JO# 18676 – Assistant Data Protection Officer – NOA – PN 10032074 – UNHCR Fixed Term Appointment - Beirut, Lebanon

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

Eight years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with nearly 950,000  Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees of other origins - mostly Iraqi - and Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country.

The refugee response is led by the Government and UNHCR and UNDP, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field. The structure brings together over 150 UN agencies, national and international NGO partners [over 150 actors, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs and Ministries] in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The Lebanon Chapter of the Response Plan falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and is currently operating with around 650 staff. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has field offices in Mount Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The Assistant Data Protection Officer reports directly to the Data Protection Focal Point, designated by the Data Controller to assist in carrying out his/her responsibilities under the Policy on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR, within the Area of Responsibility (AoR). The incumbent provides functional expertise and oversight on data protection, and provides guidance, standards and advice to UNHCR field offices and functional units, as well as to partner organizations, within the AoR ¿ on the processing of personal data of persons of concern, which includes questions regarding the collection, storage, access to, sharing and use of personal data of persons of concern. S/he also provides advice to UNHCR staff on data protection issues, and represents the Organization to external partners and other stakeholders on data protection policy and practice.

The Assistant Data Protection Officer is relied upon by the Office to provide quality, timely and effective data protection guidance, taking into consideration the rights of data subjects and well-being of populations of concern, as well as UNHCR's operational needs. This includes ensuring that UNHCR staff have the necessary guidance and procedures, based on global policies and guidance, to be both proactive and responsive to data protection issues in ways that ensure the effective functioning of UNHCR's mandate and operations within the AoR, including maintaining the trust of persons of concern. The incumbent will formulate and provide advice related to data protection to external partners, as well as respond to queries, including with respect to requests for sharing of personal data, developing data-sharing agreements and arrangements where appropriate. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective partnerships with external partners, functional units and field offices within the AoR, as well as relevant colleagues within Headquarters, and the Regional Bureau.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Promote and disseminate data protection principles and best practices at the country operation level.
• Ensure UNHCR maintains and improves adherence to policies and practical guidance on the protection of personal data of persons of concern, including in response to the use of new technologies and innovations.
• Ensure UNHCR¿s protection interventions and operational responses at field level, as well as its guidance to partners and other relevant stakeholders are conducted in accordance with the 2015 Policy and 2018 Guidance on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR, the 2018 UN Chief Executive Board¿s Personal Data Protection and Privacy Principles, as well as other international instruments concerning the protection of personal data and the right to privacy.
• Provide prompt, principled and timely guidance, advice and support to the Country Office(s), as well as to partners and other relevant stakeholders, on a wide range of data protection issues, in accordance with the 2015 Policy and 2018 Guidance on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR.
• Contribute to the development, and promote the use, of country-specific guidance, tools, best practices, and standard operating procedures on data protection for persons of concern, including in the context of information and data management systems (such as proGres, EfA, RAIS, and Project X), and in the context of innovation projects with potential implications for the protection of personal data of persons of concern.
• Ensure and, as appropriate, take part in procedures for data subjects to request information, access, correction, deletion and objection in a fair and effective way.
• Actively encourage and guide UNHCR staff within the AoR, as well as other stakeholders, to undertake measures aimed at compliance with the 2015 Policy and 2018 Guidance on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR.
• Assess training needs in line with the priorities of the Operation, develop and deliver training on data protection to UNHCR staff and partners.
• Maintain inventories of information provided by the Data Controller and Data Protection Focal Point, including Data Sharing Agreements, specific instances of data sharing with third parties, Data Protection Impact Assessments, data breach notifications, and complaints by data subjects.
• Monitor and report on compliance with the 2015 Policy on the Protection of Personal Data of Persons of Concern to UNHCR, including through contributing to an Annual Data Protection Report, to be submitted through the Data Protection Focal Point to the Data Controller.
• Represent UNHCR on data protection issues in both internal meetings and with external counterparts.
• Apply existing doctrine, law, policy and standard operating procedures to relevant situations, including through provision of advice.
• Initiate, design and negotiate new procedures and practices on data protection, as well as data sharing agreements with external partners, as appropriate.
• Perform other related duties as required.