Ukraine: Protection Adviser

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary €5,700, Risk allowance (up to €300/month - low risk areas), medical insurance and repatriation insurance and accommodation provided. Visa fees covered. Contribution to the luggage transportation up to €250. R&R (7 days) every 12 weeks with an allowance of €1,000. Annual leave of 25 days per fiscal year.

Starting date: 01/02/2023

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, through its 21 Members, as both a practitioner and thought leader, CI’s work reaches over 100 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. We recognize that power relations between people and within systems and structures are unequal and that these are entrenched in our broader systems, structures, and institutions.

At the core of the CI Confederation is a globally distributed Secretariat, which provides coordination and support to its members in areas including governance, strategic planning, communications, membership development and accountability, advocacy, humanitarian response, and program development. In addition, the Secretariat represents the CI Confederation at the United Nations and the European Union, and with other external stakeholders.

Ukraine Context

On 24th February 2022, Russia’s 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 controlled by Russian forces as well as cities under siege. Aerial attacks on military installations and critical civilian infrastructures are conducted in the whole territory of Ukraine, often resulting in collateral civilian casualties. The conflict has caused the largest population movement in Europe since World War II, with 6.24 million displaced within Ukraine and 7.68 million refugees having fled to neighboring countries. By October 26, OCHA had counted 17.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Amid the upcoming winter, which is anticipated to be the worst in decades, at least one-third of the country’s energy infrastructure is damaged, leaving millions without heating and access to water. In October, the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, further increasing the challenge of access to these areas. Therefore, in addition to preparing the population for the approaching winter, an ongoing priority for the international humanitarian response is to secure access to recently liberated and recaptured areas in the East and to provide aid to previously unreachable and particularly hard-hit areas of Ukraine.

CARE UKRAINE

As a new actor in Ukraine, CARE prioritizes a locally led response and is partnering primarily with Civil-Society Organizations (CSOs), National NGOs, local authorities, and when needed, INGOs with a longstanding presence in the country and access to hard-to-reach areas. CARE Ukraine deliberately and strategically prioritizes partnerships with local and national Women Led and Women Rights organizations (WLO’s/ WRO’s), further strengthening the Gender in Emergencies (GiE) principle and the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach.

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 November 2022, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with twelve local/national organizations (incl. four WLO’s/WRO’s) and five international NGOs. From the more than 28 million that have been raised for Ukraine thus far, more than half is allocated to local/national partners. Through the activities that have been implemented so far, CARE Ukraine has been able to reach 550,030 people, including IDPs and affected populations in hard-to-reach areas.

While CARE Ukraine’s office is currently located in Lviv, we are continuously working on strategically expanding CARE’s presence and reach with plans to open an office in Kyiv as well as field offices in Dnipro and Odessa, covering both the East and South of the country.

General objectives of the mission

Under the supervision of the DCD Program Implementation in Lviv, the Protection Adviser will lead the development of the country program protection strategy and ensure its timely implementation. S/he provides technical guidance, advice and support to all Protection Monitoring, Case Management , PSS, and GBV teams as necessary or as requested. S/he will manage the country level protection 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 sectoral assessment and implementation, project planning and budgeting, coordination with stakeholders, managing partnership agreements and supporting fundraising, recruitment, and procurement, at both CO and field level. The Protection Adviser will be managing a team of four (4) coordinators: Protection monitoring Coordinator , Case Management Coordinator , GBV Coordinator and a Psychosocial Support (PSS)Coordinator.

Responsibilities

1. Program Management and Support

• Provide strategic vision, guidance, and supervision of the Ukraine Protection portfolio, including Case Management (CP), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Psychosocial Support (PSS), and Protection Coordination, Advocacy, and Information.
• Lead field level technical assessments in coordination with the Area Managers and other CARE thematic areas and/or other external sector agencies, ensuring assessment findings are documented and that all assessments include a specific analysis of gender needs.
• Prepare and oversee project implementation to ensure timely delivery of project activities (for example, monitoring against log frames, individual performance management work plans).
• Ensure that the minimum standards of humanitarian relief are maintained in accordance with the Sphere Charter and Red Cross Code of Conduct.
• Develop an integrated Protection strategy for CLEAR in close coordination with the Partnership Team, including drafting and/or revising Standard Operating Procedures and other guidance to ensure all programming is in line with CARE’s , donor, and international policies and best practice.
• Create internal linkages and referral mechanisms between the various Protection teams
• With support from the DCD PI and other senior program staff :
• Develop project plans and budgets, contributing towards an overall thematic program plan and master budget.
• Support fundraising for Protection, including contributing to the development of high quality concept notes and proposals.
• Prepare timely program and donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal CARE requirements and any relevant external donor requirements.
• Identify technical staffing needs for emergency programs, and support rapid recruitment, induction and training of new staff.
• Identify program supplies needs and coordinate with the logistics team to put in place a sensible phased procurement plan.

2. Monitoring and Evaluation

• Maintain an effective monitoring and planning system in collaboration with the MEAL Coordinator, which informs reporting and project design.
• Work with the 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 programme 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 to all the necessary reports such as progress reports, annual reports, and Interim and final reports for donors.

3. Support to partners (State and non state actors)

• Participate in local partners’ assessment and capacity building.
• Supervise implementation of activities with national partners.
• Ensure the follow-up of national partners (programmatic, logistic, and financial), in coordination with the Partnership Manager.
• Identify and facilitate capacity building and assist in partner training plans linking with the D.CD for Program.

4. Capacity Building

• Identify learning and training opportunities for project staff and work as a mentor and role model for less experienced staff.
• Through the development and management of partnership agreements, ensure continual capacity building and mentoring processes are in place to support partner staff in gaining key skills and experience required for Protection programming.

5. Representation/Advocacy & Organisational 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 groups 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 DCD PI 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 wellbeing of staff and contribute to staff management and other processes and policies and systems reflect CARE 's principles of equity and fairness.

Additional job responsibilities

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

Requirements

Mandatory criteria for longlisting

• Minimum 8 years of experience in managing humanitarian programme with international NGOs in complex and conflict-affected contexts
• A minimum of 5 years’ prior experience working in humanitarian emergency, conflict, post-conflict, or post-disaster settings AND in implementing protection programs, particularly in area of CP, GBV, PSS and/or PSEA/Safeguarding.
• Minimum 5 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 Child Protection & 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, Ukrainian and or relevant regional language would be an asset
• Experience or knowledge in community participation.

Expected

• Minimum 3 years of progressive professional experience in Ukraine.
• 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

Accountability within CARE:

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 behaviour 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 behaviour of a CARE staff or partner.

Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of our 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 on-going 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

Please send your complete application package (CV, motivation letter, references) only in English to Jo Fox at application@care.de, no later than 15 January 2023, with Protection Adviser as the subject title of your email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. References will only be contacted after the interview.