Chargé(e) de Projet – Protection

Job Posting Organization:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Established to serve those in need, CRS operates in over 100 countries, focusing on saving, protecting, and transforming lives without regard to race, religion, or nationality. The organization is dedicated to various humanitarian efforts, including emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. CRS is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation, and it welcomes individuals from all faiths and secular traditions who share its values. The agency emphasizes the importance of safeguarding program participants and community members, ensuring that all staff adhere to a strict Code of Conduct. CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prioritizes candidates who are citizens or permanent residents of the countries where it operates.

Job Overview:
As a Chargé(e) de Projet – Protection, you will play a crucial role in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of protection activities within a multi-sector humanitarian project. This includes interventions related to cash transfers, security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">food security, and protection. Your responsibilities will ensure that project activities integrate principles of protection, inclusion, gender, and accountability, and that interventions are conducted safely, with dignity and accessibility for affected populations. You will collaborate closely with a local partner responsible for protection activities to ensure compliance with humanitarian standards, CRS policies, and the quality of the project. Your work will involve close coordination with program teams, MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning), local partners, and protection sector actors to identify, prevent, and mitigate protection risks associated with project activities. The position is based in Goma and is subject to project approval by funders.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Your key responsibilities will include supporting the integration of protection principles into all project activities, identifying and analyzing potential protection risks related to project activities, and proposing appropriate mitigation measures. You will ensure that interventions are implemented in accordance with humanitarian principles, maintaining the dignity and safety of participants. Additionally, you will support local partners in implementing protection activities, facilitate community awareness sessions on protection issues, including gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, and assist in identifying and referring protection cases to appropriate services. You will participate in protection needs assessments and support the implementation and monitoring of accountability mechanisms for affected populations, including complaint and feedback mechanisms. Your role will also involve contributing to the analysis and monitoring of complaints related to protection risks, ensuring confidentiality and data security for participants, and coordinating with implementation partners, local authorities, and specialized protection organizations to strengthen referral mechanisms and access to services. You will participate in sector coordination meetings as necessary and support capacity building for field teams and partners on protection principles and integration into programs. Furthermore, you will collaborate with the MEAL team to integrate protection considerations into monitoring and evaluation tools, contribute to data collection and analysis related to protection risks, and ensure proper documentation of protection activities, contributing to programmatic reports and documenting best practices and lessons learned.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a strong understanding of humanitarian principles and protection standards, excellent analytical skills to identify protection risks, and outstanding communication and community facilitation skills. You must be able to work effectively with partners, local authorities, and communities, and have the ability to drive organizational learning processes and capitalize on best practices. Experience in data analysis and contributing to evaluation reports is essential, as is the capacity to work in uncertain and crisis contexts. Community mobilization skills and risk awareness are also important, along with a proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented attitude. Desired qualifications include a thorough knowledge of the protection and humanitarian system and the structures involved in the sector, experience integrating protection into multi-sector humanitarian programs, and familiarity with referral mechanisms and available protection services in the intervention area. Knowledge of international humanitarian standards and humanitarian information management tools is also beneficial, as is experience with the Humanitarian Fund of the DRC.

Educational Background:
A bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as social sciences, law, international development, humanitarian action, or another related area is required. Candidates should have a minimum of 2 to 3 years of professional experience in implementing humanitarian projects in the protection sector, with experience working with communities affected by humanitarian crises. Proven experience in case management, inter-agency coordination, and cluster management is essential, along with knowledge of cross-cutting protection approaches, GBV prevention, and child protection.

Experience:
Candidates should have a minimum of 2 to 3 years of relevant professional experience in the humanitarian sector, specifically in protection project implementation. Experience working with communities affected by humanitarian crises is crucial, as is demonstrated experience in case management, inter-agency coordination, and cluster management. Familiarity with protection mainstreaming, GBV prevention, and child protection approaches is also required.

Languages:
Fluency in French is mandatory, while proficiency in Swahili and relevant local languages for the project intervention area is preferred. Strong communication skills in these languages will be essential for effective community engagement and coordination with local partners.

Additional Notes:
The position requires up to 80% travel within project implementation areas. There are no supervisory responsibilities associated with this role. CRS emphasizes personal accountability, integrity, trust-building, collaboration, and a commitment to learning among its staff. The successful candidate will be expected to adhere to CRS's Code of Conduct and participate in safeguarding efforts to protect program participants and community members from exploitation and abuse. The organization prioritizes candidates who are citizens or permanent residents of the countries where CRS operates.