women, community-based protection activities, and community initiatives.
• Support for business development opportunities, including contributing to concept notes, proposals, budgets, and other documents as requested by the Line Manager and the Protection Technical Coordinator.
• Provide overall technical and management assistance to protection activities and/or projects in Northwest Syria.

Development of Technical Tools: 

• Develop protection technical tools, guidelines, and training according to priorities set in coordination with the DCD Operations and the Protection Technical Coordinator.
• As a priority, support in the development of an SOP for referrals of protection cases for MPCA and another type of cash assistance and livelihood opportunities, protection monitoring, IPA, and referrals of protection cases for our Northwest Syria operations.
• Participate in the development of protection needs assessment, gender analysis, protection monitoring, and other assessments relevant to the protection sector.
• Support in developing PSS and life skills sessions curriculum and awareness raising materials and sessions for beneficiaries on protection issues in coordination with the protection technical coordinator.
• Develop an action plan based on agreed-upon priorities.
• Contribute to the maintenance of an up-to-date service mapping of the service providers operating in the areas of Acted operations in Northwest Syria.

Capacity Building and Technical Support in Protection and GESI: 

• Identify protection training needs and develop training plans for the program teams and roll out of the training to field staff, and keep track of all training conducted, and participation in the training.
• Provide technical advice and support to all program teams in conducting safe and timely referrals of protection cases and support them in dealing with complex referrals if any.
• Ensure referrals are made in a safe way and according to the SOPs, and ensure referrals are followed up and that the referral tracker is updated.
• Conduct regular field visits to meet Acted staff and local partners focal points to assess progress toward objectives, discuss issues and assist in finding solutions to identified challenges.
• Conduct monitoring visits in coordination with program and MEAL teams to projects and sites on a regular basis
• Support staff to proactively identify protection risks and implement realistic and practical mitigation measures.
• Ensure the effective collection and analysis of qualitative data relating to protection, review the protection monitoring data collection and.
• Work closely with MEAL team to analyze, consolidate, and communicate trends from program and MEAL data on GESI and protection to ensure learning.

Partnerships: 

• Develop strategic partnerships with local organizations implementing protection activities, wherever possible, including in terms of coordination, learning, and programming
• Participate in identifying new partnership opportunities with LNGOs, CSOs, and WLOs.
• Support in the capacity building of partners in protection, GESI, and protection mainstreaming.
• Where possible identify opportunities for joint initiatives with partners including in terms of protection targeted assessments and complementary or integrated activities

Reporting: 

• Analyze all data, trends, and documentation on protection activities and/or key risks mitigation measures implemented to produce succinct, analytical monthly protection reports to the DCD Operations and to the Protection Technical Coordinator.
• When required, provide input to the Project Development team in Amman for donor reporting.
• Report to the DCD Operations and to the Protection Technical Coordinator any serious protection concerns or rights violation occurring in the camps, serious barriers for camp residents to access services, and/or concerns regarding the implementation of activities and provision of assistance which could impact the safety and dignity of beneficiaries.
• Proactively engage in bi-lateral meetings with other INGOs and NGOs active in relevant geographical areas to avoid duplication, ensure coordination and referral and work for complementary efforts.
• Report to the DCD Operations and to the Protection Technical Coordinator on all new developments presented at the coordination meetings.

External Representation: 

• Represent Acted at the NWS Protection sector coordination meetings including the protection cluster, CP and GBV sub cluster.
• Regularly attend technical working group meetings (in person and/or remotely) and feed in Acted priorities.
• Coordinate with the Protection Technical Coordinator to ensure field concerns and challenges are brought to relevant stakeholders for the development of improved standards and procedures.

Key Performance Indicators: 

For example, the key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs to evaluate their success at reaching targets:

• A number of protection needs assessment, gender analysis, protection monitoring and other assessments relevant to protection sector conducted.
• Number of protection tools, guidelines, SOP developed.
• Number of LNGOs, CBOs/CSOs or WLOs conducted protection activities identified in NWS.
• % of protection cases identified by field teams who are referred to services
• % of NWS staff who received relevant protection trainings
• % of protection clusters and sub-clusters coordination meetings attended
• Number of pilot protection activities piloted in NWS in one year.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (e.g., social sciences, psychology, law, education, etc.)
• 3 to 5 years’ experience working in an International/Local NGO, including 2 years in a senior position in the protection sector.
• Knowledge and experience designing, implementing, and monitoring and evaluating protection interventions in Gender-Based Violence, Child Protection and/or General Protection
• Proven experience in mainstreaming protection in diverse sectors, particularly WASH, FSL, early recovery and CCCM with track actions, would be a strong advantage.
• Experience in developing and delivering high quality protection-related training and developing protection guidelines, tools, and SOPs to support practical implementation of protection standards.
• Experience in working with local partners and supporting development of their organizational and programmatic protection capacities would be a strong advantage.
• Strong communication skills and ability to build trust and confidently navigate both internally and externally at different levels.
• Demonstrated experience in supervising, mentoring, and building capacity of the staff.
• Good knowledge of the cross-border protection cluster and other protection coordination platforms, and experience in participating in the protection cluster and other protection platforms is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of the socio-economic context and security situation in Syria, and knowledge of the protection sector dynamics within Northwest Syria
• Advance in English both written and spoken.
• Advance in Arabic both written and spoken.
• Very good computer skills and command of MS.
• Ability/willingness to travel on a regular basis to the Northwest Syria regions.
• He / She should have Turkish citizenship

Interpersonal Skills:

• Flexible and with the ability to take initiative and inspire others.
• Strong analytical, planning, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks, and maintain attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to mobilize stakeholders, and lead and facilitate collaborative processes.
• Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality, contextual sensitivity, and empathy in all areas of work.
• Positive attitude, integrity, and acting as role model

How to Apply: 

Interested applicants should apply by filling out this form: https://forms.office.com/e/psKhQQ6iHt. If you have any issues regarding the form please reach out to turkey.hr@acted.org.

For business needs, candidates are encouraged to apply that are Turkish ID holders and legally able to work in Turkey will be considered.

By applying for this position you certify that all the details of your current application, are true to the best of your background and knowledge. You accept the legal mentions of www.acted.org and authorize the automated processing of your personal data by ACTED for recruitment, HR management and administrative compliance control purposes, in accordance with European regulations for the protection of personal data.

ACTED is committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse in the framework of its programs in Syria. The successful candidate will be required to adhere to ACTED Code of conduct and ACTED Global Policies, especially regarding the protection of children and the protection against sexual exploitation and abuse. A rigorous reference and background checks will be undertaken, and information will be requested from previous employers about any disciplinary action of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and/or sexual harassment during employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

ACTED is committed to gender equity and to have a balanced and diverse workforce. ACTED strongly encourages qualified women, persons with disabilities, and persons from under-represented groups to apply for the position.

ACTED offers a variety of arrangements that enable women to excel in their careers, including flexible working hours for work-life balance, maternity leave, and career coaching.

ACTED never uses external recruitment agencies and recruitment is always free of charge.

The necessity of ensuring the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity, with proper attention to promoting diversity, is the most important concern in the recruitment and employment of staff at ACTED.

Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision, or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided.

ACTED reserves the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.