ActionAid is a global movement of people working together to achieve greater human rights for all and defeat poverty.

ActionAid Bangladesh is looking for suitable candidate for the following position:

Protection Lead (Re-Announcement)

Job Summary

ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) has been responding the Rohingya Crisis in Cox`s Bazar since beginning of current influx in 2017 and working on Protection, Site Management and Site Development (SMSD), Disaster Management, WASH, and Food Security and Livelihood. Being a prominent protection actor in the Rohingya response programme, AAB is working on general protection, prevention of GBV, and for protection of GBV survivors. AAB also playing a greater role in Protection sector, GBV sub-sector and the GiHA working group. AAB is implementing numbers of projects on protection issues funded by UNHCR, UN Women and UNFPA.

AAB is seeking for a competent Protection Lead, to lead its protection team under Rohingya Response Programme in cox’s Bazar. S/he will represent AAB in the relevant ISCG sectors and will have a leadership role. The incumbent will also be responsible for maintaining of ActionAid’s working standard and approaches, Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Framework in all projects in her/his portfolio. S/he will support the Resource Mobilization team for fundraising initiatives and represent ActionAid Bangladesh as and when required in the capacity of a coordination and collaboration.

Key responsibilities include (not limited to)

Programme Management, Advocacy, and Monitoring: Delivering Results

• Provide strategic direction and comprehensive technical support to the Protection programme, ensuring alignment with the protection sector’s objectives and indicators, protection principles, and ActionAid’s Women-led Protection approach, grounded in feminist principles.
• Ensure project deliverables and activities are of superior quality, adhere to humanitarian standards, mainstream protection, and align with the Protection Programme Framework.
• Lead the implementation and review of service quality to ensure programming reflects best practice standards.
• Develop, update, and ensure the quality implementation of internal Standard Operating Procedures for protection programming, in consultation with the line manager and operational team members.
• Support Managers and Coordinators of relevant projects in adapting their programme activities in accordance with agreed processes and principles, ensuring the mainstreaming of protection across all project activities, and successfully implement projects to achieve protection outcomes.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, project reviews, and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts, and prepare reports on results for necessary actions/interventions at higher levels of programme management, as well as with donors.
• Conduct comprehensive needs assessments within targeted communities to identify existing vulnerabilities, resources, and capacities related to protection and livelihood.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of advocacy campaigns by collecting feedback from stakeholders, assessing changes in community resilience indicators, and documenting success stories and lessons learnt for future advocacy efforts.
• Monitor and report on the utilisation of project resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), ensuring compliance with approved allocations, organisational rules, regulations/procedures, and donor commitments, standards of accountability, and integrity. Report on identified issues to facilitate timely resolution by management/stakeholders.
• Guide the preparation of sectoral progress reports for management, donors, and partners.

Programme Development and Planning

• Contribute to programme development and design, ensuring interventions are responsive to needs and informed by an understanding of the context, sectors, and government policies, procedures, and guidelines.
• Provide timely, comprehensive, and current data to inform protection programme development, planning, management, and implementation in the camps, staying abreast of protection sector development trends to maximise efficiency and effectiveness in programme design, management, and implementation.
• Offer technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes, ensuring the integration, coherence, and harmonisation of protection with other ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) sectors to achieve protection outcomes.
• Mainstream gender and other cross-cutting issues such as Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD), and inclusiveness in programme development.
• Design and lead assessments, studies, and research aimed at generating a robust evidence base for the protection programme.

Networking, Coordination, and Representation

• Maintain regular working relations with the Manager of Women’s Rights and Gender Equity (WRGE) at ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) and the Global Women’s Protection Advisor with the International Humanitarian Action and Response Team (IHART) at ActionAid International.
• Ensure AAB's dynamic leadership and engagement in all coordination forums at the Cox’s Bazar level, emphasising a proactive and participatory approach. This includes, but is not limited to, the Protection Sector, the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Sub-sector, the Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group, and other relevant technical task teams and working groups as deemed necessary.
• Forge robust working alliances with both international and national actors/organisations dedicated to protection-related advocacy and programming.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with key partners, including donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, local administrations, and other relevant stakeholders.

People Management and Capacity Development

• Mentor direct reports by communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, and providing regular and timely performance feedback.
• Support the HR team in recruitment, capacity development, and facilitating leadership development within the programme team.
• Coach, train, and mentor team members to strengthen their technical capacity and promote knowledge exchange within the team.
• Provide oversight on staff wellbeing, team building, and performance reviews.
• Ensure the enforcement of safeguarding policies and procedures (SHEA, PSEA, and Child Safeguarding) and build staff capacity to improve practice levels.

Donor Relations and Stakeholder Management

• Cultivate and maintain relationships with current and potential donors.
• Communicate the impact and success of the programme to donors, keeping them engaged and informed.
• Collaborate with the communications team to create promotional materials and campaigns that highlight the programme’s impact and attract donors.
• Utilise various formal and informal channels to reach potential donors and stakeholders.
• Build and maintain relationships with potential partners, collaborators, and other organisations that may contribute to fundraising efforts.

Relationships

The Protection Lead will report directly to the Head of Humanitarian Programme at ActionAid Bangladesh. In this role, they will establish and maintain functional relationships with peers, the broader programme team, including project teams, and other priority teams within the organisation. Effective communication with both programme and operational teams is crucial. The incumbent will collaborate closely with the ActionAid International Gender and Protection Team, relevant clusters in Cox’s Bazar, and engage with donor communities.

Required Educational Qualification and Experience

• Master’s degree preferably in Social Science / Gender Studies / Development Studies and relevant field.
• At least 5-7 years of professional experience programme/project management and advocacy on protection and livelihood with a reputed organization.

Technical Skills

• Good understanding of and experience in designing and implementing humanitarian response programme particularly protection programme particularly in refugee context.
• Strong program/technical, project management, advocacy, and budget management skills
• Proven knowledge of Protection, Gender, SRHR, Women, and child rights issues.
• Policy advocacy and campaign.
• Sound in participatory development process and HRBA.
• Understanding of Govt. working system and activities.
• Ability to manage multifunctional team.
• Excellent in both written and oral communication in Bengali and in English.
• Comprehensive understanding of and experience in designing and implementing Humanitarian Response Programmes, particularly in the context of protection, especially within refugee settings.
• Robust programme, project management, advocacy, and budget management skills.
• Expertise in crafting proposals and collaborating with major institutional donors, UN agencies, and Trust & Foundations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of issues related to Protection, Gender, SRHR, Women, and Child Rights.
• Proficient in Partnership management with a solid understanding of Policy advocacy and campaign strategies.
• Sound familiarity with participatory development processes and a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA).
• Understanding of governmental working systems and activities.
• Ability to effectively lead multifunctional teams.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in both Bengali and English.

Required Core Competencies

• Leadership: The ideal candidate should have a strong understanding of the organisation's goals and objectives, possess strong leadership and communication skills, be able to think strategically and make decisions, and have the ability to develop and implement plans to achieve organisational goals. These skills are essential for contributing to the success of the organisation and driving its mission forward.
• Emotional Intelligence: The ideal candidate should possess strong emotional intelligence, including advanced skills in recognising and regulating emotions, responding to others' emotions, and building effective relationships and teams.
• Communication of Collaboration: The ideal candidate should have strong communication skills, be able to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, and possess strong project management skills. These skills are essential for delivering effective presentations and reports, building strong relationships, and successfully developing and implementing project plans.
• Networking: The ideal candidate should have strong networking skills, be able to represent the organisation effectively, identify potential partnerships, and mentor team members on networking best practices.
• Problem-Solving: The ideal candidate should have strong problem-solving skills, be able to identify and prioritise problems, work with others to develop solutions, and mentor team members on effective problem-solving techniques.
• Decision Quality: The ideal candidate should make informed decisions, consider alternative options, and be accountable for the quality and impact of their decisions.
• Action Oriented: The ideal candidate should surpass expectations, consider various factors for planning, take on new responsibilities, and rarely give up.
• Talent Management: Develop team members' skills and abilities through career planning dialogues, goal-setting, and ongoing training. Encourages learning culture.
• Feminist Leadership: Promotes feminist leadership principles and gender-responsive policies, and mentors’ staff to apply these approaches in their work.

Application instructions

Only those who meet the above requirements are requested to apply following these instructions:

• The last date of application is 02 June 2024.
• Please Click Here to submit your application.

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 ActionAid Bangladesh aims to attract and select a diverse workforce ensuring equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, HIV status, class, ethnicity, disability, location and religion. Any personal persuasion/phone-call will result in disqualification of candidature.

ActionAid Bangladesh has a non-negotiable policy of ZERO TOLERANCE towards child abuse, exploitation and child labor and expects all employees to abide by the Child Protection Policy of ActionAid Bangladesh.
         
N.B: There is no cost involved with applying for positions with ActionAid Bangladesh. Any solicitation of job application costs should be regarded as fraudulent.