Protection & Rule of Law Coordinator – Baghdad

The IRC’s Protection and Rule of Law (PRoL) Program works to safeguard the human rights and wellbeing of those affected by years of war and sectarian strife. The IRC is seeking a skilled and dynamic PRoL Coordinator to lead the Protection and Rule of Law team in Iraq. The PRoL Coordinator will be responsible for overall management, strategy development, program design, and implementation quality of all activities in the fields of protection, human rights, and rule of law under the supervision of the Senior Governance and Rights Coordinator.

 

The Protection & Rule of Law Coordinator shall serve as programmatic and operation lead of the protection and legal teams and provide leadership, guidance, coordination, and technical support to IRC’s PRoL team.  The PRoL Coordinator is a key member of the IRC Extended Iraq Country Senior Management Team (ESMT). The PRoL Coordinator shall ensure quality implementation of all activities in the fields of protection, rule-of-law, legal assistance, and human rights of IRC’s protection programming in Iraq. This includes a focus on technical and operational supervision, coaching and mentoring of staff, grant management functions, proposal development and contributing to monitoring and evaluation for quality assurance. A core responsibility of the PRoL Coordinator is to manage multi-donor programming and ensure timely and effective implementation of protection activities in Iraq.  The IRC’s PRoL program is focused on increasing the safety and legal protections of Iraqis who are currently or formerly displaced, as well as those returning to their area of origin. With protection and legal needs at the forefront of the crisis in Iraq, the IRC’s team is a leader in ensuring that vulnerable communities are receiving access to protection monitoring, information and services, legal assistance and legal case management, awareness raising and community-based protection assistance, protection monitoring, information services, referrals, protection case management, community-based protection and emergency and reoccurring cash for protection.  This position will support the Senior Governance & Rights Coordinator to identify strategic opportunities through which the IRC can contribute to national and area-based protection and access to justice system support and strengthening, responsible for contributing to technical design of the program, and technical guidance for effective implementation of activities.

 

The PRoL Coordinator will technically lead the implementation and development of the PRoL Program and will benefit from the support of the Senior Governance & Rights Coordinator and IRC’s global Protection and Rule of Law Technical Unit. The ideal candidate for this position should have strong knowledge and experience in protection, rule of law, access to justice, peacebuilding and social cohesion, climate change, community-driven development, and civic engagement of citizens in the public sphere.

 

Major Responsibilities:

Strategic Direction, Program Quality and Growth

• Revise and roll out IRC Protection Rule of Law sector strategy for Iraq and ensure it remains relevant to the changing context.
• Identify opportunities for, design and develop concept notes and proposals for further protection programming and closely collaborate with the grant team for successful proposal development.
• Ensure the strategic vision and direction of the PRoL programming is aligned with IRC Iraq SAP and Strategy 100.
• Ensure high program quality is consistent throughout PRoL programming.
• Identify, monitor, and report unmet needs. Explore the potential of the IRC to address those needs, particularly on institutional systems strengthening, within the parameters of the Strategic Action Plan and sector priorities.
• In collaboration with Partnerships staff, proactively identify potential partnerships with local and national organizations. Engage with relevant government stakeholders at the local and national levels to promote protection outcomes.
• Work closely with IRC’s Technical Unit to integrate innovative approaches, tools, and resources to Protection programming and to provide lessons learned and feedback to global initiatives including the IRC outcomes and evidence framework.

 

Program Development, Management and Coordination

• Oversee implementation of Protection and Legal programs, including budget oversight in coordination with Protection Managers, Field Coordinators and Field teams (budget forecasting, supporting field-staff to develop spending plans and budget follow-up) and reporting in accordance with IRC and donor regulations.
• Ensure that protection monitoring data and analysis is of a high standard and shared in a timely manner with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring coordination for quality protection analysis products.
• Ensure that all interventions are in compliance with the IRC’s protection mainstreaming framework, international law and global protection standards and national policies.
• In coordination with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator, ensure that monitoring and evaluation systems are effectively designed and integrated into all stages of the project; that output and impact data are captured, and that data is used to optimize program quality. Ensure client feedback is reviewed and used for program design and adaptation.
• Undertake regular field monitoring visits to assess progress and identify technical quality issues and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications as required.
• Regularly coordinate with internal program and operational stakeholders, the Protection/Rule of Law Technical Advisors, Women’s Protection and Empowerment, Child Protection, Economic Recovery and Development, Governance, and other IRC colleagues.
• In collaboration with the Advocacy team, provide input for advocacy purposes and support achievement of advocacy goals, as needed.
• Collaboratively manage local partnerships in alignment with IRC’s partnerships principles and approach to identify risk management strategies, develop project monitoring frameworks, project review and adaptation, review reporting, and support coordination with other actors and government stakeholders.
• Forge constructive relations, and represent the IRC at meetings with donors, provide protection context updates on an ad hoc basis and as requested.

 

Staff Management, Learning and Development

• Hire, supervise, and build the capacity of PRoL team members in relevant technical and management competencies; place special emphasis on recruiting, identifying and coaching national staff to take leadership roles in Protection programming.
• Support collaborative partner relationships focused on mutual learning and capacity building as well as technical guidance in areas of IRC expertise, including training/mentoring support and performance management that fully reflects the skills and attitudes required to work effectively in partnership.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Hold high-quality meetings with direct reports on a regular and predictable basis.
• Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures. As required identify staff performance issues and work with Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies.

 

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Senior Governance & Rights Coordinator.

Position technically supervised by: Technical Advisor, PRoL
Position directly supervises:  PRoL Managers Anbar, Ninevah , Kirkuk , Baghdad

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: HQ Technical Advisors, other IRC programs, and support departments.

External: all relevant donors, NGOs, DPOs, partners, ministries, stakeholders, and government agencies.