Emergency Safeguarding Officer at International Rescue Committee
Job Overview:
The Emergency Safeguarding Officer will support the implementation of safeguarding measures across IRC’s emergency response in Lebanon. It will play a key role in delivering on IRC Lebanon’s safeguarding action plan designed to ensure the organization achieves IRC’s Safeguarding Minimum Standards for acute emergencies (i.e. Red classification).The role will help ensure that safeguarding prevention, reporting, and response measures are embedded across emergency operations, programs, and partnerships, particularly during rapid scale-up and onboarding of new personnel and partners.
The post holder will support induction and awareness-raising for IRC personnel engaged in the emergency response, including temporary staff, volunteers, incentive workers, service providers, and other personnel who may not routinely access IRC systems. The role will also support dissemination of safeguarding messaging and IEC materials with affected communities, contribute to safeguarding risk assessment and mitigation measures across programs, work closely with protection colleagues on survivor support and referral pathways, and support the partnerships team in integrating safeguarding into partner due diligence and capacity strengthening processes.
Major Responsibilities:
1. Support safeguarding induction and learning for emergency personnel
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Ensure all IRC Persons engaged in the emergency response (including staff, volunteers, incentive workers, service contractors, enumerators, outreach workers, and other surge personnel) receive safeguarding onboarding, briefings and/or trainings, in coordination with People & Culture, field managers, and operational teams, to ensure safeguarding is consistently embedded in onboarding and deployment processes.
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Support orientation of staff with direct client engagement on how to safely receive disclosures, respond with empathy, provide basic information, and escalate concerns through appropriate internal channels.
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Reinforce safeguarding learning through practical follow-up, micro-learning, and regular engagement with teams during the response.
2. Support safeguarding community messaging and IEC materials
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Support the adaptation, production, rollout, and dissemination of safeguarding IEC materials across emergency activities and sites, including posters, simple messaging, and other client-facing materials.
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Work closely with MEAL, client responsiveness/accountability, outreach, and program teams to integrate clear safeguarding messaging across assessments, post-distribution monitoring, outreach, and other community touchpoints, ensuring affected communities understand expected staff behavior, available reporting channels, and that assistance is free.
3. Support survivor-centered response
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Work closely with Protection and other relevant staff to support survivor-centered response pathways in line with local service mapping and safeguarding incident response SOPs.
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Serve as a resource person for staff seeking guidance on safeguarding concerns, reporting obligations, and referral options, while maintaining clear boundaries and not undertaking investigations.
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Support follow-up on practical response gaps and escalate concerns related to response capacity, accessibility, or coordination to the Emergency Team Lead, Country Director and Regional Safeguarding Advisor.
4. Support safeguarding risk assessment and mitigation across programs
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Work with technical coordinators, program teams, MEAL, and field staff to support identification of safeguarding risks across emergency activities and related mitigation measures.
5. Support safe partnerships during emergency scale-up
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Support the Partnerships team in assessing safeguarding capacity and gaps for new and existing emergency partners, and in translating identified gaps into practical Partner Support Plans (PSPs), providing ongoing accompaniment, orientation, and follow-up on safeguarding approaches, codes of conduct, reporting pathways, and risk mitigation measures throughout implementation…
6. Coordination, tracking, and operational support
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Support the implementation, monitoring, and internal follow-up of the IRC Lebanon Emergency Response Safeguarding Action Plan by maintaining tracking of key actions, progress, gaps, and emerging risks; coordinating regularly with the Emergency Team Lead/Country Director and all other stakeholder on delivery priorities; contributing to internal updates and reporting; and supporting engagement in relevant internal or inter-agency safeguarding/PSEA coordination efforts, as needed.
Job Requirements:
Work Experience:
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Minimum 2 to 4 years of relevant professional experience in safeguarding, protection, PSEAH, child protection, GBV, accountability, or related humanitarian work.
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Experience working in humanitarian or emergency response settings is strongly preferred.
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Experience facilitating trainings, inductions, or awareness sessions for diverse groups of staff or partners preferred.
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Experience working with partners, including due diligence, support planning, or capacity strengthening, is an asset.
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Experience supporting community-facing communication, complaints and feedback mechanisms, or outreach is an asset.
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:
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Strong understanding of safeguarding in humanitarian settings, including prevention, reporting, survivor-centered response, and the role of power and vulnerability in safeguarding risks.
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Ability to communicate safeguarding concepts in a clear, practical, and context-appropriate way.
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Strong facilitation, interpersonal, and coordination skills.
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Good judgment, empathy, discretion, and strong understanding of confidentiality and survivor-centered principles.
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Ability to work across multiple functions in a fast-paced emergency context.
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Strong organizational and follow-up skills.
Education:
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University degree in social work, psychology, protection, gender, public health, law, human rights, international development, or another relevant field.
Language Skills:
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Fluency in Arabic and English.
