Emergency Response Team Protection Coordinator

International Rescue Committee

About The Position

The Emergency Response Team (ERT) Protection Coordinator (Child Protection) leads the start-up and management of integrated protection and/or child protection programming during acute emergency responses. The position may cover rapid assessments, program start-up, strategy and proposal development, technical oversight, staff recruitment and management, budget management, grant compliance, and relationships with local partners. When not deployed, the coordinator contributes to IRC strategic objectives and technical workstreams for child protection and violence prevention and response in emergencies. The ERT supports existing country programs during emergencies or launches programs in crisis zones. Team members must be ready to deploy to an emergency site within 72 hours of notification and should expect to spend up to 65% of their time in the field, in an emergency or roving capacity. The coordinator provides strategic and technical leadership for protection responses, ensuring quality, alignment with IRC standards, meaningful and safe participation by affected communities, and continuity through a comprehensive handover to successor staff. When not deployed, the coordinator contributes to emergency child protection models, toolkits, technical guidance, preparedness, and multi-sector program design; provides technical support and coaching to country responses; and represents acute emergency priorities within IRC’s global child protection work. Fluency in written and spoken French and English is required.

Requirements

Post-graduate degree in social work, psychology, international humanitarian law, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
At least five years of experience in Protection, Child Protection, or WPE/GBV programming at Coordinator level or above.
Proven experience managing multi-donor portfolios in acute emergency response and program and project start-up.
Familiarity with key donor regulations, such as UNHCR, FCDO, BPRM, and ECHO.
Experience working and coordinating with the UN, donors, INGOs, and other humanitarian actors.
Demonstrated experience in staff supervision, capacity building, project design, and budget management.
Proven leadership of multidisciplinary, cross-cultural teams, with mentoring, coaching, motivational, and team-building skills.
Commitment to inclusion and fair treatment of staff, and ability to identify and address barriers to inclusion for marginalized groups in emergency response.
Strong communication, writing, and editing skills, including grant proposal and report writing and editing.
Flexible, focused, and reliable approach in environments with limited resources and changing demands; ability to promote teamwork and work in multicultural environments.
Digital literacy and facility with MS Word, Excel, and email/internet software.
Fluency in written and spoken French and English; excellent oral and written communication skills.
Adherence to IRC Way standards of Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability and IRC policies on safeguarding, conflicts of interest, fiscal integrity, reporting wrongdoing, and protection from retaliation.
Ability to deploy to an emergency site within 72 hours of notification and spend up to 65% of time in the field.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with IRC and understanding of IRC systems and processes.
Ability to speak Spanish and/or Arabic.

Responsibilities

Assess emergency contexts to identify affected areas, priority needs, emerging protection risks, and risks specific to young children, adolescents, families, and care arrangements.
Conduct stakeholder analysis, maintain actor mapping, and identify potential partners for protection service delivery.
Design and conduct multisector needs assessments.
Provide strategic direction, leadership, and technical management for IRC protection responses, ensuring quality and alignment with response strategies, IRC standards, and emergency safety outcomes.
Lead and contribute to start-up, implementation, and coordination of emergency protection programming, including relevant child protection and integrated protection services.
Develop VPRIE strategies with partners, defining protection problems, response modalities, activity sequencing, and required resources.
Contribute to overall emergency response strategies with response leadership and technical coordinators, including approaches to partnership and complementarity with child protection actors.
Coordinate across departments and sectors to establish program linkages and apply protection best practices.
Ensure clients, including young children, adolescents, and caregivers, participate meaningfully and safely in program design and implementation.
Develop or adapt technical tools and approaches and devise solutions to operating-context challenges.
Support emergency protection staff to implement and monitor work plans against commitments to donors and communities.
Oversee partner relationships, including co-design, regular exchange, and monitoring project performance.
Design and implement monitoring and evaluation systems, reporting and analyzing results to improve program effectiveness and quality.
Provide a comprehensive handover to successors, transferring documentation, program data, and staff performance information.
Manage emergency grants and programs, including recruitment and training, work plans, procurement and inventory planning, budgets, and monitoring and evaluation plans.
Develop technical proposals and reports with program staff in line with IRC and donor requirements; collaborate with grants and finance staff to finalize proposals and respond to information requests.
Recruit, onboard, supervise, train, coach, and build the capacity of emergency protection staff, including through technical guidance and capacity development plans.
Ensure protection staff understand and comply with the IRC Code of Conduct and policies on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Child Safeguarding, including safe and confidential reporting mechanisms and support services.
Maintain professional relationships and team spirit, providing oversight and guidance to staff.
Develop and maintain working relationships with donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors.
Attend emergency protection coordination and task force meetings and communicate IRC field priorities.
Raise protection concerns and challenges in relevant forums to advocate for standards and procedures for field-level protection programming and coordination.
When not deployed, contribute to IRC strategic priorities for violence prevention and response in emergencies and lead on child protection-specific priorities, including emergency program models, toolkits, technical guidance, preparedness, and integrated program design.
Provide technical support, coaching, and backstopping to child protection-centered emergency responses in countries with existing IRC programming.
Coordinate with WPE, PROL, Education/ECD, and other sector colleagues to strengthen program linkages and protection practice.
Represent acute emergency approaches and priorities within IRC’s global child protection team and coordinate with child protection technical advisors and the Global Practice Lead.
Contribute to IRC’s Emergency and Humanitarian Action strategic action plan and commitments relating to partnerships, safeguarding, and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion.