Senior Protection Manager (Women Protection and Empowerment)

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Job Overview/Summary:
The WPE Senior Manager provides senior-level operational leadership and technical oversight for all Women’s Protection & Empowerment (WPE) programming implemented in South Kordofan. The position is field-based and responsible for overseeing direct implementation, supervising WPE teams, ensuring quality and compliance with IRC and global GBV standards, and coordinating closely with health, economic recovery and development, and other sectors. The role plays a critical function in maintaining South Kordofan as a strategic operational hub and ensuring continuity and scale-up readiness of WPE services in a highly volatile emergency context.
 

Major RESPONSIBILITIES: The WPE Sr. Manager shall:

Program Leadership and oversight

• Provide overall leadership and oversight of WPE programming in South Kordofan, ensuring safe survivor centered and contextually appropriate service delivery.

• Ensure high-quality implementation of GBV case management, PSS, referrals, and emergency response services, with a strong focus on CRSV.

• Translate country-level WPE strategies into effective field-level implementation plans.

• Adapt programming in response to evolving security, access, and displacement dynamics.
   

Quality Assurance & Information Management

• Ensure adherence to global GBV standards, IRC policies, and WPE SOPs.

•  Oversee ethical and secure use of GBVIMS, including data quality, confidentiality, and trend analysis for operational decision-making.

• Ensure risk mitigation measures are integrated across all WPE activities.
   

Staff Supervision & Capacity Building

• Directly supervise WPE Officers, Case Workers, Outreach Workers, and other WPE staff based in South Kordofan.

•  Promote a supportive, accountable, and learning-oriented team culture.

•  Lead recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development in coordination with HR and senior management.

•  Provide ongoing coaching, mentoring, and technical support, with attention to staff wellbeing and burnout prevention.
   

Coordination & Representation

• Represent IRC WPE programming in South Kordofan in inter-agency coordination mechanisms, including GBV sub-cluster and Protection meetings.

• Maintain effective working relationships with health partners, local authorities, UN agencies, and national NGOs.

• Strengthen referral pathways and inter-sectoral integration at field level.

• Escalate operational challenges, protection trends, and access constraints to senior management.

Grant Management & Reporting

• Oversee implementation of WPE grants in South Kordofan, ensuring alignment with approved work plans, budgets, and indicators.

• Track expenditures in coordination with Finance and Operations to support timely and compliant implementation.

•  Contribute to donor and internal reporting, ensuring accuracy and quality of field-level inputs.
   

Program Development & Scale-Up Readiness

• Support proposal development, revisions, and budgeting for South Kordofan-based WPE programming.

•  Identify emerging needs, gaps, and opportunities for expansion or adaptation of services.

• Support preparedness for scale-up or rapid response in response to new displacement or access opportunities.
   

Partnerships

•  Lead and manage partnerships with local and national NGOs and service providers in South Kordofan, ensuring coordinated, survivor-centered GBV programming aligned with IRC standards, safeguarding, and agreed workplans.

•  Provide technical oversight and capacity strengthening to partners through mentoring, joint monitoring, and supportive supervision, particularly in GBV case management, referrals, PSS, and ethical information management.

• Monitor partner performance and manage risks, ensuring timely reporting, quality service delivery, and effective integration within GBV referral pathways
   

Safety, Security & Duty of Care

• Monitor and assess safety and security risks affecting WPE teams in South Kordofan.

•  Ensure compliance with IRC security protocols and safeguarding policies.

• Promote a strong duty-of-care culture for all staff.
   

Other Duties

• Perform other duties as assigned to support IRC’s emergency response and protection objectives.
   

REQUIREMENTS:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in public health, social sciences, gender studies, international development, or a related field.

• At least  3-5  years of experience in GBV/VAWG programming, including significant experience in emergency and conflict settings.

• Demonstrated experience managing field-based teams and direct implementation in insecure environments.

• Strong technical expertise in GBV case management, CRSV response, and survivor-centered programming.

• Experience using GBVIMS and ensuring ethical data management.

• Proven experience in grant implementation, reporting, and donor compliance.

• Strong leadership, communication, and coordination skills.

• Ability to work under pressure in volatile contexts.

• Fluency in English required; Arabic strongly preferred.

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

This position is supervised by the Deputy Director of Programs and will supervise full WPE team of ( 3 staff members)

• Internal: WPE Technical Unit, Grants, Finance, Supply Chain, HR

• External: Donors, UN agencies, government and local authorities, international and national NGOs, community stakeholders

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

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Why Choose the IRC?

Work that has meaning: Every day at the IRC is a chance to make a difference through a purpose-driven career. Whether you're working directly with communities or providing support behind the scenes, you will be part of a dynamic team that is always innovating, scaling, and testing new and better solutions to ensure the best possible outcomes for the people we serve.

Global scale, dynamic workplace: At the IRC, we believe that the dynamic, global make-up of our team is our strength. When you join us, you're not just starting a job—you will be part of a global organization positively impacting millions of lives in over 40 get to work with colleagues from all around the world—working across time zones and regularly exchanging different ideas, perspectives and insights. You’ll join a team that is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and heard.  

Challenging work, innovative solutions: We’re committed to excellence and innovation, and pride ourselves in setting industry-leading standards while practicing evidence and data-lead strategies. Come challenge norms, shatter conventions, and pioneer change while working on real, nuanced and complex issues we face in the world today.  

Community centered: We’re an empathetic community that truly cares for one another. Our comprehensive safety and security initiatives ensure a safe work environment, while our continuous learning and development programs provide ongoing opportunities for personal and career advancement.

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Our Typical Recruitment Process

The interview process typically includes three rounds, though the number may vary depending on the role and level of seniority. It usually begins with a conversation with our recruiting team to learn more about you and your goals. This is followed by an interview with a hiring manager or business stakeholder to explore your background and provide more insight into the role. The final round focuses on assessing your role-specific expertise and may be conducted as a panel interview to evaluate your cross-functional strengths. Before extending an offer, we generally conduct reference checks, and after an offer is made, a standard background check is completed. While we strive for consistency, the process may differ based on the role, business unit, location, job type, legal requirements, and other factors.

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