Protection Officer Job in Kenya

Job Title: Protection Officer

Hiring Organization: Danish Refugee Council
Location – Locality: Nairobi
Location – Region: Kenya
Industry: NGO
Job Type: Full Time
Salary: KES Competitive
Date Posted: 01/16/2024

About DRC

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non-profit organization, founded in 1956, that works in more than 35 countries around the world. DRC is one of the largest protection actors in Kenya, actively coordinating and advocating for improving the protective environment for refugees and host communities. DRC implements Protection monitoring, Child Protection and GBV prevention and response programmes in its areas of operation to address protection issues faced by displaced and non-displaced at-risk groups and individuals. The programme also aims to identify and build synergies with DRC´s Economic Recovery sector to facilitate durable solutions and Humanitarian Disarmament & Peace Building activities to enhance to respond to the needs of communities affected by acute crisis as well as those in protracted displacement situations.

Overall purpose of the role:

The responsibility of the Protection Officer is to lead and oversee protection work in the financial inclusion project funded by SIDA (Supporting Displacement-Affected Communities in Kenya with Entrepreneurship Development project- SDACKED). The project is led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in collaboration with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and other partners. Under the direct supervision of the SDACKED Project Manager, the Protection Officer is to provide strategic and technical contribution in the day to day implementation of the project to ensure sound delivery of all protection tasks within the project context and design.
He/She will closely work with other Urban program Protection and Economic Recovery project teams to enhance programmatic integration and complementarities. The role will also be responsible for the technical supervision and contribution to the recruitment and management of the Protection Assistant and Community Engagement Facilitator- Protection under the SDACKED PM in a matrix management arrangement with the Urban Area Manager and technical backstopping from the DRC Country Office Protection Coordinator to ensure the project expectations are met.

Duties & Responsibilities: Responsibilities:

Project Management/Development, Monitoring & Evaluation

Plan, oversee and support the broad implementation of SDACKED Protection activities in the DRC Urban program.
Assess vulnerable persons of concern and survivors of S/GBV, ensuring individual and group level support is provided with regular case reviews and files audit.
Ensure provision of professional and confidential Protection – psychosocial services to survivors of GBV and other beneficiaries through a survivor-centered case management approach.
Take lead in designing and development of sector concept notes and proposals.
Facilitate formation of support groups for survivors of SGBV and other vulnerable groups.
Take lead in Protection data analysis and maintain a reliable beneficiary database in line with data protection policy/guidelines.
Take lead in the implementation of prevention activities like EMAP and other GBV prevention tools.
Submit timely and high-quality activity, donor and internal progress reports that include documentation of project milestones through case studies and human-interest stories for influencing impact at scale and contributing to fundraising.
Lead the Protection team in the project kick-off, review and project closure meetings. This includes periodic project review, planning, external meetings as often and as requested by the supervisor.
Ensure project staff adhere to CHS principles in project implementation; participate in CHS audits and support the MEAL plan.

Technical Implementation

Mainstream Protection in financial inclusion and protection of the vulnerable population; ensuring adherence to rights, safety, dignity and accountability of the persons of concern.
Conduct progressive protection monitoring and follow ups to check on progress of CSLAs (Community Savings and Loans Associations) and individuals with various protection, GBV and psychosocial support (PSS) issues that are affecting their full engagement in the financial inclusion ecosystem.
Develop a protection trigger system alongside a financial trigger system that monitors any change in the situation, elevating participants to a higher level that triggers additional support and counselling as a form of early detection to reduce any negative behaviour as a result of financial stress.
Provide individual and group therapy to persons of concern facing any mental health issues hindering them from fully thriving in a financial inclusion ecosystem.

Coordination & Partnership

Develop and maintain effective working relationship with all stakeholders, including urban refugee and host community members and leaders, NGOs, UN agencies, and other DRC team members, to enhance multi-agency and multi-sectoral cooperation and coordination on response activities.
Promote collaboration and synergy between refugee-focused interventions and the host communities.
Actively participate and maintain a strong working relationship with protection cluster and related working groups to support the provision of quality services to persons of concern.

Budget Management

Support in ensuring sound budget expenditure and adherence to DRC financial procedures and donor requirements as related to the Protection sector.
Draft spending, procurement and work plans based on Protection activities and budget.

Technical Staff Supervision

Mentor, provide technical supervision, capacity building and facilitate performance development to the Protection Project Assistant and Community Engagement Facilitator- Protection.

Experience and technical competencies:

Minimum of 3 years’ field experience in leading and managing Protection programming in an international NGO or other relevant agency and comprehension of behaviour change communication strategies such as EMAP and SASA!
Technical experience in Protection programming including case management, GBV programming (prevention and response), conflict sensitivity analysis and psychosocial support (PSS).
Problem-solving and conflict resolution skills and ability to work in a challenging environment, reporting and meeting set deadlines.
Strong project management skills, with experience managing multiple location and project budgets.
Experience working in urban displacement responses with multi-sectoral interventions.
Strong planning, organization and problem-solving skills with ability to work both independently and within a team in a demanding work environment.
Good analytical and strategic planning skills.
A demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, donors, partners, local organizations, and other stakeholders.
Good level of communication and interpersonal skills.