Protection Officer (Katsina & Zamfara) at Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI)

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency.

PUI has been operating in Nigeria since 2016, initially establishing its presence in Borno State with a field office in Maiduguri. Over the years, PUI has expanded its humanitarian response to deep-field locations, including Monguno and Pulka, and more recently to Katsina State in Northwest Nigeria.

In Borno State, PUI has been a key actor in health, nutrition, protection, and psychosocial support. It supports health facilities in Maiduguri, Monguno, and Pulka, providing primary healthcare services, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and the management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), both with and without complications, through Stabilization Centers. These interventions are integrated with specialized Gender-Based Violence (GBV) services and psychosocial support.

PUI has a strong track record of implementing projects funded by key humanitarian donors, including USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), and the UN’s Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF). Thanks to its long-standing presence, PUI has gained a deep understanding of the local context, allowing for an agile response to emergencies while also supporting long-term resilience-building efforts.

Since 2023, PUI has extended its response to Katsina State, with funding from the Crisis and Support Centre (CDCS) of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. PUI provides a comprehensive package of health, nutrition, protection, and psychosocial support services. This includes primary healthcare for all age groups, reproductive health services, community-based health and nutrition activities, and referrals for obstetric emergencies.

In early 2024, PUI expanded to Kurfi LGA, a hard-to-reach area, delivering primary healthcare, facility- and community-based nutrition interventions, protection services, and psychosocial support. These efforts are carried out in close collaboration with the Katsina State Ministry of Health, the State Primary Healthcare Agency, and other relevant authorities.

PUI is a key member of the Protection Sector in Northeast Nigeria, the GBV sub-working group, and the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) technical working group. It also co-leads the Health Sector at the LGA level in Monguno and contributes to various technical working groups, including Sexual and Reproductive Health, Family Planning, and GBV Case Management. With its strong operational presence, sectoral expertise, and established partnerships, PUI is recognized as a key humanitarian actor in Nigeria, delivering integrated and life-saving interventions to vulnerable populations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Protection Officer

Locations: Katsina and Gusau - Zamfara
Employment Type: Full-time

General Objective

• Under the direct supervision of the Protection supervisor, the Protection Officer will be responsible for integrating protection principles into all sectors of PUI’s programming.
• This role ensures that interventions are designed and implemented in a way that upholds dignity, safety, and rights of the affected populations while minimizing risks of harm and maximizing the engagement of vulnerable groups, including persons with disability.
• S/he will be responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring protection and community outreach activities, in compliance with work plans, donor regulations and PUI policies.
• S/he will play a key role in increasing community knowledge and access to services while strengthening PUI knowledge of and acceptance within the community.

Responsibilities and Tasks
Activities implementation:

• Conduct capacity-building and training to COWs on thematic of protection (including CP, GBV, protection mainstreaming, confidentiality of protection data)
• Conduct training sessions and workshops for health and nutrition staff on protection mainstreaming, social cohesion and the importance of incorporating protection principles into their daily work.
• Support the development of training materials and tools to support protection mainstreaming in the field
• Support effective community engagement and community input into program activities and design through close contact and structured activities
• Participate in community events and meetings, and lead the organisation of awareness sessions and workshops
• Ensure the identification, internal/external referrals and follow-up of protection cases and urgent cases to the Health, FSL and Nutrition team
• Collaborate with program teams to identify and address potential protection risks associated with project activities.
• Develop appropriate key messages and IEC materials and ensure that they are disseminated among the community
• Develop and implement strategies to promote inclusivity and accessibility of services for marginalised groups, including women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.
• Ensure protection is mainstreamed in all PUI Programs at the field and protection cases and concerns are timely referred and addressed
• Report immediately any difficulty or delay faced in the implementation of activities to the direct manager.

Team Management:

• Supervise Community Outreach Workers and ensure the timely implementation of their activities
• Coordinate the work of COWs: work plans, progress toward targets, and frequency of submitting collected data
• Ensure that COWs have the necessary information on the referral system and provided services and properly understand the activities to be implemented in the framework of the project
• Routine field visits to monitor COWs activities
• Continuously collect feedback from COWs and ensure the communication to the Protection Supervisor.

Logistic & administration:

• Report to the line manager the needs in materials and tools required to conduct trainings and outreach activities
• Participate in the organization on training sessions: venue, attendees and support materialsEnsure a proper utilisation of the tablets and make sure all of it are daily charged and fully operational.

Reporting & Data collection:

• Collect, analyze, store in a database and report information received from COWs (households surveys, FGDs, awareness sessions…)
• Collect, and analyze data related to protection mainstreaming to inform program adjustments and improvements
• Collect and analyze identified protection cases and referrals
• Document and report training sessions and feedback from participants
• Work with the M&E team to develop indicators and tools for monitoring protection outcomes within health, and nutrition programs.

Internal and External Presentation:

• Build and maintain relationships with external partners, community leaders (especially Bulamas), community committees and other stakeholders
• Represent PUI at anytime and anywhere when s/he is in duty
• Ensure coordination with PUI Staff and stakeholders concerning community intervention activities.

Priorities of the Department:

• Strengthen the community outreach network in the assigned catchment area supported by pui
• Ensure a continuous grasp on the population needs and vulnerabilities and strengthen pui reactivity responding to emerging humanitarian needs
• Support pui integrated approach through protection trainings for other departments
• Strengthen referral mechanisms internally and externally.

Requirements

• Candidates should possess a Bachelor's Degree with 3 - 10 years experience.

Salary
N406,146 monthly. 

Application Closing Date
3rd July, 2025.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: The tasks and responsibilities defined in this job description are non-exhaustive and can evolve depending on the project’s needs.