JOB DESCRIPTION

D

Family

Family

NOA

National Professional Officer

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-10-01

August 17, 2025

Assistant Protection Officer

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.

– 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

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P1/NOA – 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Law,

International Law,

Political Sciences
or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified;

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles

Desirable
Not specified.

Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
MG-Project Management
PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
CO-Drafting and Documentation
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
(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.

The position of Assistant Protection Officer is one of the most senior national roles within the Protection Unit at UNHCR Kibondo Field Office and plays a critical role in advancing a protective environment for displaced populations. The ideal candidate should have:
• A diverse protection and field solutions background, ideally with experience working with returnees, refugees, IDPs, and host communities.
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience working in the humanitarian context, with direct involvement in durable solutions programming, including voluntary repatriation, integration and social cohesion.
• Proven experience in SOP drafting, use of Protection Data management tools e.g CP IMS, GBV IMS UNHCR ProGres v4, among others.
• Proven experience of the implementation of Justice, Child Protection, Gender Based Violence, and community-based protection programs.
• Demonstrated inter-agency coordination experience, including active engagement with UN agencies, relevant government departments or ministries, international and national NGOs, and the private sector.
• Proven ability to manage and supervise staff, oversee partner’s implementation, and manage budgets and resources effectively.
• Strong advocacy, negotiation, and communication skills, with the ability to represent UNHCR in high-level coordination forums and working groups.
• Experience in community-based approaches and working with diverse communities or groups through an Age, Gender and Diversity Lense.
• Solid advocacy and negotiation skills.
• Knowledge and work experience of the local context in Tanzania.
• The candidate should have experience in individual case management, counselling, and strong cross-cultural communication skills.

Other competencies:
• Excellent English language oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Strong Political and Organizational Awareness.
• Demonstrated experience in meeting targets and tight deadlines.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to details.
• Very good planning, organizational and time management skills.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, training and decision-making skills.
• Relevant computer skills.

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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:

Kigoma Region is in the northwest of Tanzania, and currently the region hosting the highest number of refugees in the country. The region is 45,066 km² and subdivided into eight districts and 121 wards.  There are two refugee camps in the region which includes Nyarugusu, and Nduta. As of 30 June 2025, Tanzania hosts a total number of 231, 517 refugees and Asylum Seekers.  living in Nyarugusu and Nduta Camps (190,437), Old settlements of Mishamo, Katumba and Ulyankulu (19,100), Kigoma Villages (21,507) and in Urban areas including Dar es Salaam (473). Many of these refugees and asylum seekers come from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Following significant improvement in security situation in Burundi, and in line with the Tripartite Agreement of May 2001, UNHCR Tanzania operation has been supporting the Government of Tanzanian to facilitate voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees. From September 2017 to the end of June 2025, a total of 179,163 refugees and asylum seekers have been supported to return to Burundi.

The Refugee operation in Tanzania is dynamic with reinforced encampment policies and a mixed situation of protracted caseloads living in the same refugee camps with newly arrived refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), especially in Nyarugusu camp, ongoing voluntary repatriation process for Burundian refugees since 2017, and a changing landscape in the resettlement programme.

The protection environment remains complex with restriction of movements in and out on the camps, ban on mass livelihood and income generating projects within the camps, restricted resettlement opportunities especially for Burundian refugees, closure of some facilities including schools and 50% food ration cuts, limited access to legal documentation, exposure to Gender Based Violence, child protection concerns, discrimination against persons with specific needs, and inadequate access to justice mechanisms among others compounding the protection risks faced by refugees and asylum seekers.

Reduced donor funding continues to limit the capacity of humanitarian actors to provide core assistance including lifesaving services, resulting into deteriorating nutrition conditions, increasing health risks, poor living conditions and engagement in negative coping mechanisms, among others.

Guided by the Associate Protection officer, the Assistant Protection Officer works with other protection colleagues and sector leads to plan and coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. This includes ensuring that operational responses in all sectors are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCR’s policies, mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Drafting and Documentation, MG-Project Management, PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD), PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation, PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement, PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination, PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards, PR-International Humanitarian Law, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators

Bachelor of Arts: International Law, Bachelor of Arts: Law, Bachelor of Arts: Political Science

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, 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