About this opportunity
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is hiring Protection Officers to lead group mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) activities for children and caregivers in Gaza. Two positions are open: one based in the south (Deir El-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah) and one in the north (Gaza City). The role involves supervising community workers, coordinating child protection programming, and ensuring that activities meet minimum standards for children affected by conflict. The IRC has been operating in the occupied Palestinian territory since 2022, launching an emergency response in Gaza in October 2023. The organization supports a network of local partners in both Gaza and the West Bank, delivering health, protection, food security, cash, education, and early childhood development interventions. IRC is also deploying emergency medical teams to provide surge clinical capacity in hospitals. The Protection Officer will work under the supervision of the Senior Protection Officer (MHPSS) and coordinate closely with other IRC sectors including women's protection and empowerment, nutrition, health, WASH, and security. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, operating in more than 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities. The organization helps people survive conflict and disaster and rebuild their lives, with a focus on restoring safety, dignity, and hope to refugees and displaced people. The Gaza protection program specifically aims to ensure that girls and boys are protected from violence, abuse, and exploitation, that family separation is prevented, and that appropriate care is provided in emergencies. Working in Gaza means operating in one of the most challenging humanitarian environments in the world. The current context involves ongoing conflict, widespread displacement, and severe restrictions on movement and access. Staff must be highly flexible, able to work under pressure, and prepared to travel within Gaza as required. The IRC prioritizes staff safety and security, with consistent monitoring of field team movements and prompt reporting of any concerns.
Responsibilities
Program Implementation
- Provide daily guidance and monitoring of community workers to ensure group MHPSS activities for children and caregivers follow IRC program guidelines and child protection best practices
- Conduct daily support and supervision visits to group MHPSS activities, including structured observations of community workers with documentation
- Ensure protection activities, meetings, referrals, and documentation happen in a safe, timely, and quality manner
- Support identification of children separated from caregivers or at risk of harm
- Receive referrals from other sectors and ensure children and caregivers are integrated into protection activities
- Refer children and caregivers with specialized needs to relevant services
- Maintain accurate registers of children, caregivers, and community workers
- Lead recruitment and training of community workers in coordination with community representatives and the Senior Protection Officer
- Lead implementation of risk reduction activities together with community workers
- Review comments from suggestion boxes and feedback mechanisms, reporting to the Senior Protection Officer for further action
- Ensure children's participation in all activities through regular and proactive consultation
- Support MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) activities in coordination with the Senior Protection Officer and MEAL Team
- Contribute to MEAL data collection for project proposals and Protection sector strategy
- Ensure regular interaction between IRC and community members
- Communicate regularly with the Senior Protection Officer on achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities
- Assist in performance monitoring of partners to achieve project objectives
Supervision and Development
- Supervise and train community workers
- Ensure ongoing capacity building opportunities for community workers on technical and managerial skills
- Ensure timely completion and submission of attendance trackers and timesheets by community volunteers
- Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting team spirit and providing oversight and guidance
- Assist in providing capacity building support for partners as requested
Administration and Reporting
- Lead and coordinate all planning and reporting of MHPSS activities
- Prepare and submit weekly activity work plans, reports, and other required documents by agreed deadlines; contribute to monthly reports as requested
- File and archive all important documents and correspondence related to MHPSS activities
- Support implementation of and adherence to Protection work plans and MEAL plans
Coordination and Representation
- Actively coordinate with staff from other IRC sectors including women's protection and empowerment, nutrition, health, WASH, supply, security, and finance
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with relevant local actors including community, non-governmental, and governmental actors
- Participate in relevant coordination meetings at the community level
- Collaborate closely with organizations and partners working in the implementation area
Other
- Attend trainings organized by the IRC
- Stay informed about the protection situation and developments within communities and surrounding areas
- Consistently and proactively monitor safety and security of field teams, promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management
- Promote and adhere to the principles, objectives, and code of conduct of the IRC
- Provide translation and interpretation at meetings, training sessions, and for documents when necessary
- Assist in identifying new implementing partners and arrange meetings to discuss program implementation
- Conduct any other tasks requested by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs
Requirements & Qualifications
- Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Education, Human Rights, Social Science, Humanities, or a related field
- At least 3-4 years of experience implementing child protection programs, preferably in MHPSS programming for children, parenting programs for caregivers, and child protection risk reduction in humanitarian or development settings
- Demonstrated understanding of working with individuals affected by conflict, disasters, or other humanitarian crises, particularly unaccompanied and separated children and children at risk of violence, exploitation, abuse, or neglect, and gender-based violence
- Previous experience supervising and coordinating a team preferred
- Previous experience in capacity building and mentoring preferred
- Previous experience in emergency response preferred
- Positive and professional attitude, including ability to lead and work well in a team setting
- Demonstrated ability to liaise with partner organizations
- Good organizational and planning skills
- 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
- Highly motivated, interested, and eager to learn
- Fluency in Arabic required; good English skills preferred
- Available to travel within Gaza as required
How to Apply
- Review the responsibilities and qualifications to confirm your experience matches the role.
- Prepare your CV and any supporting documents that demonstrate your child protection and MHPSS experience.
- Click the Apply button below to submit your application.
Official Application Strategy & Insights
Selection Committee Priorities
- •Academic/Professional Alignment: Ensure your statement explicitly ties your past work in to International Rescue Committee (IRC)'s strategic goals.
- •Leadership Evidence: Selection panels heavily weigh demonstrated initiative, community impact, or research output.
- •Financial & Language Prerequisites: Confirm if Medium of Instruction (MOI) certificates can substitute for formal standardized language test fees.
Required Document Verification
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