CARE International in Turkey (CARE), together with its partners, provides humanitarian assistance to people affected by the Syrian crisis, both in Syria and Turkey. CARE began projects responding to the needs of Syrian refugees in southern Turkey in October 2014.

CARE works with conflict-affected refugees inside Turkey and host communities – with a programmatic focus on vulnerable women and girls. CARE Turkey places women and girls at the center of its work with refugees because a woman is the catalyst of change in her community – changing her life will change the community; they are also disproportionally affected by poverty. In the context of refugees, girls are vulnerable to early marriage, and girls and boys are both vulnerable to sexual exploitation and to exploitation in the labor market. This does not mean that we do not work with men. By engaging with men, we are better able to address these issues.

POSITION SUMMARY

Managed by the Assistant Country Director for Programs in Gaziantep, the position holder will work in close collaboration with Turkey Program Team and the wider country office.  Using a rights-based approach, the position holder will be responsible for the overall provision of legal aid managed by CARE in Turkey, including legal counselling and legal assistance to specific cases, to support clients and target communities in developing an understanding of the protection and legal issues, and to work in coordination with other actors to identify ways to address legal issues faced by persons under international and temporary protection in Turkey.

S/he is expected to demonstrate high levels of personal initiative, will build excellent working relationships with local and national networks, and serve as lead contributor to ensure the provision of timely, quality and compelling information on CARE’s advocacy efforts in Turkey. Besides legal aid management, s/he expected to support the Turkey program advocacy strategy development and implementation, coordinating closely with CARE’s Turkey overall advocacy efforts. S/he will play a significant role in shaping CARE's external face and policy engagement to ensure the development and dissemination of targeted and measurable advocacy efforts.

Additionally, the Legal Aid Manager will be responsible for ensuring CARE proactively engages in relevant humanitarian coordination mechanisms for southern Turkey and national level, as appropriate. We require the Legal Aid Manager to have strong skills in coordination and relationship building; the management of community-based protection efforts in complex environments; program design; donor liaison; and leadership of staff.

General Functions

1. Leading a team of Legal Counsellors that are working on Legal Awareness, Legal Counselling, Legal Assistance, and Legal Representation- as follows:
   • Providing legal counseling, legal assistance, and legal referral services to specific cases
   • Supporting to develop an understanding of the protection and legal issues affecting the target communities
   • Supporting the development of legal sessions and training on the legal context for persons under international and temporary protection in Turkey in coordination with other counterparts
   • Working in coordination with other actors (especially Provincial Bar Associations) to identify ways to address legal issues
2. Program Development
3. Project management and accountability
4. Representation

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Job Responsibility #1  Team leadership      25% of time

• Develop the capacity of the team, deepen understanding of their roles and assist with career development.
• Assist team members with information, tools, and resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
• Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback informally and formally via regular one-on-one and performance reviews.
• Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

Job Responsibility #2  Program Development   25% of time

• Maintain a sound understanding of the developments in Syria and Turkey, and the needs and opportunities for refugee programming in Turkey
• Contribute to the development of the legal aid and other cross-cutting efforts that are specific strategic program plans for CARE in Turkey.
• Contribute to the reinforcement of an effective strategy for legal aid and other cross-cutting activities and build strong community networks
• Support the Assistant Country Director and the External Affairs and Public Relations Director in the development of activities to secure resources for programs and convince stakeholders to provide support.
• Support the development and implementation of an advocacy strategy for the Turkey response, working closely with its management and technical staff in the country office to further CARE’s mission to advance key protection and assistance priorities for refugees in Turkey, with emphasis on women and girls

Job Responsibility #3  Project management and accountability   25% of time

• Manage the successful completion of assigned projects, including coordinating staff and plans on a day-to-day basis to ensure the effective and accountable management of CARE projects.
• Ensure the delivery of quality legal aid within CARE and ensure smooth administrative and operational functioning of the established system, including oversight for Legal Awareness, Legal Counselling, Legal Assistance, and Legal Representation, and strengthening of referral pathways.
• Ensure that CARE’s legal aid efforts implementation is responsive to communities and consistent with CARE’s relevant guidelines, principles, values, quality standards and strategic plan. 
• Ensure CARE implements grants in a manner that meets contractual obligations, including all donor and CARE policy, procedures, rules, and regulations.
• Conduct regular team meetings with the program team to ensure the project is implemented as per agreed work plans and support them in doing this.
• Facilitate program reporting and information flow to the Assistant Country Director to complete CARE/donor reporting requirements.
• Ensure that accountability mechanisms are implemented according to agreed procedures.
• Prepare donor reports and ensure all reporting to the donor are within agreed timeframes.
• Monitor project expenditures in coordination with the CARE Assistant Country Director.
• Ensure risks are appropriately managed, including financial, safety and security, programmatic and reputational.
• Coordinate and collaborate with technical specialists as needed.
• Lead the implementation of a collective impact model through cultivating relationships with other civil society actors and developing partnerships and coordination towards achieving joint goals.
• Initiate and actively contribute to joint NGO advocacy positions, messages, and initiatives, as prioritized in the CARE Turkey advocacy strategy, and with a focus on the perspective of and impact on women and girls.

Job Responsibility #4   Representation     25% of time

• Represent CARE at appropriate NGO/UN forums and working group coordination mechanisms.
• Represent CARE Turkey at donor meetings, high-level visits, UN meetings, the government of Turkey coordination meetings, and cluster and other coordination meetings, as appropriate.
• CARE was the first NGO in Turkey to hold leadership roles in Turkey. Currently, CARE is the Technical Advisor of the Cash-based Interventions Technical Working Group (CBITWG), NGO Technical Advisor role for Basic Needs Working Group, and was Technical Advisor for the Protection Working Group, and the chair of the Accountability to Affected Population Task Force. Besides, CARE created the legal working group for South-East in 2018-2019 and still chairing it – the expectation for this role to support this effort by providing leadership to the relevant technical working groups for harmonizing approaches and services, avoiding duplication, promoting learning across agencies, building capacities, strengthening synergies and complementarity, connecting governmental organizations to local and international actors.

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Turkish lawyer registered with a Bar Association in Turkey.
• University degree in law (preferably at master’s level).
• Five years of work experience of which at least three in a not-for-profit humanitarian organization at relevant position(s)
• Working knowledge of the Temporary and International Protection regimes in Turkey and related legal issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey.
• Extensive knowledge of international legal instruments relating to humanitarian work such as International Humanitarian Law, European Convention on Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1951 Geneva Convention, CEDAW Convention, Istanbul Convention, and the Convention on the Rights of Child.
• Fluent spoken and written English.
• Strong understanding of the Turkish social services system and functions of government agencies with the emphasis on legal authorities.
• Strong planning, interpersonal and communication skills.
• A team leader, eager to inspire others
• Excellent computer skills, especially in MS Word, MS Excel and MS Outlook

Desirable

• Extensive experience in the provision of legal aid in humanitarian settings
• Experience of liaising/coordinating activities with other organizations
• Experience of managing/supervising staff across different locations in a matrix structure
• Knowledge of Turkey context
• Good contacts/networking in the local governance structures in the operational area.

LANGUAGE SKILLS  

Must be able to read and interpret documents and communicate with others as necessary to perform job duties effectively.

Child Protection Policy

Child abuse in all forms is unacceptable to CARE Turkey, which recognizes its responsibility to protect children from harm in all areas of its work. CARE Turkey is committed to ensuring a child-safe environment and is applying a zero-tolerance approach towards any kind of child abuse and exploitation.

Discrimination, Abuse and Harassment Policy

CARE Turkey expressly prohibits and will not tolerate any form of discrimination, abuse, harassment (sexual or otherwise), based upon race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship status, disability, or military status. CARE employees and related personnel must under no circumstances take part in any form of discrimination, harassment, or abuse (physical, sexual or verbal), intimidation or exploitation, or in any other way infringe the rights of others inside or outside CARE.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested candidates, please attach a Curriculum Vitae in English and a Cover letter (in a separate file of no more than one A4 page) describing how your skills and experience match the requirements of this post, following to provided link when you click on the apply button.

Applications in languages other than English will not be reviewed.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted

** CARE International is an Equal Opportunity Employer **

** Female candidates are encouraged to apply! **