GESI, Protection & Safeguarding Advisor -Border Security Programme (BSP)

Role Overview

This position sits at the heart of a multi-country programme, acting as the dedicated expert who makes sure every intervention—whether focused on law enforcement, community engagement, or data management—respects people's rights, avoids causing harm, and pays particular attention to the needs of marginalised and vulnerable groups. Day to day, the advisor will translate high-level protection and safeguarding commitments into practical plans, train staff and partners, review risk assessments, and work alongside consortium members to embed survivor-centred, inclusive approaches across all four programme outcomes. The role matters because it determines whether the programme can deliver its objectives without exposing participants to stigma, retaliation, or further trauma.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the integration of protection, safeguarding, Do No Harm, and GESI principles into every stage of programme design, from initial assessments through workplans and standard operating procedures.
• Conduct and update safeguarding and protection risk analyses, with a focus on risks linked to law enforcement collaboration, organised crime dynamics, community reporting, and data handling, then turn findings into concrete mitigation measures.
• Work with the MRELA manager and consortium partners to ensure survivor-centred referral pathways are mapped, functional, and supported by up-to-date information on local services, especially for trafficking survivors.
• Collaborate with security, compliance, and subawards teams to ensure safeguarding requirements are reflected in due diligence, contracting, vendor management, and monitoring processes.
• Support the design of safe, accessible, and confidential community feedback mechanisms (CARM), ensuring communities know how to report concerns and are informed about their rights in relation to law enforcement and OIC processes.
• Deliver and organise capacity strengthening on topics such as safeguarding policies, psychological first aid, working with children, survivor-centred approaches, and GESI-sensitive data collection, adapting materials for staff, partners, and relevant authorities.
• Advise MEL and research teams so that monitoring tools capture sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADDD), flag unintended harms, and track protection-specific indicators that inform adaptive learning.
• Coordinate with external stakeholders, including government bodies and other programmes, and participate in technical working groups to represent the programme's protection and safeguarding priorities.

Requirements & Qualifications

• A minimum of ten years of hands-on experience advising on or managing programmes in anti-trafficking, protection, GBV, child protection, or human rights, with substantial exposure to protection mainstreaming and PSEA.
• Demonstrated track record of conducting protection and safeguarding risk analysis in complex environments, ideally involving security or justice actors, border contexts, or organised crime dynamics.
• Solid understanding of trafficking patterns, migration systems, and the interplay between organised crime and community vulnerability.
• Strong working knowledge of GESI principles and proven ability to ensure gender and social inclusion priorities are reflected in programme design, implementation, and measurement frameworks.
• Familiarity with human rights frameworks, survivor-centred referral protocols, and ethical data protection practices, including safeguarding considerations in research and monitoring.
• Experience delivering training and capacity-building to diverse audiences, including law enforcement or other duty bearers, on safeguarding and protection topics.
• Excellent collaboration skills and comfort working across consortium partners, sub-awardees, and multidisciplinary teams.