The Protection Officer will play a key role in coordinating with relevant program staff and community stakeholders to strengthen referral pathways, provide psychosocial support, and ensure ethical data collection and reporting. The Officer will also participate in capacity-building activities, contribute to monitoring and evaluation efforts, and uphold accountability standards throughout program implementation.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Program Implementation

• Contribute to the development and execution of detailed workplans and ensure timely delivery of assigned activities in line with project objectives and timelines.
• Participate in regular on-the-job mentoring and training sessions for staff, community-based facilitators, and partners on GBV, Child Protection, and core protection principles.
• Ensure that all protection activities adhere to best practices, including survivor-centered and child safeguarding approaches.
• Support the implementation of adolescent girls’ and women’s empowerment initiatives, including Women and Girls’ Safe Spaces (WGSS) and community-based protection mechanisms.
• Participate in field-level protection assessments and contribute to data collection, analysis, and reporting to inform program design and improvements.
• Promote the integration of protection principles across sectoral interventions by flagging protection risks and ensuring appropriate responses are in place.
• Assist in strengthening and maintaining referral pathways to ensure safe, confidential, and timely access to services for survivors, children, and other at-risk individuals.
• Support the establishment and implementation of strong monitoring systems to track protection activities, identify gaps, and contribute to program improvements.

Grants

• Contribute to the preparation and regular updating of detailed work plans, spending plans, and procurement plans in coordination with the Protection Manager and relevant departments.
• Actively participate in grant opening, review, and closing meetings to support effective project implementation and documentation.
• Collaborate with the Protection Manager, Program Coordinator, Protection Technical Coordinator, and Grants Unit by providing technical and operational input during proposal development and budget planning.

Capacity Building

• Support the planning and facilitation of training sessions for national and refugee staff on core protection and GBV principles, including Psychological First Aid (PFA), survivor-centered approaches, and referral pathways.
• Assist in the delivery of basic GBV-related trainings, such as core concepts, case management principles, and Clinical Care for Sexual Assault Survivors (CCSAS), in coordination with technical leads.
• Collaborate with sector teams (Health, WASH, Nutrition, Protection, and livelihood) to promote understanding of safe and appropriate GBV referrals and survivor support across sectors.
• Provide day-to-day mentorship and support to case workers and protection volunteers to enhance their skills in case documentation, safe information sharing, and survivor engagement.

Coordination and networking

• Assist in developing and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with key stakeholders, including community leaders, implementing partners, and other IRC teams—to promote coordinated, multi-sectoral protection responses.
• Represent the protection program in relevant sub-county and inter-agency coordination meetings as delegated by the Protection Manager, ensuring that protection concerns—especially related to GBV, Child Protection, and general protection—are effectively communicated and integrated into broader humanitarian interventions.
• Participate regularly in GBV and Protection sub-cluster meetings, contributing field-level updates and advocating for the protection needs of vulnerable groups, while ensuring follow-up actions are shared with the Protection Manager.
• Facilitate the exchange of tools, technical guidance, and good practices on GBV prevention and response.
• Participate in coordination meetings with protection partners, community representatives, and relevant working groups to enhance collaboration and ensure timely follow-up on action points.
• Work closely with GBV, Child Protection, and general protection teams to support activity implementation and ensure effective collaboration across protection sectors.
• Ensure adherence to IRC and donor policies, including safeguarding, protection principles, and ethical standards during the implementation of protection activities.
• Undertake any other duties as assigned by the Protection Manager to support the achievement of protection program objectives.
• Comply with IRC’s Code of Conduct, operational policies, and protection standards, including those related to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Child Protection.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, Social Work, Psychology, Gender Studies, Human Rights, or a related field.
• Over 3  years of relevant experience in protection programming, with demonstrated engagement in one or more of the following areas Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, Child Protection, Women’s Protection and Empowerment, or Protection Mainstreaming in humanitarian or development contexts.
• Experience working with vulnerable populations, including women, children, and marginalized groups, in crisis or displacement-affected settings.
• Strong understanding of international protection principles, inter-agency guidelines, and minimum standards, including but not limited to GBVIMS, Child Protection Information Management (CPIMS), and SPHERE standards.
• Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in Somali is a strong asset and considered advantageous.