Protection (Psycho-Social Support) Officer (ABA Consortium) - Ukraine

Europe

Ukraine

Mykolaiv

National contract

28 Oct 2025

12 Nov 2025

174652

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency with a mandate to protect, advocate and promote durable solutions for displacement affected populations.

DRC has been operating in Ukraine since 2014, currently DRC employs over 800 staff in Ukraine and implements emergency response in the Protection, Livelihoods, Shelter/NFIs and Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding (humanitarian mine action) sectors, using direct interventions, support to duty bearers and civil society organizations (CSOs), and partnerships with CSOs. DRC will continue and adapt its durable solutions portfolio to the evolving context.

DRC is currently looking for a highly-qualified Protection Officer to join our Area-Based Allocation (ABA) team in Mykolaiv to implement project in Khersonska oblast.

About the job

Under the supervision of the Programme Manager and with technical guidance from the Protection Specialist, the Protection Officer (ABA Consortium) contributes to ensuring quality, accountability, and protection-centered programming by local partners. The Officer will focus primarily on psychosocial support (PSS) and community-based protection, while also providing broader protection technical and operational support to civil society organizations (CSOs) partners in areas such as case management, safe identification and referral and protection mainstreaming. This role combines technical accompaniment, capacity-building, and hands-on mentoring to strengthen partners' ability to design and implement high-quality protection interventions within the ABA Consortium framework.

Your main responsibilities will be:

Technical and Operational Support

• Provide ongoing technical and operational guidance to CSO partners implementing protection and PSS activities.
• Support partners in aligning their activities with DRC's and the donor's protection standards, including confidentiality, safety, and do-no-harm principles.
• Review partner workplans, tools, and reports to ensure protection relevance and technical soundness.
• Conduct joint field visits and regular follow-ups to monitor activity quality and progress and identify risks or gaps requiring attention.
• Support partners in integrating protection mainstreaming across sectoral interventions (e.g., Shelter, Cash/NFI, WASH).

Capacity Building

• Conduct protection and PSS capacity assessments of CSO partners.
• Develop and support the implementation of tailored capacity development plans, training modules, and material.
• Deliver training, mentoring, and coaching sessions on key protection topics, including PSS, community-based protection, case management, and referrals.
• Support the Protection Specialist in designing training modules and monitoring capacity progress.
• Promote peer learning and experience-sharing among consortium partners.
• Document and share lessons learned, good practices, and case studies from partner activities to contribute to consortium-wide learning.

Coordination and External Engagement

• Liaise with the Protection Specialist, MEAL, and other technical colleagues (Shelter, Cash/NFI, etc.) to ensure harmonized approaches and quality programming.
• Participate in relevant local protection and MHPSS coordination forums to stay informed of trends and good practices.
• Support mapping of available PSS services in the area of operation and strengthen coordination between CSOs and service providers.

Reporting and Documentation

• Contribute to technical reporting, ensuring partner progress, challenges, and support needs are clearly documented.
• Support partners in developing or adapting reporting tools that reflect quality protection and PSS programming.
• Ensure timely and accurate submission of monitoring data and reports from partners.

Other

• Support other consortium or DRC protection activities as required and agreed with the line manager.

About you

To be successful in this role we expect you to have at least 2 years of experience in humanitarian or development settings, including direct implementation of protection or PSS activities. Moreover, we expect the following:

Required:

• Higher education degree in Psychology.
• Demonstrated experience supporting community-based psychosocial support, group facilitation, and referral mechanisms for vulnerable individuals.
• Familiarity with information management and confidentiality standards in protection programming.
• Strong organizational and reporting skills; ability to handle multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Fluency in Ukrainian.

Desirable:

• Additional academic background or training in psychosocial support, counselling, protection, or social work is an asset.
• Training in case management, Psychological First Aid (PFA), or protection mainstreaming is desirable.
• Experience in capacity building, mentoring, or training of local organizations or partners, ideally in protection-related fields.
• Good command of English preferred.

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC' five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation to our values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer:

• Contract length: 12 months, renewable depending on performance and funding, after successful completion of a 3-month probation period
• Band: H - non-managerial
• Designation of Duty Station: Mykolaiv
• Start date: December 2025.

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with Danish Refugee Council's Terms of Employment for National Staff.

Application process:

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages in English).

Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Closing date for applications: 12 November 2025

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position may be filled before the closing date. Early applications are strongly encouraged.