Gender & Safeguarding Officer

HERO (Humanitarian Education and Rights Organization) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental, non-political, nonpartisan Afghan national NGO. Established in 2018 by Afghan youth and human rights defenders, HERO serves the nation through programs in education, social and environmental protection, cultural heritage preservation,healthcare, women’s empowerment, strategic research and data analysis, and media outreach.

HERO has adopted a strategic approach of partnership and collaboration throughout its program implementation. To date, it has implemented projects in partnership with UNHCR, UN Women, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, and the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. With headquarters in Kandahar and provincial offices in Nangarhar, Kabul, Uruzgan, Helmand, Zabul, Ghazni, and Herat, HERO’s collaborative model enables access to hard-to-reach areas and ensures quality service delivery across Afghanistan.

Job Summary: 

The Officer ensures that all project activities are gender-sensitive, socially inclusive, and fully compliant with safeguarding and PSEA standards. She will safeguard all empolyees, beneficiaries from exploitation, abuse, and gender-based violence (GBV), while promoting accountability, dignity, and empowerment. The role also involves contributing to proposal development, representing the project in protection, safeguarding, PSEA, and GBV cluster meetings, and providing technical inputs to strengthen donor proposals in gender, social safeguarding, and PSEA areas.

Key Responsibilities

Gender Mainstreaming

• Integrate gender-sensitive and PSEA-compliant approaches into vocational training curricula and outreach.
• Ensure equitable participation of women across all project activities.
• Conduct gender and social safeguarding risk analysis, providing recommendations for program design.

Safeguarding & Social Protection

• Ensure strict adherence to safeguarding, social safeguarding, and PSEA policies across all project activities.
• Establish safe, confidential complaint and feedback mechanisms for beneficiaries, with clear referral pathways for PSEA and GBV cases.
• Act as focal point for GBV, social safeguarding, and PSEA issues, ensuring timely response, documentation, and follow-up.

Proposal Development

• Contribute gender, social safeguarding, and PSEA concepts, strategies, and frameworks to donor proposals.
• Provide technical inputs on protection, GBV, and PSEA for new funding opportunities.
• Draft concept notes and sections related to gender, social safeguarding, and PSEA.

Cluster Coordination

• Represent the project in GBV, PSEA, and protection cluster meetings.
• Share lessons learned and advocate for women’s needs in vocational training, safeguarding, and PSEA.
• Strengthen partnerships with local and international safeguarding and PSEA networks.

Capacity Building

• Train project staff and partners on gender sensitivity, social safeguarding, and PSEA compliance.
• Develop training materials and guidelines for safeguarding and PSEA practices.
• Build awareness among beneficiaries about their rights, PSEA reporting channels, and available services.

Monitoring & Reporting

• Track safeguarding incidents, social safeguarding concerns, PSEA cases, and gender indicators.
• Provide timely reports to management, donors, and cluster partners, including PSEA compliance updates.
• Document lessons learned and best practices for continuous improvement in safeguarding, social safeguarding, and PSEA.

Job requirement

• Bachelor’s degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or related field (Master’s degree is an asset).
• Minimum 3–5 years of experience in gender, safeguarding, or protection roles within NGOs.
• Strong knowledge of PSEA, GBV prevention, and social safeguarding frameworks.
• Experience contributing to proposal writing and donor compliance.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, and reporting skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with women beneficiaries, community leaders, and cluster partners.

Interested and qualified national candidates are encouraged to apply by clearly indicating the position title and vacancy number in the email subject line. Applications without this information will not be considered.

·       Only short-listed candidates meeting the criteria will be contacted for an interview.

·       Late applications will not be considered.

Submission Email: hr@h-hero.org