Safeguarding & Protection Coordinator

Job Summary 

The Safeguarding and Protection Coordinator (SPC) is responsible for safeguarding and protection process integrity across YEP, with particular focus on residential operations. The role ensures that safeguarding and protection concerns are identified, reported, documented, escalated, and tracked to closure according to SP policy and protection guidelines and applicable standards.

The SPC reports directly to the Program Director, sitting outside the residential operational chain. The role does not carry direct line management responsibility. It works in close coordination with the residential team and HR, owning the safeguarding and protection standard while the residential team owns operational delivery.

This position exists to strengthen safeguarding and protection oversight by assigning these responsibilities to a function whose sole accountability is safeguarding and protection process integrity, independent of operational pressures.

Job Duties: 

• Reporting and Case Coordination

• Receive safeguarding and protection concerns from staff, residents, and external sources through approved channels.

• Ensure prompt and accurate documentation of all reported concerns.

• Coordinate case follow-through from report to closure, working with HR, Security, and program leadership as appropriate.

• Escalate concerns according to SP policy and protection guidelines and required timelines, including direct escalation to the Program Director, and to the Country Director where a concern implicates the Program Director.

• Coordinate with Program Director for immediate protective action recommendations.

• Monitor whether immediate protective actions are taken when recommended.

• Maintain secure case and action tracking records.

• Participate in investigations as appropriate, without acting as disciplinary authority.

• Risk Monitoring and Pattern Analysis

• Identify recurring safeguarding and protection risks across residential and program operations.

• Monitor reporting patterns, staffing arrangements, boundary risks, and access pathways for systemic concerns.

• Flag emerging risks to leadership before they develop into incidents.

• Conduct periodic safeguarding and protection risk reviews of residential operations.

• Recommend practical controls to mitigate identified risks.

• Training and Awareness

• Deliver and support safeguarding and protection induction for new staff.

• Conduct refresher training on safeguarding, protection, PSEAH, and Code of Conduct expectations.

• Reinforce staff understanding of boundaries, reporting duties, and prohibited conduct.

• Adapt training content to the cultural and operational realities of the residential context.

• Track training delivery, attendance, and completion.

• Regularly meet with IHQ Safeguarding and Protection leads to ensure adherence to SP global safeguarding policies and protection guidelines.

• Programming and Technical Input

• Provide technical input into residential programming to ensure safeguarding and protection considerations are integrated into design and delivery.

• Review residential SOPs, training materials, and program documents for safeguarding and protection adequacy.

• Advise the residential team on integrating protection mainstreaming principles into all activities and interventions. 

• Accessible Reporting Pathways

• Ensure staff and residents are aware of how to raise safeguarding and protection concerns safely.

• Maintain accessible and trusted reporting routes, including channels usable by the least powerful person attempting to report.

• Monitor whether reporting channels are functioning in practice, not only in theory.

• Protect reporter confidentiality, including from internal management pressure.

• Documentation, Standards, and Leadership Reporting

• Maintain secure safeguarding and protection records in line with SP policy.

• Produce periodic trend and risk summaries for the Program Director and senior leadership.

• Support handbook, SOP, and compliance documentation updates relating to safeguarding and protection.

• Provide input to organizational safeguarding reporting requirements as directed by the Program Director.

Skills Required

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be willing to abide by Samaritan’s Purse’s code of conduct and understand the principles of Samaritan’s Purse’s statement of faith, as well as be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• High level of integrity, discretion, and stewardship; demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality under pressure.

• Sufficient professional presence to raise concerns with senior staff and to hold the line when safeguarding or protection considerations run against operational interest.

• Strong documentation discipline, including written case notes and structured reporting in both Arabic and English.

• Demonstrated familiarity with PSEAH standards and safeguarding principles.

• Sound judgment in sensitive, ambiguous, and emotionally difficult situations.

• Cultural sensitivity and the ability to adapt communication to staff and residents from displacement-affected communities.

• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to identify patterns across cases and operations.

• Strong cross-cultural communication skills, both written and verbal.

• Must be a humble team player able to work collaboratively with the residential team and HR while maintaining role independence.

• Knowledge of computer systems and applications such as Outlook, Word, and Excel.

• High level of integrity and stewardship.

• Committed to SP values and ethics.          

 

Education / Experience Needed

Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree.

• Minimum 3-5 years’ experience in a humanitarian, development, or community-serving organization, with at least 2 years involving direct safeguarding, protection, child protection, GBV, or PSEAH casework.

• Demonstrated prior involvement in handling and documenting safeguarding or protection concerns.

• Familiarity with PSEAH standards and safeguarding reporting requirements.

• Demonstrated track record of handling sensitive information with discretion, verifiable through references.

Preferred:

• Formal qualification in social work, law, psychology, child protection, or a related field.

• Prior experience in residential or child-focused programming.

• Prior experience working with displacement-affected populations.

• Prior interaction with organizational safeguarding or compliance functions.

 

LANGUAGE 

• Fluency in Arabic, English, and Kurdish (Badini and/or Shingali) required.

• Strong written documentation capacity in Arabic and English required.

To apply for this position, please click Here.