Protection Officer

Provide specialized case management, psychosocial support, and counseling to people with specific needs, including women at-risk, older persons, and persons with disabilities. Support outreach and awareness activities, ensure confidentiality and safety, and coordinate with stakeholders to facilitate access to relevant services.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialized case management including direct psychosocial support to people at heightened risk, particularly women at-risk, older persons and persons with disabilities
• Conduct assessment of needs, develop action plans for recovery, conduct referrals to relevant services, implement action plans, and ensure appropriate follow-up and case closure
• Support identification of people at heightened risk through home visits, referrals, and coordination with stakeholders
• Provide age- and disability-appropriate individual counseling and information on available services to facilitate inclusion in community
• Provide quality psychosocial support in mobile and static safe spaces
• Ensure timely filing and storage of case management data in relevant protection information management systems, maintaining confidentiality
• Work closely with other DRC protection teams and external service providers to ensure access to relevant services and appropriate follow-up
• Ensure safety, respect, inclusion, confidentiality and non-discrimination of affected populations
• Prepare and submit weekly and monthly work plans with validation from Protection Team Leader
• Support implementation of monitoring and evaluation tools and report challenges
• Participate in regular supervisory meetings to ensure adherence to standards of care and appropriate case management
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders including partner agencies, community leaders and service providers
• Contribute to maintenance of up-to-date service mapping of service providers
• Identify need for and attend case conferences with relevant key actors when needed
• Raise gaps in General Protection Specialized response services and referral protocols to General Protection Officer and Protection Team Leader
• Immediately flag safety concerns to Protection Team Leader throughout case management process
• Perform other duties as directed by Protection Team Leader or Protection Manager

Requirements

• Minimum 2 years of experience in delivering specialized case management or counseling to people with specific needs (PWSN) required
• Bachelor's degree in social work, Counseling, Psychology or other related field
• Good knowledge of case management principles
• Good understanding of disability, inclusion principles and mental health related matters
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, respect, non-discrimination, safety and disability inclusion
• Excellent gender and age-appropriate facilitation skills, adult learning techniques, and good knowledge of protection and psychosocial support (PSS) principles
• Strong communication and counseling skills, including the ability to communicate with survivors effectively
• Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills, creativity and flexibility
• Comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible with working hours and able to handle pressure well
• Computer literacy (Microsoft Word and Excel)
• Previous experience in international organizations and humanitarian settings is a plus
• English: Good written and spoken
• Fluency in local language

Skills

• Case Management
• Counseling
• Disability Inclusion
• Mental Health Knowledge
• Confidentiality Management
• Non-discrimination Practices
• Safety Protocols
• Gender-Appropriate Facilitation
• Age-Appropriate Facilitation
• Adult Learning Strategies
• Protection Principles Application
• Psychosocial Support
• Communication with Survivors
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem Solving
• MS Word
• MS Excel

Languages

English, Local language