Protection Legal Officer (Rule of Law)

The Protection Legal Officer (Rule of Law) provides legal information, counselling, and assistance activities with IRC in Ukraine. Based in Kharkiv, this role involves fieldwork and collaboration with protection teams and external legal actors to implement legal assistance along displacement routes and support advocacy efforts.

Responsibilities

• Create information content that responds to the legal needs of conflict-affected population, and provide information at community centers and through mobile teams
• Work closely with IRC partners to support and guide implementation of legal information, counselling and assistance
• Provide individual legal counselling to individuals in need, at community centers and through mobile teams
• Provide secondary legal aid in coordination with Free Legal Aid Centers for those who do not qualify for free legal aid and cannot afford legal services
• Identify and refer complex legal cases requiring specialized assistance including housing, land, and property rights, IDP documentation, and employment rights
• Ensure continuous update of the service map on legal actors and services
• Ensure referrals are made and received safely and according to SOPs, and update referral tracker
• Support Protection Managers in data analysis related to legal needs
• Contribute to advocacy initiatives by providing case examples and data on systemic legal challenges
• Engage with Legal Protection Working Group and other coordination mechanisms to advocate for improved legal protection responses
• Maintain contacts among authorities and humanitarian stakeholders and update contact trackers
• Contribute to weekly movement plans for legal activities
• Support and inform on legal assistance needs in Ukraine
• Assist in training IRC protection staff, partners, and humanitarian actors on legal protection principles and case management
• Contribute to IRC’s Protection Monitoring activities by conducting structured interviews at household level and with key informants

Requirements

• Higher education in law
• Preferred valid Attorney’s License (registered at the Bar Association)
• Previous experience in legal information, counselling and assistance, preferably with an NGO
• Experience facilitating group activities, trainings and workshops and mentoring others
• Bilingual in Ukrainian and Russian, with good verbal and writing skills in English preferred
• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
• Demonstrated understanding of and ability to maintain confidentiality and respect for clients/beneficiaries
• Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting
• High degree of flexibility and strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail
• Computer literate, including Microsoft Word and Excel, with ability to work with data entry using software on tablets

Skills

• Legal Information Provision
• Legal Counseling
• Legal Assistance
• Group Facilitation
• Training Delivery
• Workshop Facilitation
• Mentorship
• Confidentiality Management
• Client Protection
• Team Leadership
• Work Planning
• Deadline Management
• Task Prioritization
• Data Entry
• MS Word
• MS Excel

Languages

Ukrainian, Russian, English