Protection Manager

Duty Station:                  Sittwe, Rakhine with frequent travels to other bases.

Reporting to:                  Area Manager (line manager) and Protection Coordinator (technical manager)

Direct Report:                 Staff within sector – General Protection Project Manager, CP Project Manager, GBV Project Manager

Overall purpose of the role:

• Provide holistic and supportive management to the Rakhine Protection Team, with direct hands-on support and mentoring to protection managers on project management, proposal development, budget management, human resource management, technical protection guidance, and age, gender, and diversity (AGD) and protection mainstreaming. The role will work closely with the three protection managers to provide overall support to programming, identify needs for skills-building and strengthen the managerial capacities of the teams.
• Represent DRC at Rakhine state-level in all relevant protection coordination mechanisms, initiate and support protection advocacy initiatives, facilitate internal and external information sharing, monitor contextual protection issues and trends, and provide strategic guidance and direction to the protection team, using the country-level protection strategy as a basis. The role will oversee the quality of DRC’s protection portfolio in Rakhine State, with a focus on localization, community-based protection approaches, and life-saving specialized protection services.

Geographic scope: Area (Rakhine)

This role has an area focus and ensures compliance to DRC procedures and guidelines, as well as to international protection standards and legal frameworks, within the area. The role contributes to the development of area protection strategies, which are translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks. The role provides support and/or technical guidance to the three protection managers and teams, covering general protection, gender-based violence (GBV), and child protection (CP). This role covers the whole of Rakhine state, including all protection activities managed from Sittwe, Mrauk'Oo and Maungdaw. The role also acts as an important link between the Rakhine protection programme and the country level protection programme, including on advocacy initiatives. Close collaboration with the protection coordinator at national level is essential.  

Main Responsibilities

General

• Provide strategic vision, guidance, and supervision of the general protection, GBV, and CP programme in Rakhine, to the protection managers, in coordination with, and technical supervision of, national the Protection Coordinator. Respond to requests from protection managers to support with general programme management, with overseeing protection-related partnerships, and community-based approaches.  
• Taking a leading role in identifying key protection issues emerging in Rakhine State and drafting advocacy notes and briefings, as well as participating in Rakhine-level coordination and advocacy meetings to inform relevant actors and influence the protection environment on behalf of the affected population. Briefing the country team regularly on the protection situation in Rakhine and offering advocacy messages and suggestions to take advocacy forward at national and regional levels.
• Ensure the Myanmar protection strategy is well understood and implemented at the Rakhine-level, and regularly update the Rakhine protection strategy based on the evolving context and needs with a focus on localisation. Supporting the Rakhine Protection managers in drafting protection oriented advocacy notes, concept notes and project proposals, in coordination with, and technical supervision of, national Protection Coordinator.
• Support managers with the implementation of AGD and protection mainstreaming guidance for other technical teams (CCCM, WASH, Economic Recovery, Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding) and enable closer links and opportunities for integrated programming between other technical teams and protection.

External coordination and representation

• Share specific protection information (i.e. protection issues) with external stakeholders as appropriate to influence protection outcomes and promote human rights and access to services for affected communities.
• Participate in relevant coordination meetings and ensure high-quality DRC Protection representation in Rakhine Protection Working Group (sub-cluster) and other technical groups, as relevant.
• Together with the Area Manager, and national Protection Coordinator, coordinate and liaise closely with UNHCR, (I)NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure a participatory, transparent, and coordinated approach and coherent and consisten protection messaging externally.

People and Programme Management

• Overall responsibility for programme performance, supporting protection managers (PMs) in programme and budget planning and overall project cycle management. Organising regular project review meetings with PMs and troubleshooting where necessary.
• Ensure programme's adaptability to the operational context, support in adapting tools and program implementation approaches to remote management modality as needed.
• Lead and manage the protection teams (general protection, GBV, and CP), including people planning, performance, well-being and development, and provide capacity strengthening for identified areas of need to the PMs through mentoring and trainings.
• Work closely with the MEAL and Grants departments to ensure that monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning are well coordinated for the protection programme in Rakhine, and that proposal design, implementation and monitoring are based on the needs, voices, feedback, and participation of the affected population.
• Maintain overall budget and procurement oversight, supporting the GBV manager, General Protection Manager and Child Protection Manager as needed to ensure that budget forecasting and expenditure is completed as per contractual obligations, and donor compliance is ensured.
• Ensure that donor reports on general protection, GBV, CP outputs and activities in Rakhine are completed according to specified internal timelines.  

Technical Management and guidance

• Coordinate closely with the Protection, GBV and CP teams to provide general support support, respond rapidly to protection concerns, and ensure synergies between the teams and other departments (such as CCCM), to achieve quality protection outcomes.
• Strengthen and harmonise the protection monitoring system including analysis of information related to GBV Safety audits and CP monitoring results, in coordination with the national Protection Coordinator and following Protection Information Management (PIM) principles. Ensure protection products are of high quality, have a defined purpose and are disseminated safely and appropriately.
• Ensure key messages and responses to monitoring findings are appropriately formulated and implemented and taken forward in coordination and advocacy meetings.
• Provide leadership and guidance on protection partnerships, durable solutions programming and advocacy in Rakhine State.
• Support the development of technical guidance, training materials and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Rakhine team, in coordination with the protection managers and the national protection coordinator.
• Coordinate and support staff capacity building for the entire protection team in Rakhine, including on localization, community-based protection, protection monitoring, AGD and protection mainstreaming, GBV, and CP, in coordination with the national Protection Coordinator.

As Manager the post-holder is responsible for the following:

• Accountable for achieving DRC’s strategic goals and objectives within the area of Protection in Rakhine State.
• Accountable for making significant decisions on what direction the Protection Team takes, in line with country strategy and decisions.
• Accountable for people management of direct reports, generally at least 3 employees. This includes the entire people management cycle, objective setting, probation, performance appraisal, development of staff, managing performance, including poor performance, etc.
• Accountable for making sound decisions based on DRC policies, MOPs, standards, and the advice of technical experts in DRC.

Experience and technical competencies: (include years of experience)

• Minimum 5 years of international practical management experience in the humanitarian Protection sector
• Strong people management and capacity building skills on the humanitarian programme cycle
• Strong representation, advocacy and coordination skills; experience raising protection issues in various for a, such as protection cluster meetings, interagency meetings, bilateral donor meetings and meetings with figures of authority.
• Experience conducting and drafting protection analyses and sharing protection briefings.
• Technically trained and experienced on general protection, gender-based violence, child protection, and protection information management
• Experience with implementing protection programmes remotely, in contexts with humanitarian access issues
• Documented skills in project the project cycle management including planning and design, drafting, and technical writing.
• Excellent skill in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Experience in project development
• Experience working with national partners, local/government authorities, and UN organisations
• Good listening and problem-solving skills; positive results-oriented attitude

Education: (include certificates, licenses etc.)

• Master's degree (e.g. political science, human rights, humanitarian project management, international development, or economics)
• Relevant field experience
• Relevant people management experience

Languages: (indicate fluency level)

• Full professional proficiency in English

Key stakeholders: (internal and external)

• UN agencies, National Authorities other INGOs
• Other DRC technical teams
• DRC National Protection Coordinator

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies: 

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process. 

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback. 

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation. 

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly. 

Demonstrating integrity: Upholding and promoting the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

Contract: 9 months. Salary and conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates. The position is classified as F-Management.

Application process

Applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 8 October 2021

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.