Country Protection Manager

Founded in 1956, The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations – refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities – in more than 40 countries around the world.

DRC has been providing humanitarian aid in the DR Congo since 2009. Starting out in Province Ituri, DRC has gradually extended its activities in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The country office is based in Goma.

Overall purpose of the role:

The Country Protection Manager is the country technical leadership for ensuring high-quality protection programming and effective management across the protection sector. The role is line managed by the Head of Programs and works in close collaboration with Area Managers, Project Managers, Partnership Manager, MEAL, Grants and support departments to ensure coherent technical leadership, quality assurance and strategic alignment across the protection portfolio.

This includes supporting field teams and partners on technical standards, approaches and tools across the protection sub-sectors  with the opportunity to engage the field team to enhance accountability in the management of protection activities : overseeing protection sector projects/programmes and directly managing protection staff within geographic or thematic areas, coordinating the protection sub-sectors (Legal Aid, Community-Based Protection, Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence, Child Protection, Protection Information Management, and Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support); leading the protection analysis and strategy reflection; contributing to programme design and adaptation; technical specialists management,  project/programme cycle, people management of direct reports, and achievement of DRC’s strategic protection goals; providing technical advice, direction, and the authority to instruct; ensuring adherence to DRC policies, MOPs, standards, and quality assurance; maintaining internal and external coordination and representation; and budget holder responsibilities.

At the country level, the Country Protection Manager leads protection analysis and strategy development and advise on  implementation, provides sectoral technical advice and support, supports technical oversight and quality assurance of protection  supervises protection staff and interventions throughout the programme/project cycle, ensures strengthens compliance with sector standards and monitoring, and evaluation, accountability and learning processes efforts, and leads capacity building, development and harmonization of protection tools and approaches, and protection-related coordination and representation efforts. the Country Protection Manager contributes to DRC’s protection programming across the same core components—Legal Aid, Community-Based Protection, GBV prevention and response, Child Protection, Protection Information Management, and Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support—while operating at different organizational levels to ensure cohesive, effective protection outcomes.

The Country Protection Manager will also actively contribute to the country’s localization strategy of transitioning responsibly towards a partner-implemented approach; through the symbiotic approach, DRC will support local civil society in developing the technical, operational and organizational capacities to design and deliver high quality humanitarian protection programs. In this context, the Country Protection Manager will help clarify the technical division of roles between DRC and partners, support the development of fit-for-purpose partnership arrangements, and ensure that partner-implemented protection programming is accompanied by appropriate technical support, quality assurance and capacity sharing.

DRC highly encourages qualified female applicants.

Applications will be reviewed on a regular basis and shortlisted candidates will be contacted to complete additional steps.

Duties and Responsibilities

Protection Sectoral Technical Responsibility

• Lead protection analysis efforts and the development and implementation of the country level protection strategy,
• Technically responsible for the overall protection portfolio subsectors
• Oversee and lead the development, harmonization, adaptation and rollout of internal policies, and guidelines, protection related tools, Standard Operating Procedures, related to DRC’s protection interventions, also with local partners and their teams
• Serve as a technical reference point for other sectors’ colleagues on Protection Mainstreaming
• Promote technical consistency, quality standards and evidence-based adaptation across protection interventions implemented by DRC and its partners.

Technical oversight and team leadership

• Provide technical oversight and quality assurance for protection projects implemented by DRC teams and partners, ensuring alignment with agreed strategies, principles, implementation plans, and donor requirements.
• Support Area and Project Managers, field protection team and partner focal points to identify technical needs and gaps, define actions and strengthen the quality of implementation.
• Lead and manage the Protection Specialist Team (including people planning, performance, well-being and development)
• Provide technical supervision and guidance to protection staff and contribute to strengthening field-level supervision systems to ensure adherence to work plans, technical standards and quality benchmarks.
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, and performance appraisal; set clear workplans and objectives and promote ongoing professional development through targeted capacity-building opportunities as well as on-the-job coaching.

Protection Programme Development and Oversight

• Lead and contribute to the design and finalization of all protection sectoral interventions in proposals and projects, prioritizing opportunities with local civil society and ensuring co-design with local partners as relevant.
• Provide technical review of all proposals that include protection interventions.
• Oversee and technically validate protection-related internal and external reporting and communication products.
• Maintain technical oversight of overall protection Programme performance, including progress against indicators, quality of implementation and alignment with strategic priorities, in close collaboration with HoP, Area Managers and Protection Managers, as well as local partners counterparts.
• Participate in protection programme / project review meetings, including grant opening, grant review and close out meetings, ensuring equitable and meaningful participation of local partners.
• Responsible for ensuring Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) is mainstreamed into protection projects and programme under their area of responsibility; support local partners in mainstreaming AGD and APP upon request.
• Work closely with MEAL and PIM functions to strengthen the quality of monitoring, interpretation of results, analysis of findings and use of evidence to improve protection programming.

Coordination and Representation

• Represent DRC and actively contribute to protection sector coordination fora at the country level; support meaningful participation and visibility of DRC’s local partners  in these fora.
• Lead DRC’s and our partners’ protection sector coordination and collaboration efforts with relevant stakeholders including government, civil society, NGOs, and UN agencies
• Actively engage and contribute to DRC and partners’ protection related advocacy efforts, ensuring that advocacy messages are grounded in protection analysis and programme evidence.
• Promote integrated programming and ensure internal coordination and harmonization of DRC protection interventions across sites and with other core sectors, as relevant.
• Act as sector level focal point for technical engagement with donors and support recognition of local partners’ contributions in donor reports, meetings and external representation.
• Ensure  protection mainstreaming efforts across the sectors.

Partnerships Development and Collaboration 

• Maintain partner mapping of civil society actors engaged in the protection sector in collaboration with DRC's Partnership manager.
• Act as the technical and management focal point for DRC's partners in the protection sector support clarification of roles and responsibilities between DRC and partners under both general partnership frameworks and project-specific agreements.
• Participate in partners’ organizational capacity assessments and analyze findings to identify protection-specific capacity strengthening and organizational development needs.
• Develop and provide and/or coordinate training and targeted capacity strengthening support to partner teams in line with their capacity sharing plan.
• Support the quality assurance of partner-implemented protection activities through technical accompaniment, regular review and joint reflection on programme adaptation and improvement.

Experience and Technical comptencies

• University Bachelor degree (e.g. social work, law) or above
• Proven experience of at least 5 years working in the protection sector and management of protection programmes
• Proven experience in working with local partners in the protection sphere, and strong commitment to supporting local civil society.
• University degree, preferably in a field directly relevant to humanitarian protection, or appropriate level and combination of expertise and experience
• Expert knowledge of International Refugee Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law
• Strong understanding of global protection sector standards, protection analysis, and Results-Based Protection
• Knowledge and experience designing, implementing, and monitoring and evaluating protection intervention within two or more of DRC’s Protection sector components: Gender-Based Violence, Child Protection, Protection Information Management, Community-Based Protection, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, and/or Legal Aid.
• Proven communication, interpersonal, representation, negotiation, promotion, and diplomacy skills
• Strategic thinker with the ability to quickly develop good insight and understanding of humanitarian, political and human rights situation in the relevant context.
• Proven strong analytical thinker and problem solver
• Experience with technical management of teams
• Experience in providing technical guidance, mentoring, training and developing and providing learning activities
• Sound understanding and experience in protection mainstreaming and Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) mainstreaming, conflict sensitivity, and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and abuse (PSEA)
• Experience in project development (including proposal writing), implementation and MEAL for protection programmes
• Experience in advocacy and policy development, and cluster / working group coordination in the humanitarian sector
• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability
• Previous experience working in DR Congo is an advantage
• Ability to manage a high workload and manage stress
• Languages: English (fluent), French (Fluent), Swahili (Advantage)

All DRC roles require the post-holder to master DRC’s core competencies:

•           Striving for excellence: Focusing on reaching results while ensuring efficient processes.

•           Collaborating: Involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.

•           Taking the lead: Taking ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.

•           Communicating: Listening and speaking effectively and honestly.

•       Demonstrating integrity: Upholding and promoting the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

What we offer

Contract: 6 six Contract with the possibility of extension, subject to funding and performance.

Salary:  in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment Management Band/ F.

Availability:       August 2026

Duty station:    Bunia and/Goma, DR Congo

Reporting Line: Head of Programme

Providing equal opportunities  We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

DRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff within its programs.

Promoting high standards : DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

Application and CV

Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications, sent together with a CV, will be considered.

DRC only accepts applications sent via our online-application form on www.drc.ngo under JOB/

Please submit your application and CV in English or French  no later than 31 July  2026 .

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