Director, Protection of Civilians (PoC) Division (Geneva)

About CIVIC 

Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) Center is an international nonprofit and nongovernmental organization with offices around the world working to improve protection for civilians in conflict zones. Our mission is to support communities affected by conflict in their quest for protection and strengthen the resolve and capacity of armed actors and relevant institutions to prevent and respond to civilian harm. We are advocates who believe that no civilian caught in conflict should be ignored, and advisors who provide practical solutions to preventing and responding to civilian harm. Learn more at civiliansinconflict.org.  

About the Position

The Director of the Protection of Civilians (PoC) Division leads CIVIC's technical, strategic, policy, and programmatic support on Protection of Civilians across all country programs and global initiatives. As a key member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the Director ensures technical excellence, drives innovation, strengthens organizational capacities, and reinforces CIVIC's positioning as a global leader on PoC. The Director oversees the organization's team of technical advisors, ensuring coherent and high-quality support to field programs throughout the programme cycle—from strategy and programme design to implementation, learning, and policy influence. The Division translates global policy and normative frameworks into practical operational guidance while ensuring that evidence, lessons learned, and emerging protection trends from field operations systematically inform CIVIC's research, policy development, humanitarian diplomacy, and multilateral engagement, thereby strengthening the organization's field-to-policy feedback loop and strategic influence.

Location: Geneva (Switzerland). Candidates must be fully authorized to work without the need for sponsorship now or in the future.

Travel: As required

Reporting to: Director, Global & Field Programs

Staff reporting: Yes

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic, Technical and Programmatic Leadership

• Provide high-level technical advice and oversight to field programs, ensuring alignment with evolving PoC standards, operational realities, and emerging protection challenges.
• Lead the strategic planning and evolution of the PoC Division, identifying new thematic priorities, partnerships, and areas of organizational growth.

2. Supervision and Technical Management

• Directly supervise the team of technical advisors (Gender & Children, MEAL, Community-Based Protection, Military Engagement, Research and other thematic advisors), ensuring high-quality technical support across the organization.
• Foster collaboration, accountability, professional development, and integration of technical expertise across programs, policy, and humanitarian diplomacy.

3. Organizational Positioning and External Representation

• Strengthen CIVIC's global positioning as a leading organization on Protection of Civilians through technical leadership, policy engagement, strategic partnerships, and external representation.
• Represent CIVIC in high-level engagements with donors, governments, multilateral organizations, security actors, academic institutions, and policy forums.

4. Technical Support, Organizational Learning and Capacity Strengthening

• Lead organization-wide capacity strengthening initiatives and promote continuous learning on CIVIC's thematic priorities.
• Support country teams throughout the programme cycle, including strategy development, proposal design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive learning.
• Promote effective knowledge management by capturing lessons learned, documenting good practices, and strengthening organizational learning.

5. Bridge Between Programs, Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy

• Ensure a continuous two-way feedback loop between field operations and headquarters by translating policy and normative developments into practical operational guidance, while
• ensuring field evidence and operational learning inform CIVIC's research, policy development, humanitarian diplomacy, and multilateral engagement.
• Identify cross-cutting protection trends emerging from country programs and translate them into organizational priorities, policy products, advocacy initiatives, and technical guidance. 

 6. Innovation and Thought Leadership

• Drive innovation in Protection of Civilians by exploring emerging issues such as civilian harm mitigation, community-led protection, new technologies, artificial intelligence, misinformation, and evolving conflict dynamics. 
• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration across humanitarian, peacebuilding, development, defense, and security sectors to advance innovative and practical approaches to civilian protection.
• Serve as CIVIC's technical lead on Protection of Civilians, guiding programmatic strategy, design, implementation, and learning across country programs. 

Key Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of progressively senior experience in humanitarian protection, protection of civilians, civilian-military engagement, peacebuilding, security sector engagement, or related fields.
• Master's degree in International Relations, Humanitarian Affairs, Peace and Conflict Studies, International Law, Human Rights, Political Science, Security Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy, or another relevant field required. An advanced degree or equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Deep expertise in Protection of Civilians, including operational approaches, community-based protection, civilian harm mitigation, and relevant international norms and best practices.
• Proven experience engaging state and non-state armed actors, security institutions, and government authorities to promote the protection of civilians, international humanitarian law, and improved civilian outcomes in conflict settings.
• Demonstrated experience providing strategic, technical, and programmatic support to field operations throughout the programme cycle, including strategy development, programme design, implementation, and learning.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary and multicultural technical teams, fostering collaboration, innovation, and professional development.
• Strong experience in research, policy development, humanitarian diplomacy, and multilateral engagement, with the ability to translate field evidence into policy influence and operational guidance.
• Proven track record of strategic thinking, innovation, organizational learning, and external representation at senior level.
• Strong understanding of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, UN Protection of Civilians frameworks, civilian harm mitigation, and other relevant international policy and normative frameworks.
  
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, negotiation, and diplomatic skills, with experience engaging governments, donors, multilateral organizations, security actors, and civil society.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to business development, including technical input to proposals, donor engagement, and programme growth.
• Fluency in English and French required; additional languages are an asset.
• Valid authorization to work in Geneva at the time of this application without the need for current or future visa sponsorship. Nationals preferred.

Additional Details 

Application Deadline: November 4, 2026 

Due to the high volume of applications, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Shortlisted candidates will receive an email invitation from TestGorilla to submit their resume. Please complete this step promptly to ensure your candidacy is fully considered.

CIVIC is an Equal Opportunities Employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. 

Note to Recruiters and Placement Agencies: CIVIC does not accept unsolicited agency resumes and does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by agencies other than its approved partners.