Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant

Job Posting Organization:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly. The UN Refugee Agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. UNHCR strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally, or resettle in a third country. Since its inception, UNHCR has helped millions of people restart their lives, including asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, stateless people, and internally displaced persons. The agency's interventions in protection, shelter, health, and education have been crucial in healing broken pasts and building brighter futures. The UNHCR Office in China was established in 1979, and China has been a party to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol since 1982, although it has yet to establish a national asylum system. Currently, UNHCR registers asylum seekers, conducts individual refugee status determination under its mandate, seeks durable solutions for refugees, and provides assistance to the refugee population in mainland China. UNHCR collaborates with government authorities to build domestic capacity and continues to work with all stakeholders in China to ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers receive adequate protection and assistance. Additionally, UNHCR China undertakes awareness-raising initiatives and resource mobilization for its global operations.

Job Overview:
The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant is a vital member of the Protection Unit and may report to the Protection Officer, Community-Based Protection Officer, or another senior staff member within the Protection Unit. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, government, NGO partners, and other stakeholders, the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant works directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. This role requires the incumbent to spend a significant portion of the workday outside the office, building and maintaining networks within communities of persons of concern (PoC). The development and maintenance of constructive relationships with PoC that measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming, and results form the core of the work of the incumbent. The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant also supports the design of a community-based protection strategy, ensuring it is based on consultations with PoC. All UNHCR staff members are accountable for performing their duties as reflected in their job descriptions, within their delegated authorities, and in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR, which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions, as well as relevant accountability frameworks. Furthermore, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity, and respect for diversity.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The duties and responsibilities of the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant include assisting functional units, the Multi-Functional Team (MFT), and senior management in integrating participatory and community-based approaches into the overall protection strategy. The incumbent will maintain relationships with PoC and a network of partners to stay informed about political, social, economic, and cultural developments that impact the protection environment, providing advice to the protection team. They will understand the perspectives, capacities, needs, and resources of the PoC and advise the protection team accordingly, highlighting the specific protection needs of various groups, including women, men, children, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, and marginalized groups. The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant will assist in initiatives with host communities to involve national civil society groups in the protection of PoC, support implementing and operational partners, and help displaced and local communities develop community-owned activities to address social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organizational, and livelihood concerns, as well as child protection and prevention and response to GBV. They will assist in analyzing the capacities of communities of concern and the risks they face, support participatory assessments by multifunctional teams, and ongoing consultations with PoC. The incumbent will also support efforts to build the office's capacity for community-based protection, help communities establish representation and coordination structures, ensure community understanding of UNHCR's commitment to accountability and quality assurance, collect data for monitoring programs and budgets from an AGD perspective, draft and type routine correspondence, documents, and reports, maintain up-to-date filing systems, act as an interpreter in exchanges of routine information, contribute to related liaison activities, and respond directly to routine queries. Additionally, the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant will assist in enforcing participatory AGD sensitive analysis as a basis for all of UNHCR's work, initiate AGD sensitive interventions on community-based protection issues, respond to protection concerns and incidents, identify and recommend individuals or groups to prioritize for counseling and field visits, enforce compliance of implementing partners with global protection policies and standards, support the identification and management of risks, and perform other related duties as required.

Required Qualifications:
The minimum qualifications for the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant position include 2 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma or 1 year of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent or higher. While specific fields of education are not applicable, candidates with degrees in Development, Human Rights, law" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">International Law, Social Work, Social Science, Political Science, or related fields are preferred. Essential functional skills include knowledge of UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations, and Procedures, computer literacy, enterprise resource planning (ERP), community-based protection principles and methodologies, and multi-stakeholder communications with partners, government, and community. All candidates must demonstrate a commitment to creating a safe and empowering work environment, free from sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

Educational Background:
Candidates for the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant position are required to have a Bachelor's degree in Community Development, Development Studies, Human Rights, International Law, Political Science, Social Science, or Social Work. This educational background is essential to ensure that the incumbent possesses the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively engage with communities of concern and implement community-based protection strategies.

Experience:
The level of experience required for this position includes a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma or 1 year of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent or higher. This experience should ideally be in a related field, such as community development, social work, or protection services, to ensure that the candidate is well-equipped to handle the responsibilities of the role and engage effectively with persons of concern.

Languages:
For this position, knowledge of English and the UN working language of the duty station (if not English) is mandatory. For General Service jobs, knowledge of English and/or the UN working language of the duty station is required. Additionally, proficiency in the local language is beneficial and may enhance communication with the communities served.

Additional Notes:
This position is classified as a GS5 staff member and is a temporary assignment with a target start date of September 1, 2026, and a target end date of December 31, 202

• The role is full-time and involves working in a family-type environment with a hardship level classified as A (least hardship). The position is open to both national and international candidates, and the UNHCR is committed to providing a safe and empowering work environment for all staff members.