H (no hardship)

Family

Family

GS5

General Service

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

No

2024-11-01

September 19, 2024

Senior Protection Assistant

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Protection Assistant normally reports to a more senior Protection colleague. The incumbent monitors protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff.

The Senior Protection Assistant provides quality, timely and effective protection support to persons of concern (PoC) and identifies opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and safeguards in operational responses. S/he contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and may liaise externally with local authorities and partners on protection issues as guided by the supervisor.

The Senior Protection Assistant also ensures that PoC are involved in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.

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
– Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
– Provide counselling on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
– Support activities in protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
– Conduct preliminary information gathering and interviews in support of eligibility, status determination, durable solutions and social needs assessment.
– 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 for PoC as part of the protection strategy.
– Monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
– Participate in individual protection case management including cases of GBV and child protection. Monitor and report on cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
– Assist in identifying durable solutions for PoC in voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
– Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
– Draft reports, routine correspondence, update relevant databases and compiling statistics within the Area of Responsibility (AoR).
– Contribute to initiatives to enhance national and local protection capacities.
– Select PoC for preliminary interviews and decide which relevant information to share.
– Enforce integrity in the delivery of protection services by local implementing partners.

– Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
– Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
G5 – 2 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 1 year relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education
Not applicable

Certificates and/or Licenses
International Law;
Political Science;
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential: Not specified.
Desirable: Not specified.

Functional Skills
IT-Computer Literacy
PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

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.

This is a shared part-time (50%) position, based in Geneva.

Additional information:
Candidates must be legally present in Switzerland at the time of application, recruitment and hire.

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 origin, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training).

Shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a test.

No late applications will be accepted.

French

,

English

,

German

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The UNHCR Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein is located in Bern and works closely with authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other relevant actors in Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the protection of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless people. It also works to find durable solutions for refugees. To provide general counselling to persons of concern approaching the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, the Office maintains a senior protection assistant position, to be encumbered at 50% with two staff based at the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. Under the supervision of the Head of Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein and in close cooperation with the Protection Associate and the Protection Team, the Senior Protection Assistants will act as focal point and first line response for individual cases (receive and counsel visitors; respond to emails, letters and telephone calls, ensure maintenance of IC data base; identify and discuss complex cases with the protection team); support ongoing resettlement programme with Switzerland; support the submission of cases for humanitarian visa and family reunification requests; cooperate with the new reception centre Rigot; supervise protection interns and handle any other tasks which may come up in this context. Language requirements: English, German and French essential, Swiss-German desirable, Italian or other languages are of advantage Skills: ‘ experience in the domain of refugees/asylum, including experience in managing relations with external partners ‘ experience in dealing with individual cases and in individual counselling ‘ previous experience with the authorities, especially in the Swiss context and UNHCR ‘ experience in applying international refugee law, human rights law and Swiss asylum law to individual cases

Living and Working Conditions:

Geneva is a HQ duty station offering high standard living conditions with a relatively high cost of living. There are several things which make Switzerland unique among its European neighbours. Located in the heart of Europe, it is neither part of the EU nor of the EEA. It has a unique environment considering its large international population and its border with France. There are 1.5 million people living in the greater Geneva area and some 232,100 daily commuters coming into the city on working day. The Swiss Alps are another important aspect of Switzerland’s identity, shaping the country’s culture in many different ways: from Agriculture to the arts. Art in Switzerland is as diverse as the country itself with an abundance of cultural institutions. Switzerland’s culture is characterized by diversity. With four national languages, some cantons are bilingual or even trilingual. Sports are very popular thanks to the country’s beautiful nature, it’s a joy to be active outdoors. Switzerland has countless other leisure activities to offer. Health insurance is obligatory and it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure they are covered. Staff members and their family members holding a Carte de legitimation or an attestation delivered by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs are exempt from this compulsory insurance provided that they are covered by another health insurance scheme (i.e. UNSMIS). Switzerland is in general a safe place with little violent crime.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Certifications

International Law – Other, Political Science – Other

Working with Persons of Concern: Asylum Seekers, Working with Persons of Concern: Refugees, Working with Persons of Concern: Stateless

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance