Senior Protection Associate

E (most hardship)

Non FamilyNon FamilyDanger Pay

GS7

General Service

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-07-01

July 4, 2025

Senior Protection Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Senior Protection Associate reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. The position may entail supervisory responsibilities for protection staff including community services, registration, resettlement and education depending on the structure of the Office. The incumbent monitors protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff.

The Senior Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC) and identify opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors. The incumbent contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the Office externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor.

S/he also ensures that PoC are involved in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- 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 PoC.
- Provide advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Assist in conducting eligibility and status determination for PoC 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.
- Assist the supervisor in implementing and monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and assist the supervisor with intervening in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Assist in identifying durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC 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 PoC and their problems.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Assist the supervisor with intervening with authorities on protection issues.
- Provide assistance to the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Recommend and prepare payments to individual cases.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For G7 - 4 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education
Not applicable

Certificates and/or Licenses
International Law;
Political Science;
or other relevant field.
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Not specified.

Desirable
RSD-Resettlement LP and/or Protection Learning Programme

Functional Skills
IT-Computer Literacy
PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Desirable Candidate’s Profile (DCP)
• Previous work experience with UNHCR in both a refugee and IDP context.
• First degree in law, with further graduate qualifications in either law, human rights, forced migration, or a corollary discipline, preferred.
• Professional legal experience, either as an academic, legal practitioner, or as a legal officer in an international or civil society organisation, ideally with a focus on human rights and/or forced migration issues.
• Ability to cope with an intensive workload, working to extremely tight timelines, and prioritise effectively among multiple competing tasks.
• Experience of liaising among multiple humanitarian and local authority/governmental partners, and of working in a multi-cultural environment.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

After close to ten years of conflict, Yemen remains among the worst humanitarian and protection crises globally. There are some 4.5 million IDPs (2024 HRP) in the country who have been displaced due to internal conflict and the effects of climate change. In part as a result of the continuing conflict in the country, over 80 per cent of Yemenis (over 18.2 million people) currently live below the poverty line. This situation is aggravated by rampant inflation, excessive cost of living as compared with local salaries, a lack of livelihood opportunities, and limited basic and essential services. Many struggle to meet their basic needs and face serious protection risks. In response, many forcibly displaced persons turn to harmful coping mechanisms, including skipping meals, early/premature school leaving, child labour, taking out unsustainable loans, moving to poorer quality shelter, early marriage, and engaging in dangerous or degrading work and/or relationships.

Refugees and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to these risks, in part due to persistent discrimination and xenophobia, which leads to their exclusion for local economic and/or self-reliance opportunities.  As of 28 February 2025, Yemen hosts 61,573 asylum seekers and refugees (14,318 asylum seekers and 47,255 refugees), of which 19,077 are in the northern governorates (6,585 asylum seekers and 12,492 refugees), and 42,496 in the southern governorates (7,733 asylum seekers and 34,763 refugees).

Of particular concern is access to civil and identify documentation, including birth registration.  This often serves as a key entry point for access to basic public services and assistance.  Individuals without access to civil registration and/or identity documents can also be at particular risk of statelessness.  Legal assistance and services are key to ensuring access to civil registration for both IDPs and asylum-seekers and refugees, in addition to documentation associated with asylum or refugee status.

Both IDPs and asylum-seekers and refugees are also at particular risk of forced eviction, with many reporting that they struggle to meet their rent on a regular basis.  As a result, legal series and assistance in response to Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) issues for asylum-seekers and refugees are a key element of the legal portfolio in both Sana’a and Aden.

The Senior Protection Associate G7 (Legal) will be engaged in both refugee and IDP programming in Yemen. In addition to providing direct oversight of the legal partner and portfolio of services and assistance in Sana’a, they will also provide technical support to the four Field Offices that primarily implement IDP programmes.  In-line with their role in the Country Office, they will also provide cross-cutting advice and inputs on legal issues related to protection and programme development, reporting, and implementation for asylum-seekers and refugees across the country, including providing direct technical support/advice to legal and protection colleagues in Aden.  This will include developing, implementing, and monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other service and assistance standards relevant to legal protection activities.

In particular, they will work closely with the legal partner in Sana’a to ensure the consistent and inclusive delivery of high-quality legal assistance and service programmes for asylum-seekers and refugees, including the provision of legal counselling and advisory services, alternative dispute resolution services, and direct individual representation, in both civil and criminal matters, at all levels of public administrative and court hearing.

The incumbent will work closely with other functional units and partners, including Registration, Community-Based Protection, and Durable Solutions, to ensure that legal issues that arise in the course of their work receive appropriate support, and that protection services are delivered in a multi-functional manner with a focus on improved outcomes for asylum-seekers and refugees.

The incumbent will report directly to the Protection Officer in UNHCR Country Office Sana’a.

 

Additional Qualifications

Skills

IT-Computer Literacy, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators, PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework

Certifications

International Law - Other, Political Science - Other

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance