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Catholic Relief Services

Global humanitarian aid, education, and livelihoods

Protection Specialist

Community Outreach & ProgramsPosted on Nov 3
Full-timeGuatemala City, GuatemalaNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor's degree in Pedagogy, Psychology, Psychopedagogy, Business Administration, International Relations, or a related career is required.
  • At least three years of relevant work experience with an international NGO, including field program experience, is required.
  • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing capacity-strengthening processes and managing groups is required.
  • General knowledge of technical principles and concepts of safeguarding, safe and dignified programming, and accountability is required.
  • Current knowledge of technology tools with potential applications in accountability, feedback mechanisms, and learning is required.
  • Strong Spanish writing and communication skills are required.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office packages, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, videoconferencing applications, and knowledge-sharing networks is required.
  • A valid four-wheel vehicle driver's license is required.
  • Ability to handle sensitive and/or confidential information is required.

Responsibilities

  • Ensure the project's implementation applies the eight components of the Safe and Dignified Programming Framework, and promote safeguarding and good staff conduct.
  • Ensure bidirectional feedback mechanisms, community participation, information sharing, referral pathways, coordination and advocacy, targeting, and analysis of diverse needs to improve protection for people involved in implementation.
  • Work closely with project management staff and the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team to integrate protection-risk monitoring, apply relevant age, gender, and disability disaggregation, and incorporate data-protection principles, including protective measures and data-sharing protocols.
  • Ensure all CRS and partner staff are trained and sensitized on protection-in-emergencies principles in accordance with current international standards.
  • Support project partners in reviewing, updating, and applying their codes of conduct, and ensure all support staff sign the code during project implementation.
  • Train staff and ensure protection-policy feedback mechanisms are inclusive and accessible to vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities, women, children, and youth, through multiple feedback channels; create spaces for feedback, learning, and adaptive management.
  • Train CRS and partner staff in preventing abuse, trafficking, human trafficking, and exploitation, including sexual exploitation and child protection, as well as protection referrals and psychological services.
  • Review existing protocols or create needed protocols for referrals in cases of violations of children's rights or gender-based violence; design additional protection resources at municipal and community levels and train project staff on them.
  • Build partners' capacity to conduct protection and safeguarding training through cascading training that reaches community promoters, field agents, and temporary staff.
  • Coordinate scheduled activities with teams from the project's other areas.
  • Train CRS and partner staff on gender inequalities, including awareness of gender-based violence, unequal power relations, and related topics; establish the conduct and behavior needed to address and minimize these issues in project communities.
  • Promote fair and equitable interpersonal relationships in all areas of the project.
  • Accompany partners to ensure program quality and appropriate collection of MEAL data related to the protection component.
  • Ensure the proper functioning of the Feedback and Response Mechanism through implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure.
  • Support classification of feedback, comments, and complaints to ensure survivors receive immediate support and/or appropriate referrals after disclosure.
  • Ensure identification, analysis, and management of safeguarding and protection risks, including risk action and/or mitigation plans across projects.
  • Lead development of materials and training that ensure objective inclusion of protection-in-emergencies principles, prioritizing CRS and partner teams and covering prevention of abuse, trafficking, human trafficking, exploitation including sexual exploitation, and child protection.
  • Work with the CRS safeguarding lead to ensure CRS and partner staff receive ongoing training and sensitization on safeguarding.
  • Promote inclusion and protection of vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities, women, and children, in all project activities.
  • Lead and coordinate development and dissemination of key messages promoting good practices, inclusion, prevention, and protection among CRS, partners, beneficiary communities, and other project stakeholders.
  • Seek innovative strategies to promote protection principles consistently.
  • Strengthen technical team capacity, support community messaging and training on protection and feedback mechanisms, and support case-referral strategies.
  • Ensure the quality of the project's response to communities, promote adaptive management, and address and accompany cases identified as involving protection risks.
  • Ensure the project and its partners integrate the protection mainstreaming framework so humanitarian assistance is delivered with dignity, access, and safety for project participants.

Desired Qualifications

  • Intermediate English is desirable.
  • Knowledge of a Mayan language is desirable.

About the Company

Catholic Relief Services

Global humanitarian aid, education, and livelihoods

Catholic Relief Services coordinates global humanitarian aid through a faith-based approach, focusing on emergency response, recovery, sustainable agriculture, education, and healthcare access for poor and vulnerable communities. It works by partnering with local organizations to implement on-the-ground programs, including disaster relief, support for sustainable farming, and education initiatives for marginalized children, often using voucher systems to promote economic recovery. CRS differentiates itself through its local partnerships, emphasis on sustainable agro-enterprises, and a faith-driven mission that connects aid to community values. Its goal is to create lasting change by helping people recover from crises, improve livelihoods, and gain affordable healthcare.

Company size
Not listed
Company stage
Not listed
Total funding
Not listed
Headquarters
Baltimore, MD
Founded
1943

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