Protection Officer (INT11884)

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty.

Do you have Bachelor’s degree in social work, Psychology, Sociology, Human Rights, International Development, Law, Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Sciences, or another relevant field ?

Do you have at least five years of progressively responsible experience in protection, social cohesion, community development, governance, humanitarian, and/or early recovery programming ?

Do you have experience in at least two of the following areas: general protection specialized assistance, social cohesion or social inclusion programming, participatory governance processes ?

If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you.

The Role:

Oxfam {affiliate/} is looking for Protection Officer

TEAM PURPOSE:
To identify, analyse and address risks affecting the safety, dignity, rights and wellbeing of individuals and communities affected by conflict, displacement and other crises, in Rural Damascus, Daraa and Assweida governorates. The team designs, implements and oversees protection interventions through direct implementation and partner-led modalities, while strengthening community capacities, local protection systems, social cohesion, and community-based protection mechanisms. The team contributes to the prevention, mitigation and response to protection risks through individual assistance, community-based protection, protection monitoring, evidence generation, advocacy, social cohesion and other protection programming in line with Oxfam Syria's strategy and humanitarian principles.

JOB PURPOSE:
The Protection Officer in the Southern hub is responsible for the technical leadership and operational management of Oxfam's protection portfolio within the hub, ensuring that all protection activities are implemented in accordance with Oxfam Safe Programming standards and Oxfam Syria's endorsed SOPs, methodologies and guidance. This responsibility applies to both directly implemented and partner-led interventions. The Team Leader leads the identification, analysis and monitoring of protection risks affecting individuals and communities and oversees the design and implementation of appropriate protection responses, including Individual Protection Assistance (IPA), community-based protection, protection monitoring, social cohesion activities, and other protection interventions. The role is responsible for determining the most appropriate implementation modality for each intervention, including direct implementation, partner-led implementation, or phased transition approaches. This role establishes and maintains collaboration with affected communities, local authorities, community leaders, community-based organizations (CBOs), implementing partners and other humanitarian and development actors.
Where activities are implemented through partners, the Protection Team Leader remains responsible for technical oversight, partner capacity strengthening, mentoring, accompaniment, quality assurance, compliance and risk management. This includes supporting partners to progressively assume leadership of protection activities while ensuring adherence to Oxfam standards and protection outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Assessments, analysis and evidence generation

• Lead and supervise protection staff, and/or support protection partners, in the planning and implementation of Community Gendered Protection and Social Cohesion Analyses, protection monitoring exercises, stakeholder mapping, service mapping, and other assessments required to inform programme design and advocacy priorities.
• Ensure timely consolidation, dissemination and utilization of assessment findings to inform protection responses, programme adaptation, advocacy efforts and strategic decision-making across Oxfam sectors and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to research, learning and evidence-generation initiatives informing protection and social cohesion programming, advocacy and policy development.

Programme and project development

• Contribute to the development, implementation and adaptation of Oxfam Syria's protection and social cohesion strategy and operational plans based on field evidence, protection trends, emerging risks and organizational priorities.
• Lead the identification and design of protection and social cohesion interventions, including community-based protection, IPA, protection monitoring, social cohesion, and other protection approaches implemented through direct and/or partner-led modalities.
• Contribute to concept notes, proposals, budgets and donor reports, ensuring technical quality and alignment with Oxfam standards, Protection and social cohesion priorities and contextual needs.
• Identify opportunities for protection and social cohesion integration across sectors and support the design of protection-sensitive as well as conflict-sensitive interventions, in coordination with relevant technical teams.
  Programme implementation and oversight
• Lead and supervise the implementation of protection and social cohesion activities within the hub, ensuring compliance with Oxfam standards, donor requirements and endorsed SOPs and methodologies.
• Directly supervise Protection staff and/or support protection partner, and provide technical guidance, coaching and performance management under their responsibility.
• Oversee the delivery of IPA, community-based protection activities, social cohesion programming, distributions, protection monitoring activities and other protection programming implemented directly by Oxfam.
• Ensure effective collaboration with case management and other specialized strategic partners to strengthen referrals, complementarity of services and protection outcomes for individuals facing protection risks.
• Ensure that referral pathways, service mapping mechanisms and coordination arrangements remain functional, updated and accessible to affected populations. Monitoring, reporting, learning and accountability
• Ensure interventions' outputs, outcomes and impact are monitored and evaluated, in line with methodologies and tools, and in coordination with MEAL staff at hub level.
• Supervise programme quality, protection outcomes, risks and implementation progress through regular field visits, partner monitoring systems, data review and engagement with affected communities.
• Ensure timely and accurate programme reporting to enable timely contribution to donor, management and sector reporting requirements, including for both direct and partner-led implementation.
• Work closely with MEAL teams to ensure data quality and the collection and analysis of sex-, age- and diversity, including disability-disaggregated data.
• Promote learning, adaptive management and continuous improvement based on monitoring findings, community feedback and lessons learned.

Representation and coordination

• Represent Oxfam in Protection Sector and other relevant coordination platforms.
• Coordinate with local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, community leaders and other stakeholders to strengthen protection and social cohesion outcomes and facilitate implementation.

Partnership Management Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the planning and quality assurance, as well as support the implementation and monitoring when needed and requested, of protection and social cohesion programmes implemented through partners.
• Manage strategic protection partnerships to ensure the timely, effective, and accountable delivery of project activities, outputs, and outcomes.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and capacity strengthening to partners, in line with partner priorities, on protection programming, including community-based protection, protection monitoring, social cohesion, individual protection assistance (IPA), referrals, safeguarding, and protection mainstreaming.
• Support partners in developing, maintaining, and regularly updating service mapping and safe, confidential, and survivor-centred referral pathways in line with agreed protocols.
• Ensure adequate support is provided to partners to enable the delivery of survivor-centred, timely, and quality protection services, including appropriate referrals to specialized service providers.
• Ensure adequate support is provided to partners to enable timely and quality monitoring of the quality and effectiveness of partner-led protection interventions.
• Support partners in identifying and designing high-quality protection and social cohesion interventions that respond to evolving humanitarian needs.
• Promote integrated, protection-sensitive, and conflict-sensitive programming by facilitating coordination between partners and relevant technical sectors i.e. WASH and FES.
• Together with protection partners, monitor partner-led project implementation against agreed work plans, indicators, budget& burn rates, deliverables, and implementation timelines, and support timely corrective actions where needed.
• Conduct regular partner review meetings, field monitoring visits, and joint supervision missions to assess programme quality, identify challenges, and strengthen implementation.
• Review partner reports and ensure timely, accurate reporting on progress, achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and best practices.
• Identify implementation risks and operational bottlenecks and work collaboratively with partners to develop and implement corrective action plans.
• Promote continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and partner capacity development through joint learning moments.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with partners, promoting accountability, mutual learning, and high-quality programme delivery.

If you have any questions about the role, we'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail us at recruitmentteam@oxfam.org.uk, making sure you include the job title and reference number of the role you're asking about. Please be aware we are unable to accept CVs or applications via e-mail. To apply, please use the "apply now" button on the right hand side of this advertisement

What we are looking for:

We’re looking for a candidate who cares about Oxfam's mission to end poverty and is personally aligned to our feminist principles and values of empowerment, accountability and inclusion in all you do.

An ideal candidate for the role will also be / have:

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

ESSENTIAL:

• Self-Awareness
• System thinking
• Strategic Thinking and Judgment

In addition:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, Psychology, Sociology, Human Rights, International Development, Law, Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Sciences, or another relevant field, combined with at least five years of progressively responsible experience in protection, social cohesion, community development, governance, humanitarian, and/or early recovery programming.
• OR in lieu of a bachelor's degree, at least eight years of demonstrated progressively responsible experience in protection, social cohesion, community development and/or governance may be accepted.
• Demonstrated experience in at least two of the following areas: general protection specialized assistance, social cohesion or social inclusion programming, participatory governance processes.
• Demonstrated experience in team leadership and supervision, coordination role within international NGOs, UN agencies, government institutions, or development organizations.
• Demonstrated experience in the technical oversight, implementation and/or management of programmes delivered through both direct implementation and local partner-led modalities.
• Proven experience in designing and delivering capacity strengthening for staff, partners, community-based organizations (CBOs), and/or community structures.
• Proven experience in representation and coordination with local authorities, humanitarian actors, protection sector partners, UN agencies, civil society actors.
• Strong understanding of protection principles, safe programming, survivor-centred approaches, accountability to affected populations, conflict sensitivity, social cohesion approaches, safeguarding and the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.
• Experience in proposal development, project cycle management, planning, budgeting, donor reporting and grants management.
• Excellent analytical, facilitation, negotiation, coordination, stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills.
• Fluency in Arabic and English, both written and spoken.
• Strong computer literacy, including Microsoft Office applications and programme management, reporting and data management tools.
• Managing people and developing others.
• Building partnerships and strengthening local leadership.
• Working effectively with communities, partners, authorities and external stakeholders.
• Facilitating dialogue, participation and collective problem-solving processes.
• Handling insecure, politically sensitive and rapidly changing environments.
• Strategic thinking and evidence-based decision making.
• Managing complexity, competing priorities and operational risks.
• Communicating with impact, credibility and respect.
• Commitment to diversity, inclusion, accountability, safeguarding and social justice.

Desirable:

• Experience in social accountability, peacebuilding, dialogue facilitation, mediation, or related programming.
• Experience in transitional justice, rights-based programming, civic participation, or support to local governance and community-led development processes.
• Experience working in consortiums and managing relationships with multiple implementing partners.

We offer:

We offer a competitive salary and a range of additional benefits to staff including flexible working options, generous pension scheme, annual leave, additional leave allowances, company sick pay, life assurance and a range of other benefits.

From the day you join Oxfam we invite you to stretch and learn in your role. Our wide range of Learning & Development opportunities includes in-house courses, e-learning modules, on-the job learning opportunities, coaching and mentoring, and much more.

You can read more about all Oxfam has to offer here.

How to apply:

As part of your online application, please upload your up to date CV and Cover Letter explaining your suitability against the essential criteria in the job profile.

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom Oxfam GB engages. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. Oxfam GB also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply.

About us

Oxfam is a global community who believe poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s right activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of international confederation of 21 organisations working together with partners and local communities in the areas of humanitarian, development and campaigning, in more than 90 countries.

A thriving diverse Oxfam:

It’s people power that brings about change. To play our part as a global organisation working to overcome poverty and inequality, we need equality, diversity and inclusion across our community of staff, partners and volunteers. Together, we’re committed to becoming a more diverse workforce, better able to tackle the global challenges that face our world today.

To do that:

• We need to dismantle the unequal power structures that exist everywhere, this including Oxfam and the wider development and charity sectors.
• We need an inclusive Oxfam where everyone can bring who they are to our work and feels celebrated for the differences they bring.
• We want and need everyone, and that means we need you.