Protection Coordinator
- Organisation: International Rescue Committee
- Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Contract: Job
- Deadline: 3 December 2026
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.
CONTEXT
Following recurrent outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and the persistent humanitarian crisis affecting eastern DRC, IRC is implementing a multisectoral emergency response in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The response integrates Health, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), WASH, Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), and integrated Protection, including Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Cash for Protection and Community-Based Protection.
The Integrated Emergency Protection Coordinator will provide strategic, technical and operational leadership for all protection interventions implemented under the emergency response, ensuring that protection risks are identified, mitigated and addressed through high-quality, safe, accountable and survivor-centered programming.
JOB PURPOSE
The Integrated Emergency Protection Coordinator leads the design, implementation, monitoring and quality assurance of IRC’s integrated protection response within the Ebola emergency framework in Ituri and North Kivu.
The position ensures strategic coordination across Child Protection, GBV, MHPSS, Protection Monitoring, Community-Based Protection and Protection Mainstreaming, while ensuring alignment with humanitarian principles, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures and donor requirements.
The coordinator provides overall supervision to protection teams, contributes to emergency preparedness and response planning, oversees budgets and grants, supports resource mobilization efforts and represents IRC in relevant coordination platforms.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Strategic Leadership and Program Quality
• Provide overall leadership for integrated protection programming.
• Ensure effective integration of GBV, Child Protection, MHPSS, Cash for Protection and Community-Based Protection interventions.
• Lead protection risk analysis and identify protection priorities in outbreak-affected communities.
• Ensure all protection activities comply with humanitarian standards, IASC guidelines and IRC technical standards.
• Ensure all interventions systematically integrate Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures.
• Lead contextual and protection trend analysis and adapt response strategies accordingly.
• Ensure protection programming remains conflict-sensitive and follows the Do No Harm principle.
2. Program Management and Technical Oversight
• Oversee implementation of emergency protection activities in all operational locations.
• Develop annual, quarterly and monthly work plans.
• Supervise quality implementation through regular field visits.
• Ensure case management services meet applicable global standards.
• Monitor service quality, referrals, confidentiality and safeguarding compliance.
• Ensure quality data collection and analysis for decision-making.
• Lead adaptive management processes responding to epidemiological and protection trends.
3. Team Management and Capacity Building
• Directly supervise Senior Protection Officers, Protection Managers and technical focal points.
• Establish performance objectives and regular supervision mechanisms.
• Conduct individual performance reviews.
• Facilitate weekly technical supervision meetings.
• Develop staff capacity-building plans.
• Promote staff wellbeing and Staff Care initiatives.
• Strengthen emergency surge team readiness and deployment capacity.
4. Coordination and Representation
• Represent IRC in the Protection Cluster, Child Protection Working Group, GBV Working Group, MHPSS Working Group, Ebola Response Coordination Structures, and meetings with provincial and health authorities.
• Strengthen collaboration with Health, RCCE, WASH and IPC actors.
• Support harmonization of protection approaches across response partners.
• Lead protection advocacy initiatives based on evidence and field findings.
5. Grants, Budget Management and Reporting
• Lead protection grants implementation and budget monitoring.
• Conduct monthly Budget versus Actual (BvA) reviews.
• Ensure expenditure rates remain aligned with implementation plans.
• Support proposal development and emergency resource mobilization initiatives.
• Contribute technical content for donor reports.
• Prepare high-quality monthly, quarterly and final reports.
6. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)
• Ensure quality monitoring systems are functional.
• Track protection indicators and project targets.
• Ensure accountability mechanisms are accessible and operational.
• Promote client feedback and participation.
• Use monitoring results to improve programming quality.
7. Safeguarding, Risk Management and Compliance
• Ensure compliance with IRC safeguarding standards.
• Strengthen safe programming approaches.
• Ensure confidential handling of protection information.
• Monitor security, operational and programmatic risks.
• Implement mitigation plans for identified risks.
• Ensure compliance with donor and IRC requirements.
KEY DELIVERABLES
• Protection strategy and implementation plan.
• Monthly protection trend analyses.
• Quality assurance reports from field monitoring visits.
• Donor narrative reports.
• Budget monitoring reports.
• Capacity-building plans.
• Protection emergency preparedness plans.
• Protection advocacy briefs.
• Final project reports.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Human Rights, Psychology, Social Work, Public Health, International Development, Humanitarian Affairs or a related field.
Professional Experience
• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in humanitarian protection programming.
• Minimum 3 years in a senior coordination or management role.
• Demonstrated experience managing GBV, Child Protection and MHPSS programs.
• Previous experience in emergency response and outbreak settings is highly desirable.
• Experience managing multi-donor grants and large teams.
• Experience working within humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES
Strong knowledge of
• GBV programming.
• Child Protection programming.
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).
• Case Management.
• Community-Based Protection.
• Cash for Protection.
Strong understanding of
• Ebola Virus Disease response.
• Infection Prevention and Control (IPC).
• Humanitarian principles.
• Sphere Standards.
• IASC Protection Policy.
• GBVIMS and CPIMS+.
Strong skills in
• Strategic planning.
• Team leadership.
• Budget management.
• Proposal writing.
• Coordination and representation.
• Advocacy and negotiation.
LANGUAGES
• French: Fluent (mandatory).
• English: Professional working proficiency (mandatory).
• Swahili: Highly desirable.
PROPOSED SUPERVISION
• Senior Emergency GBV Officer.
• Senior Emergency Protection Officer - Information Management.
• Integrated Protection Managers - Ituri & North Kivu.
The position will also maintain a dotted-line technical coordination relationship with the Health, RCCE, IPC and WASH emergency leads to ensure full multisectoral integration of the EVD response and smooth collaboration with Country Program counterparts.
French Version:
CONTEXTE
À la suite de la récurrence des épidémies de maladie à virus Ebola (MVE) et dans un contexte de crise humanitaire persistante dans l’est de la RDC, l’IRC met en œuvre une réponse d’urgence multisectorielle dans les provinces de l’Ituri et du Nord-Kivu. Cette réponse intègre la Santé, la Prévention et le Contrôle des Infections (PCI), l’EHA/WASH, la Communication sur les Risques et l’Engagement Communautaire (CREC/RCCE), ainsi que la Protection intégrée, notamment la Protection de l’Enfance, la prévention et la réponse aux violences basées sur le genre (VBG), la Santé Mentale et le Soutien Psychosocial (SMSPS/MHPSS), le Cash pour la Protection et la Protection à base communautaire.
Le/la Coordinateur·rice de la Protection Intégrée en Situation d’Urgence assurera le leadership stratégique, technique et opérationnel de l’ensemble des interventions de protection mises en œuvre dans le cadre de la réponse d’urgence. Il/elle veillera à ce que les risques de protection soient identifiés, atténués et pris en charge à travers des programmes de qualité, sûrs, redevables et centrés sur les survivant·e·s.
OBJECTIF DU POSTE
Le/la Coordinateur·rice de la Protection Intégrée en Situation d’Urgence dirige la conception, la mise en œuvre, le suivi et l’assurance qualité de la réponse intégrée de protection de l’IRC dans le cadre de la réponse d’urgence à Ebola en Ituri et au Nord-Kivu.
Le poste assure la coordination stratégique entre la Protection de l’Enfance, les VBG, la SMSPS/MHPSS, le monitoring de protection, la Protection à base communautaire et l’intégration transversale de la protection, tout en garantissant l’alignement avec les principes humanitaires, les mesures de Prévention et de Contrôle des Infections (PCI) ainsi que les exigences des bailleurs.
Le/la Coordinateur·rice assure la supervision générale des équipes de protection, contribue à la préparation et à la planification des réponses d’urgence, supervise les budgets et les subventions, soutient les efforts de mobilisation des ressources et représente l’IRC au sein des mécanismes de coordination pertinents.
PRINCIPALES RESPONSABILITÉS