Senior Project Officer

PAX is the largest peace organisation in the Netherlands. For the past 75 years, we have been working with local partners in conflict areas worldwide to protect civilians. Against violence of war, towards ending armed conflict and building inclusive peace. If you also believe that everyone has the right to a dignified life in a peaceful society, come work with us!

The protection of civilians in armed conflict is a widely shared objective, but effective ways to organize protection are few and far apart in today’s violent conflicts. PAX aims to amplify the voices and capacities of civilians in conflict to improve the effectiveness of Protection of Civilians (PoC) actors and increase the security of local communities.

This position is based within the PoC Team at PAX. The PoC group’s main activities currently include: research, community engagement and advocacy in South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Yemen and Iraq; training of and networking with PoC actors nationally and internationally; and defense and security policy research and lobby for inclusion of people‑centered PoC policy in our focus countries, as well as at the UN, EU and NATO. We work with partners based in our focus countries, like‑minded international organisations, military and diplomatic actors, researchers, politicians and policy makers (see www.protectionofcivilians.org for more information).

The Project Officer (SPO) contributes mainly to a key initiative of the PoC department: the HSS, which combines research, advocacy and community engagement efforts to amplify the voice of civilians and to improve the provision of security in situations of conflict. The HSS is currently being implemented in Burkina Faso and South Sudan, with a particular application planned in Iraq. The SPO will assist in facilitating quantitative projects in all countries, and will primarily be responsible for managing data cleaning, data analysis, reporting, and presentation in coordination with Project Leads and the PO in all target countries. The SPO will also contribute to administrative and project management support, where needed. This position reports to and is managed by the Project Leads HSS Iraq and South Sudan.

The Senior Project Officer will:

• Show familiarity with concepts and procedures such as data encryption and data security in fragile contexts, and an awareness of necessary data‑collection adaptions within said contexts
• Conduct data wrangling and quantitative analysis using R and ensure version control with GitHub;
• Contribute to the presentation of survey findings (in consultation with in‑country teams) via written reports, infographics, an online dashboard (using Microsoft PowerBI), in‑person presentations and advocacy meetings;
• Train and coach the POs in the management of junior researchers and in the context of assignments and project deliverables
• Assist in organising and implementing trainings for data collection teams in field locations;
• Participate in integrating revisions to the HSS instrument and research methodology;
• Monitor key resources (e.g. Peer organizations, research institutions, publications) for developments in the areas of survey implementation, mobile data collection, data analysis and presentation of research results;
• Contribute, as needed, to project planning, monitoring and evaluation; project and programme events, and other programmematic research initiatives.

We are looking for a quantitative data specialist experienced with high turnover of data and pressing deadlines. Our ideal candidate is a team player capable of working both collaboratively and independently. You should also be flexible and capable of working under stress, willing and able to travel (including to conflict contexts) and have a hands‑on mentality with a sense of humour.

• MA degree in a relevant discipline such as statistics, development economics, human geography, conflict studies, etc. BA degrees may apply if combined with appropriate professional experience;
• Proven track record in quantitative and survey‑based research and proficiency with quantitative data analysis and presentation programmes (e.g. R, STATA, ArcGIS, Tableau, Excel, PowerBI);
• Substantial experience engaging in data wrangling and data analysis in R;
• Previous experience with ODK‑collect/KoboCollect/KoboToolbox is a plus;
• Previous experience with GitHub and version control procedures is a plus;
• Up‑to‑date knowledge on developments in survey technologies and data analysis tools, as well as data security;
• Ideally, experience in the fields of conflict, governance and security programming;
• Strong writing and verbal communication skills, proven in inter‑cultural contexts;
• Experience managing juniors, including assigning daily tasks, setting project deliverables, and ensuring deadlines are met. Ideally this experience extends to coordinating tasks remotely;
• Excellent command of English and ideally Arabic or French;
• Willingness to travel to conflict areas (including outside of capital cities);
• In case of non‑Dutch candidates, an existing, valid work permit for the European Union is required;
• Affinity with the core values and traditions of PAX.

• An accessible workplace in a vibrant area in the heart of Utrecht, with regular international travel;
• A dynamic position in a high‑paced, informal and international working environment in a committed and fun team;
• Start date as soon as possible, but ideally 1st of May 2026;
• Appointment for 36 hours per week (1 FTE), initially for 12 months with possible extension;
• Salary scale 9 according to the PKN employment conditions (depending on experience minimum EUR 3.202,30 to maximum EUR 4.593,54 gross per month for 36 hours per week);
• 8% holiday‑allowance and 8,3% end of year bonus;
• Full reimbursement of commuting expenses, 2nd class public transport;
• Flexible working hours and the possibility to work partially from home.