Senior Program Associate (Protection)

The Senior Program Associate (Protection) supports the coordination, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of IOM Venezuela’s protection and humanitarian programming. The role includes operational, programmatic and administrative oversight of protection activities, supervision of staff, coordination with partners, and ensuring compliance with IOM and donor standards.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and monitor the implementation of protection projects and activities, ensuring that targets, timelines, budgets and quality standards are achieved.
• Support the development, revision and monitoring of project workplans, procurement plans, spending plans and implementation schedules.
• Supervise and provide guidance to Protection Associates, programme support staff, consultants and field teams, ensuring effective performance and quality delivery.
• Monitor programme expenditures and support budget tracking, financial forecasting and expenditure verification in coordination with Resource Management staff.
• Support the preparation of donor reports, project updates, situation reports, concept notes, project proposals and other programme documentation.
• Coordinate the collection, consolidation and analysis of programme data, indicators, beneficiary information and activity results for monitoring and reporting purposes.
• Ensure that programme activities comply with IOM policies, donor regulations, protection principles, AAP, PSEA, safeguarding and data protection standards.
• Liaise with implementing partners, community structures, local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders to facilitate effective programme implementation and coordination.
• Contribute to project design, needs assessments, response planning and development of new programme initiatives.
• Support the development and implementation of monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) activities, including field monitoring and quality assurance exercises.
• Review and validate implementing partner reports, activity documentation and supporting evidence to ensure compliance and accuracy.
• Identify operational challenges, implementation risks and bottlenecks and propose corrective actions to improve programme performance.
• Support capacity-building initiatives for staff, partners and community actors on protection programming, protection mainstreaming, AAP, PSEA, disability inclusion and related topics.
• Participate in inter-agency coordination mechanisms, technical working groups and humanitarian forums as required.
• Prepare briefing materials, presentations and analytical summaries for management, donors and coordination meetings.
• Assist with other tasks, as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in development studies, political sciences, social sciences, gender studies, law, human rights, public administration, project management or other relevant field from an accredited academic institution with five years of relevant professional experience; or, High school diploma with seven years of experience.
• Master’s degree in the above-mentioned fields is an added advantage.
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian, protection, migration, recovery or development programming.
• Experience supporting general protection, community-based protection and MHPSS child protection (CP), and gender-based violence (GBV) activities, including direct work with beneficiaries.
• Experience coordinating multi-sectoral projects funded by institutional donors.
• Experience supporting programme management, project monitoring, reporting, budgeting and implementation oversight.
• Experience supervising staff, consultants, volunteers or field teams.
• Experience coordinating with government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs, community organizations and implementing partners.
• Experience preparing donor reports, workplans, budgets and project proposals.
• Demonstrated experience in information management, data analysis and results-based management.
• Experience supporting humanitarian responses, emergency operations or post-crisis recovery programmes is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of protection principles, protection mainstreaming, GBV risk mitigation, child protection, AAP, PSEA, disability inclusion and safeguarding is desirable.
• Experience working with IOM, the UN system or international organizations is an advantage.
• Good experience working with implementing partners (IPs).
• Understanding key issues related to data protection and knowledge of safe, confidential and ethical data collection and handling.
• Knowledge of the humanitarian and development context in Venezuela, particularly as it relates to protection challenges.
• Strong programme and project management skills.
• Strong planning, organizational and coordination skills.
• Excellent analytical, reporting and problem-solving abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise and support multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong partnership-building and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent drafting and communication skills in English and Spanish.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Experience using information management and monitoring systems.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet competing deadlines in emergency environments.
• Strong understanding of donor compliance and results-based management principles.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is mandatory.

Skills

• Humanitarian Programming
• Protection Programming
• Community-Based Protection
• MHPSS Child Protection
• Gender-Based Violence Programming
• Multi-Sector Project Coordination
• Programme Management
• Project Monitoring
• Budgeting
• Implementation Oversight
• Staff Supervision
• Donor Reporting
• Workplan Development
• Project Proposal Preparation
• Information Management
• Data Analysis
• Result-Based Management
• Humanitarian Response
• Emergency Operations
• Post-Crisis Recovery
• Protection Principles Application
• Protection Mainstreaming
• GBV/SEAH Risk Mitigation
• Child Protection
• Accountability to Affected Populations
• PSEA Integration
• Disability Inclusion
• Safeguarding
• Data Protection
• Ethical Data Practices
• Partnership Building
• Stakeholder Engagement
• MS Excel
• MS Word
• MS PowerPoint
• Management Information Systems
• Donor Compliance

Languages

English, Spanish