Protection Coordinator - Afghanistan

AfghanistanProtection Coordinator - AfghanistanOrganizationINTERSOSPosted 12 Nov 2025 Closing date 3 Dec 2025INTERSOS is an independent humanitarian organization that assists the victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts and exclusion. Its activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, respect for diversity and coexistence, paying special attention to the most vulnerable people.Terms of referenceJob Title: Protection CoordinatorCode: SR-28-10040Duty station: Kabul with frequent travel to the field locationsStarting date: 01/01/2026Contract duration: 5 monthsReporting to: Head of ProgrammeSupervision of: Deputy Protection Coordinator, MHPSS SpecialistType of Duty Station: Non-family duty stationGeneral context of the projectOver the past few years, Afghanistan has witnessed a relative improvement in security and stability across much of the country. This has allowed humanitarian actors like INTERSOS to maintain uninterrupted access and expand services in areas that were previously hard to reach. Despite this progress, the humanitarian situation remains critical, with millions of Afghans continuing to face acute vulnerabilities due to prolonged economic hardship, natural disasters, and limited access to essential services.In 2025, more than half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance, with food insecurity, child malnutrition, and displacement remaining key concerns. Natural disasters, such as floods and recent earthquakes, have further compounded the needs of already struggling communities.INTERSOS continues to operate through a community-based approach with field bases in Kabul, Kandahar, Zabul, Hilmand and Herat, delivering primary healthcare, nutrition, and protection services with a focus on women, children, and persons with disabilities. The organization enjoys strong community acceptance and collaborates closely with relevant national authorities, including maintaining the full participation of female staff in all activities.While the operational environment is largely stable and conducive, funding shortfalls and systemic barriers such as restrictions on financial flows and administrative bottlenecks continue to impact the scope and scale of humanitarian response. Sustained support is crucial to ensure the continuity of life-saving services and to address the urgent needs of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations.General purpose of the positionIn collaboration with the Country Director, define and coordinate the implementation of protection strategy and program of the mission.Lead and provide technical guidance to protection staffs ensuring the different components of the protection programme are delivered according to internal guidelines and in line with international standards and principles, in order to ensure quality and achieve mission’s goals effectively, according to INTERSOS vision and values.Main Responsibilities And TasksDefinition of the strategy and implementationDesign and draft the protection strategy for the mission based on context, identifying suitable approaches and interventions.Design a Theory of change or a defined model of protection response and ensure it is aligned to the Global Protection Strategy.Support the understanding of the community using participatory community engagement and strength based approaches. Ensure community mappings are done and adapt the program to the different scenarios.Participate in exploratory missions, situation assessments in current and prospective areas of operations (providing technical inputs and recommendations for new and ongoing interventions in the country and defining protection operational priorities when needed) and support the development of the mission policy, annual plan, position papers, budget review and project proposal and reports to donors.Ensure evidence based response through researches and evaluation of the interventions.Draft position papers for issue based response depending on context and learning papers on challenges and best practices to ensure technical quality of protection activities.Support the implementation and monitoring protection activities according to INTERSOS protection strategy and project plans, standards and protocols.Identify and build Niche areas of technical expertise at mission level and share learnings and good practices with other missions.Ensure proper integration of gender, inclusion, disability and age in protection program.Ensure cohesion and harmonization of protection activities and services across the different implementation sites within the mission.Support the Programme Coordinator and/or Project Managers to finalize project proposals ensuring protection integration in the programme and the respect of international internal and donor’s protection standards and appropriate technical language.Facilitate and guarantee protection mainstreaming in the other sectors.Technical Quality and Capacity buildingIs responsible for the capacity building of the entire protection team ensuring technical quality.Draft SOPs for protection interventions (Case Management, Protection Monitoring, Cash, Legal, MHPSS, CBP) and ensure the respect of it in all projects.Conduct regular case audits, critical case conferences and learning events to provide guidance and to ensure adherence to standards and quality.Design training materials for capacity building of protection staffs and ensure staffs respect the basic principles of protection and are trained to implement good quality programs.Deliver trainings and workshops to non-protection staffs to build skills and knowledge of protection principles and enable them to mainstream protection in different sectors.Develop resources and guidelines to support protection activities targeting children and adults in Case Management, PSS, Community Based Protection, Cash, Protection Monitoring and Holistic Protection Prevention and Response.Work along with the Protection team and Specialists to ensure that all interventions are coordinated and that technical resources are available.Create opportunities for experience sharing and learning within the protection team to strengthen cooperation and collaboration.Analysis and reportingPeriodically (quarterly) analyse the protection trend and the data of INTERSOS protection intervention to identify needs, issues, trends.Provide strategic protection analysis and development of periodic trend reports (including aspects of conflict analysis, gender and risk management) from programme experience to improve development, implementation and policy and advocacy activities.Track indicators, ensure that protection data are collected, archived, processed, analysed and disseminated in ethical modalities, in line with internal data protection protocols. Manage protection database guarantying all the data are regularly encodedEnsure Protection reports are submitted to HQ on a monthly basis.Support the Programme Coordinator and/or Project Managers to finalize external reports.Ensure the protection integration, the respect of international internal and donor’s protection standards and the appropriate technical language.Coordination and supportContextualize and adapt internal and global guidelines, guarantying these are rolled out and known by staffs.Update and inform the programme teams on the protection situation analysis.Create opportunities for experience sharing and learning within the protection team in order to strengthen cooperation and collaboration.Work with other coordinators for building integrated programmes in response to community needs.Undertake regular field monitoring visits and provide support tools to monitor quality of programme implementation.Supervision and Staff ManagementDirectly supervise, coach and mentor Protection Specialists and conduct regular performance reviews (IRP).Review work plans of Protection Specialists and define priorities together with Protection Project Managers.Organize regular meetings with Protection Specialists and Protection team to discuss implementation and ensure quality.Organize ad hoc meetings with SMT and Project Managers to share challenges and priorities and develop action plans to address them.Plan and supervise, in close coordination with the HR department, the associated processes (recruitment, training, performance evaluation, development and internal communication) of the staffs under her/ his responsibility in order to improve staff’s capabilities and activities and to ensure learning and development.MonitoringDesign M&E tools for protection activities and interventions and provide guidance on use of the tools and ensure they are used.Measure the impact of the activities and identify the best practices.In cooperation with the accountability unit, support the development of complaints mechanisms for beneficiaries and make sure complaints are addressed properly.In cooperation with the accountability unit, when required follow up on the implementation of the Child Safeguarding and Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Harassment and Abuse (PSEA) policies.Networking and partnershipsEstablish and maintain collaborative relations with relevant donors, partners, project stakeholders and other organizations.Maintain effective relationships with Protection, GBV and CP clusters and related working groups at national level.Ensure that Protection Specialists maintain productive relationships with sub clusters at field level.Ensure that main protection concerns are brought to relevant stakeholders to advocate for the respect of human rights and minimum protection standards.Coordinate with other internal departments to guarantee good collaboration.Network with Protection Coordinators from other missions to share best practices and resources and participate actively in Protection meetings and internal thematic Working GroupsRequired Profile And ExperienceEducationBA in relevant field (Social Science, Psychology, Social Work, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law or other fields related to social development and humanitarian work).Desirable Master degree (MA or LLM) in Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law or related subjects.Professional ExperienceMinimum 8 years of experience with NGOs in developing countries of which minimum 5 years should be in protection technical roles.Experience in implementation of key protection interventions related to Case management, PSS and Community based Protection.Professional RequirementsEssential computer literacy (word, excel and internet).Strong theoretical, technical and practical background in protection.LanguagesEnglish mandatoryPersonal RequirementsExcellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work and integrate in a multicultural team.Ability to work under pressure, flexibility.Problem solver, dynamic, mature, proactive.Diplomatic skills in networking with partners, authorities and donors.Experience in complex emergency setting involving internal displacements.Reporting skills, experience with monitoring tools and systems, data collection and analysis.Stress management.Commitment to INTERSOS principles.How to applyInterested candidates are invited to apply following the link below:https://www.intersos.org/en/field-eng/#intersosorg-vacancies/vacancy-details/690dd956ee3ef8032b0b554b/Please note that our application process is made of 3 quick steps: register (including your name, email, password and citizenship), sign-up and apply by attaching your CV in PDF format. Through the platform, candidates will be able to track their applications’ history with INTERSOS.Please also mention the name, position and contact details of at least three references: two line managers and one HR referent. Family members are to be excluded.Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the first interview.Job detailsCountryAfghanistanCity Kabul with frequent travel to the field locations SourceINTERSOSTypeJobCareer categoryProgram/Project ManagementYears of experience5-9 yearsThemeProtection and Human RightsShare Share this on Facebook Share this on X Post this on LinkedIn