Protection & Inclusion Officer

Department: Humanitarian

Reports to (Line Manager): Head of Humanitarian Manager

Number Required: One/1/

Contract Type: Fixed Term

About HelpAge

HelpAge Ethiopia works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 20 organizations all over Ethiopia, supporting older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives. Through our partnerships and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age.

Our work is driven by our desire to deliver real impact for older people and persons wth disabilities, to be inclusive, to work in partnership and to learn from our shared experience. Our 2030 strategy Ageing in a Just World sets out how we will work together to shape the future we all share. By ensuring that all our work promotes wellbeing, dignity, and voice, we can be a positive influence in the lives of current and future older people.

HelpAge Ethiopia is committed to promoting the rights, dignity, and well being of older people and persons with disabilities. In humanitarian and development settings, these groups often face heightened risks of exclusion, neglect, and abuse. The Integrated Protection Manager will ensure that protection principles are mainstreamed across all projects and sectors, and that older people and persons with disabilities receive equitable access to services, support, and advocacy.

Mission Context

The role is based at the Country Office in Addis Ababa, with responsibility for supporting field teams and partners nationwide. The manager will provide technical leadership, coordination, and oversight to ensure that all HelpAge Ethiopia interventions are centered at protection of older people and persons with disabilities, whether in health, livelihoods, social protection, or emergency response.

About the Portfolio/Department

HelpAge Ethiopia’s Humanitarian Section leads the organization’s emergency preparedness and response portfolio, ensuring that older people and persons with disabilities are protected and supported across all humanitarian interventions. The section works to integrate age and disability inclusion into health, nutrition, shelter NFI, cash-based response, livelihoods, social protection, and emergency response programs, while promoting safeguarding, accountability, and community engagement. It provides technical leadership, coordination, and advocacy to guarantee that humanitarian actions are inclusive, rights based, and responsive to the specific vulnerabilities and capacities of older people and persons with disabilities.

About the Job

Under the supervision of the Head of Humanitarian Program, the Protection & Inclusion Manager will:

•Lead the design, implementation, and monitoring of protection strategies focused on older people and persons with disabilities.

•Ensure protection is central across all sectors (health, nutrition, livelihoods, emergency response).

•Provide technical support to field teams and partners to adapt interventions to the specific needs of older people and persons with disabilities.

•Strengthen community engagement and accountability mechanisms to ensure inclusive participation.

•Coordinate with government, UN agencies, and NGOs to advocate for gender, age, and disability inclusive policies and practices.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities

Program Management

•Protection centered programming across all HelpAge Ethiopia projects.

•Develop work plans, budgets, and monitoring frameworks for protection activities.

•Ensure timely implementation and reporting aligned with donor requirements.

•Conduct regular field visits to monitor progress and provide technical guidance.

•Put a system in place to conduct regular protection monitoring to identify and document ket protection issues of older people and persons with disabilities.

Technical Leadership & Quality Assurance

•Provide technical expertise on age friendly and disability inclusive services.

•Establish referral pathways for health, psychosocial support, and social protection.

•Ensure safeguarding, confidentiality, and dignity in all interventions.

•Support integration of cash for protection programming where relevant.

Staff Supervision & Capacity Building

•Supervise protection officers and provide coaching and mentoring.

•Facilitate training for staff and partners on age and disability inclusion, safeguarding, and case management.

•Promote a collaborative and respectful team culture.

Partnerships & Coordination

•Support local partners to strengthen community based protection mechanisms.

•Represent HelpAge Ethiopia in national protection coordination forums.

•Build strong relationships with government ministries, UN agencies, and civil society.

Strategic Development

•Identify emerging needs and gaps in protection for older people and persons with disabilities.

•Contribute to proposal development and donor engagement.

•Provide evidence based advocacy to influence national and regional policies

Skills and experience required

•Master’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Human Rights, Development Studies, or related field and experience.

•At least 5–7 years of experience in protection programming, with a focus on vulnerable groups.

•Proven expertise in age and disability inclusion, case management, and safeguarding.

•Strong experience in management of /protection mainstreamed/ project, budgeting, and reporting.

•Demonstrated ability to supervise and build capacity of diverse teams.

•Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

•Fluency in English; knowledge of local languages is an asset.

Key Behavioural Competencies

At HelpAge Ethiopia, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every dayto identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as an HelpAge employee you are expected to:

Competencies

Description

Working Collaboratively with Others

Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organizations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work we do together.

Adaptability and Flexibility

Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organization and in our work area; being flexible in our role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.

Supporting and Facilitating Change

Lead behavioural and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged.

Extend HelpAge’s Reach and Impact

Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.

Diversity and Inclusion

Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening, and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering, and highly inclusive of those marginalized by gender, economic status, disability, and other factors of discrimination.

Leading Others

Demonstrate strong leadership to own unit/department and manage people in a well and reputable manner. Create an atmosphere of trust and an enabling environment where staff can contribute their best and develop their potential.

Safeguarding

HelpAge Ethiopia is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with. The post holder will also be responsible for:

•Preventing harm, abuse, including SEAH from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work.

•Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism.

•Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices.

•Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.

SAFER RECRUITMENT

All employments at HelpAge Ethiopia will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include misconduct disclosure schemes and terrorism finance checks.