EXTERNAL VACANCY NOTICE

ALB/TIR/17/GS/02

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tirana, Albania is looking for
qualified and highly motivated candidates interested to apply for the following position:

Title of Position: Senior Protection Associate, GS7 (General Service)

Position Number: 10008687
Duty Station: Tirana, Albania
Type of contract: Fixed-Term Appointment (FTA)
Date of Entry on Duty: 1 January 2018
Duration: 1 year (probation period)
Application Deadline: 14 November 2017, 5:30 p.m. CET
_______________________________________________________________________

1. ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT Define the role of the position within the team, describing its leadership role, if
any, its external/internal work relationships or contacts, the contextual environment in which it operates and the scope of supervision
received, and where applicable, exercised by the incumbent.

The Senior Protection Associate reports to the Protection Officer. He/she monitors protection standards,
operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides
functional protection support to programme staff. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and
maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance
partners.

Albania is EU candidate member state and aspires to open the negotiations for accession. Along this line, the
strategic priorities of the UNHCR office in Albania for 2018 is to support the strengthening of the asylum
system and to promote the local integration as a viable durable solution for refugees and asylum seekers.

The Senior Protection Associate works closely with the Directorate for Asylum and provides technical
expertise to ensure alignment of the Albanian legal framework to EU asylum acquis and international
standards. He/she will engage actively with line Ministries and development agencies to promote inclusion of
refugees and asylum seekers in their scope of action and programs. The Senior Protection Associate will also
liaise with other UN agencies, and provide technical expertise to the joint work implemented through the
UNCT.

The Senior Protection Associate provides guidance and support to all actors involved on prevention and
reduction of statelessness, including Civil Status Office, local governance units, UNICEF, UNDP and UNHCR
partners. The Senior Protection Associate will provide support for the implementation of the joint UNHCR-
UNICEF strategy to end childhood statelessness in Albania.

2. FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability (key results that will be achieved)

- The protection of populations of concern is met through the application of International and National
Law, relevant UN/UNHCR protection standards and IASC principles.
- Protection activities are guided by the protection strategy and respect UNHCRs policy on age, gender
and diversity (AGD).
- The participation of persons of concern is facilitated through continuous assessment and evaluation using
participatory, rights and community based approaches.
- Protection incidents are immediately identified and addressed.

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Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results)

- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the
protection environment.
- Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy,
standards and codes of conduct.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern.
- Provide advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities
to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Assist in conducting eligibility and status determination for persons of concern in compliance with
UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
- Contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
- Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Manage individual protection cases including those on SGBV and child protection. Monitor, and
intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Assist in promoting durable solutions for the largest possible number of persons of concern through
voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming
with implementing and operational partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations
of concern and their problems.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national
protection related legislation and procedures.

Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)

- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.

- Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of
professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Recommend and prepare payments to individual cases.

3. MINIMUM REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

- Judgement and Decision Making;

- Political Awareness;

4. ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

REQUIRED

- Completion of secondary school. Certificate/ training in International Law, Political Science or related
field is required;
- Job experience relevant to the function: 11 years;
- Fluency in English and working knowledge of another relevant UN language or local language.

5. DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

- University Degree in Law/ Social Sciences/ International Relations;

- Experience working on migration, force displacement and/or human rights;
- Proven skills on stakeholder management and negotiation;

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 - Solid understanding of EU asylum acquis, legal practice on European law;
- Completed Protection Learning Programme and/or Resettlement Learning Programme;
- Analytical thinking;
- Stakeholder Management;
- Good computer skills.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Interested candidates should submit their applications (Completed UN Personal History (P.11) form and
Motivation Letter) electronically by e-mail to: albti@unhcr.org or in the sealed envelope addressed to:
UNHCR Albania, Skenderbej Street, Gurten Building, 2nd floor, Tirana, Albania, referring to the
Vacancy Notice reference ALB/TIR/17/GS/02, by 14 November 2017, 5:30 p.m. CET.

P.11 form is available at web site: http://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/jobs/ (Model

for Fixed Term Appointments (FTAs))

IMPORTANT NOTE:

- Late or incomplete applications received without the above specified documents will not be considered;
Candidates are required to submit signed P11 form;
- Applications of father, mother, brother, sister or siblings of a staff member of UNHCR cannot be
considered;
- Applications will not be acknowledged. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited for the
interview and a written test;

Tirana, 30 October 2017

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