INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The Representation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece invites qualified candidates to apply for the following Job Opening:

Job Opening ID: 30584

Job Posting Title: Assistant Protection Officer

Duration of appointment: One-year Fixed-term Appointment (with possibility of extension).

Position number: 10028658 (with a lien)

Category and Grade: National Professional Officer, NOA

Duty Station: Chios

Closing date: 5 November 2021 (Midnight, Geneva)

Operational Context

Nature of the position

The Assistant Protection Officer in FU Chios will act as Head of Field Unit and reports to the Head of Sub-Office (SO) Lesvos. The incumbent will have supervisory responsibility for protection and field staff including community-based protection, legal aid, education, seeking durable solutions and identifying and implementing peaceful coexistence projects. As Head of Field Unit, the incumbent will also oversee the administration, finance, office and fleet management and HR responsibilities with the support of the Admin/Finance/ICT personnel of SO Lesvos and HR personnel of Country Office (CO) Athens. S/he will be responsible for security in the AoR with the support of the Field Security Associate of SO Lesvos. The incumbent will be responsible, with the support of the Program Associate of SO Lesvos, of a small direct implementation budget (Ops) and ABOD to cover the needs of the Field Unit and implement agreed protection/field/peaceful coexistence projects/activities. S/he will be responsible, in collaboration and with the support of SO Lesvos, to ensure that Admin and Program related tasks, duties and responsibilities are completed in due time and in line with existing rules and organizational instructions.

The incumbent is expected to have good organizational and planning competencies, demonstrated negotiation and advocacy skills to be able to advance UNHCR mandate, the priorities of the Operation and deal with the local authorities and other stakeholders in the AoR. S/he should have good communication skills, orally and in writing. Experience in managing and supervising staff is required for the position, as well as the ability to manage a small budget and office premises. The Head of Field Unit is expected to liaise frequently with local authorities, partners, and other stakeholders, in this sense, the knowledge of Greek and English language is mandatory. Considering that there are no drivers in the Field Unit of Chios, the incumbent is required to have a driving license. Being responsible of the security of UNHCR staff and premises, the incumbent should have demonstrated awareness of the political and security context of Chios which may impact the protection and field activities in the field and well-being of the staff.

Living and Working Conditions

Currently, some 96,000 asylum-seekers and refugees are hosted in Greece. So far in 2021, over 6,300 people have arrived either by sea or land - a significant reduction compared to previous years. UNHCR supports the Government who coordinates the refugee and migrant response in the development of policy, capacity building and targeted interventions in the areas of reception, asylum procedures and for finding durable solutions, with a focus on integration.

Within these 96,000 persons, there are currently almost 5,800 refugees and asylum-seekers on the Aegean islands. The Greek government will open new `Multipurpose Reception and Identification Centres’ on the five Aegean islands hosting asylum-seekers, namely Lesvos, Samos, Chios, Leros and Kos. The first such centre was inaugurated on Samos in September 2021.

UNHCR also has multiple interventions in core areas of Child Protection, GBV and areas addressing specific needs of persons of concern. The Office retains a readiness to respond to emergencies and new arrivals, with a focus on immediate support to the most vulnerable.

UNHCR Greece plays a strong advocacy role since continued support is needed particularly from EU countries and EU institutions in providing immediate protection to those most at-risk through sufficient resources, ensuring capacity in the country and responsibility-sharing. UNHCR, along with other actors, fully supports the relocation process led by the Greek government and supported by the EU, of unaccompanied children, vulnerable asylum-seeking families and refugees. To date, some 4,381 people have been relocated from Greece to 14 EU countries. UNHCR will continue to assist Greek authorities in responding to both short and long-term challenges.

Chios is a family duty station. In accordance with UNDSS security risk assessment, the whole Greek operation is classified as Security Level 2 (low). Security Clearance is required for travelling in the country.

Duties and Qualifications

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Assistant Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection, registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024), Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Assistant Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC), ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the Organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that PoC are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of them. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, 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. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
• Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
• Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.
• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
• Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
• Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
• Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
• Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
• Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
• Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
• Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
• Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
• Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
• Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
• Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
• Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
• Assist the supervisor in enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
• Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level

• 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

Desirable:

• Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field.

Language Requirements

• Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

Relevant Job Experience

Essential:

• Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles

Desirable:

• Completion of the Protection Learning Programme, RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme.

Functional Skills

Essential:

• PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
• LE-International Refugee Law
• PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)

Desirable:

• PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
• MG-Projects management
• PR-PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
• PR-International Humanitarian Law
• PR-Protection and mixed-movements
• PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation
• PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
• PR-Community-based Protection
• MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation

Competencies

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below:

Core Competencies:

• Accountability
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:

• Judgement and Decision Making

Cross-Functional Competencies:

• Stakeholder Management
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Political Awareness

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Eligible Applicants

• This position is open to all applicants (internals/externals).
• Recruitment against this position is on a local basis.
• Candidates for positions in the National Professional Officer category must be nationals of Greece (primary nationality).

Duration of Appointment

• One-year Fixed-term Appointment (with possibility of extension).
• Kindly note that a staff member has a lien against this position.
• Expected start date of this assignment: 01/01/2022.

Additional Information

The closing date for submission is 5 November 2021 (Midnight, Geneva).

• No late applications will be accepted.
• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
• Shortlisted candidates might be required to sit for a written test and will have to undergo an oral interview.

Kindly note that only electronic applications will be considered:

• Internal applicants (Group 1) are invited to apply online through the MSRP portal (self-service) and fill in the letter of interest.
• External applicants are invited to apply using the external Careers pages www.unhcr.org/careers and https://www.unhcr.org/gr-jobs/ .
• Should you encounter technical issues or have questions during the online application, please contact the HR Unit at well before the deadline.

UNHCR is an equal opportunity employer and does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fees).

UNHCR is committed to diversity and welcomes applications from qualified candidates regardless of disability, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.

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