Associate Protection Officer (JPO, P2)
Poland, Warsaw, Warsaw
Nonprofit/Community/Social Services/International Cooperation
Other
Date of last update: 2026-03-17 (Expiry date: 2026-04-14)
Job description
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The compatibility is only an indication and should not discourage you from applying if you think your profile matches. It is also not taken into consideration for recruitment.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organisation working to save lives, protect rights and build a better future for refugees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. They work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find refuge from violence, persecution, war or disaster at home. UNHCR also works to end statelessness for millions of people worldwide without a nationality.
Poland currently hosts nearly 1 million refugees from Ukraine, in addition to a smaller number of asylum-seekers and refugees from different countries. Strategically located at the northeastern frontier of the European Union, Poland shares borders with Belarus, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, positioning it as a key gateway to the EU. The UNHCR Country Office in Warsaw supports the Government of Poland to ensure that refugees have access to territory and asylum and realise their rights. As the UN-mandated agency to provide international protection to refugees, UNHCR leads the refugee coordination structure in support of the Government-led response.
As Associate Protection Officer you support the Protection Unit by providing the following:
- Monitoring developments affecting the protection environment;
- Promoting international and national protection law, as well as UN/UNHCR policies;
- Providing legal advice to refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons;
- Supporting protection strategies, including child protection and AGD-sensitive programming;
- Supporting measures to prevent statelessness and strengthening risk management related to protection issues;
- Etc.
Part of the Swiss JPO Programme, this position is sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC of the FDFA.
Please find the full job description here:
More information
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Vacancies: 1
Working hours (%): 80-100% / 100%
80-100% / 100%Type of contract: Staff (Permanent and Fixed Term)
Duration: 2 to 3-year assignment (1 year renewable fixed-term contracts)
Education level: Master's degree
Macro-area: Western and Central Europe without Switzerland
Level of experience: Professional, 3 to 5 years
Area of work Definition: Democracy, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Public Administration
Area of work: Political Affairs, Conflict and Peacekeeping
Type of organisation: Multilateral Organisations
Skills required
For the Swiss JPO programme:
- Swiss nationality
- Not older than 32 years at the date of the first round of interviews
- Fluency in English and a second UN language
- Master's degree
- Strong interest in a longer-term career with the United Nations
For this position:
- Master's degree in Law
- 3 years of professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. UNHCR considers work experience gained after the completion of the first university degree. Internships and unpaid volunteer work may be counted at 50% if they are relevant to the position;
- Solid understanding of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration and its implications for asylum systems and border procedures, with the ability to support related legal and policy analysis;
- Strong drafting and analytical skills and the ability to analyse protection trends and data;
- Good skills in managing sensitive relations with counterparts and partners, as well as strong cross-cultural communication.
Please find more details in the full job description.
Important details regarding your application
Make sure your profile on cinfoPoste is complete and up to date:
- Mandatory: Motivation letter in English (not more than 3500 characters, to be inserted in the pop-up window when you click on "apply")
- Mandatory: UN Personal History Profile duly completed and uploaded under the section "documents". Note that we will base our evaluation and calculation of your relevant experience on the UN Personal History Profile, not the CV.
- Mandatory: Work certificates, diplomas and university credentials (as PDF) uploaded under the section "documents".
- Optional: updated CV in English
Find useful tips and resources related to UN applications on the cinfo website and read this article.
Application deadline: 14 April 2026
First round of interviews: 27 / 28 April 2026 online
Start date: Please be aware that the recruitment process may take 3 to 6 months. You are expected to start your assignment within 3 months following notification of selection.
Any questions? Contact Michal Habegger, cinfo's Recruitment Specialist, recruitment@cinfo.ch
We are committed to gender balance and encourage applications from qualified individuals of all genders. We also welcome applications from people with different gender identities and from people with different backgrounds, including sexual orientation, disability, cultural or religious background. We value an inclusive working environment that promotes equal opportunities and a non-discriminatory culture.
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