Community Response and Accountability Manager - Beirut

Monitoring & Evaluation

Overview

Manage client responsiveness and accountability systems.

You have:

• BA/BS Degree in international relief and development, public health, social sciences, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of managerial experience within the international development/humanitarian sector.
• At least 3 years of experience in accountability, client responsiveness, M&E, social services or other beneficiary or client-facing role.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic.
• Proven ability to work successfully with local stakeholders such as local and international NGOs, government, etc.

Work Arrangement:

Job Description

IRC supports the right of people affected by crisis to participate in and shape the decisions that affect them. As stated in IRC global Strategy 100 (S100), our organizational Ambition is that “our clients have greater influence over program design and delivery” .

A client-responsive IRC means that programming decisions—what assistance to provide, to whom, when, where and how—are informed and influenced by client preferences, aspirations and expectations. As such, IRC Lebanon prioritized “Client Consultation” as part of its IMPACT standards for the year 2019, and included that in its strategic action plan. The IRC Middle East Regional Office has also established a Feedback and Response Mechanism (CRA) initiative and policy in which IRC Lebanon aspires to align with and harmonize.

In January of 2018, the ERD program at IRC Lebanon rolled out a pilot of CRA activities in all its livelihood centers. This involved the recruitment of 2 full-time dedicated Feedback and Complaints Officers (FCOs) roving within IRC’s main implementation areas in Bekaa and Tripoli T5.

A full-time dedicated Accountability Manager is responsible to ensure the design, management, implementation, and continuous improvement and learning of the Lebanon Clients Responsiveness and Accountability policy and support local partners to do so, The position is also responsible to ensure the Clients feedback mechanism for both IRC and partners is functional, and that people are informed of their right to submit feedback and complaints, that risks are identified and managed, that complaints are handled in a timely, fair and appropriate manner, and that complaints data are used to inform programmatic decision making and improvements. This includes facilitating information and awareness efforts, technically supervising the processing and resolution of complaints, handling analysis and reporting, facilitating external complaints referrals in alignment with existing referral mechanisms, and assisting with trouble-shooting and escalating issues.

The Accountability Manager will directly report to the Lebanon MEAL Coordinator, and line manage the 2 existing Feedback and Complaints Officers with possible increase in number of FCOs for the CRA expansion.

Major Responsibilities

Management of the Client Responsiveness Systems

· Ensure accountability mechanisms follow IRC country/regional/global strategies, guidelines and standards.

· The CRA Manager is responsible for supporting the MEAL Coordinator with all aspects of designing, planning, and implementing the CR strategy and mechanism throughout the country program – including Client Responsiveness guidelines, global commitments on accountability to affected population (AAP) and participation revolution, strategic action plan of IRC Lebanon and agreed standards.

· Design, develop, and modify core processes and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the feedback, reporting, and complaints mechanism, including designing and selection of feedback channels and Do No Harm in project areas.

· Train all country full-time staff and casual workers in accountability principles and practices

· Lead on coordination and liaison with program and support unit staff to ensure successful implementation and compliance with the client responsiveness and accountability strategy and mechanism.

· Ensure robust clients’ feedback mechanisms are in-place to encourage the communities to share their feedbacks and concerns.

· Develop context specific clients’ feedback channels plans (proactive and reactive) for projects as well as providing technical support and guidance on implementation of the different clients’ feedback channels plans in all projects.

· Regularly review and update clients’ feedback channels plans with changing context and situation.

· Support with program management and allocate adequate resources for clients’ responsiveness in projects budgets, prepare budget forecasts as part of the overall MEAL budget.

· Manage the delivery of IRC’s accountability services in Lebanon, including public information campaigns/outreach mechanisms, communication channels, and coordination of internal/external referrals of complaints in alignment with existing referral mechanisms.

· Develop, set-up and modify as necessary IRC’s accountability communications materials (suggestion boxes, hotline, messaging, help desk, etc.) and outreach methods (brochures, posters, information sessions, videos, etc.).

· Build knowledge and awareness of IRC staff on CRA mechanism as part of the orientation plan.

· Together with program teams, ensure the timeliness and quality of IRC’s responses to beneficiaries’ feedback/complaints.

· Ensure that all data arising from accountability mechanisms are available and of use to the Lebanon country program and beyond, including data quality assurance, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and reporting.

Management of Reporting and Information Sharing.

· In coordination with T4P staff in country and the regional office, roll-out the implementation of the ticketing/information management system (JIRA), or other future technology solutions, fit for purpose.

· Prepare reports/dashboards presenting number of complaints/feedback instances by issue type, sector, response provided and average time to provide resolution to issues recorded. Conduct trending analysis and comparison to benchmarks whenever possible.

· Work with the Lebanon MEAL Coordinator, program teams and the Grants Unit in ensuring that accountability elements support strong proposals for new funding and high-quality reporting.

· Develop, alongside the T4P and Information Management team, effective visualization and reporting channels that adequately represent real-time tracking of client responsiveness information.

· Develop a quarterly Narrative Report for IRC’s Client Responsiveness and Accountability, detailing an executive summary, findings, learnings, and recommendations.

· Conduct regular check-ins with program leads, to discuss findings on Accountability Mechanisms, and reports from clients on-field.

Capacitation of Local Partners on Accountability and Client Responsiveness:

· Work (alongside the partnership team and partner leads) on identifying gaps and needs for partners in line with IRC’s Standard Operating Procedures on Client Responsiveness.

· Develop tailored Workplans to ensure partner organizations are capacitated on enhancing their client responsiveness mechanisms in time with respective sub-awarding and funding.

· Capacitate local partners by thorough check-ins and training on the needed accountability operational measures.

· Provide trainings to local partner staff on Client Responsiveness Topics

· Oversight the provision of systems and software’s that can support the local partners in their feedback and complaint mechanisms.

Research, Learning and Analysis

· Provide thought leadership to the Lebanon country program on emerging accountability concerns, needs and solutions.

· Contribute to the country program’s programmatic and organizational learning efforts around accountability.

· Contribute to IRC’s regional and global accountability and client responsiveness initiatives, as requested.

· In coordination with the MEAL Coordinator, conduct periodic reviews and evaluation of the CRA system with beneficiaries and staff.

· Provide data and findings from the Client Responsiveness perspective within program design meetings, program implementation meetings, and program closure meetings.

· Pioneer an effective Participatory Approach system through engaging clients on field to realize effective and participatory program design recommendations.

· Engage in the Strategic Action Plan efforts for IRC to ensure relay of client’s feedback and mainstream these results within the SAP reports.

Staff Performance Management, Learning & Development

· Supervise and oversee the work of Feedback and Complaints Officers who will be responsible to operate the CRA communication channels and administer the processing of complaints and responses.

· Recruit additional Feedback and Complaints Officers for the expansion of CRA to all programs and geographic areas in Lebanon.

· Coach, train, and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting annual performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, holding regular check-in meetings, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.

· Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.

· Participate in relevant trainings, workshops, webex, community of practices, events, etc. to improve technical and managerial capacity as well as professional and personal development.

Coordination & Representation

· As delegated by the Lebanon MEAL Coordinator, represent IRC in inter-agency forums and discussions.

· Participate in relevant working groups both within and outside of the INGO and UN cluster system.

· Effectively participate and contribute to the Regional CRA community of practice working group.

Key Working Relationships

Position Reports to: Lebanon Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) Coordinator

Position Directly Supervises: Currently 2 Feedback and Complaints Officers with possible expansion to more staff.

Key Internal Contacts:

§ Country Program: All staff and departments within the Lebanon Country Program, including but not limited to the MEAL teams, T4P teams, Program teams, Partnership Unit, Grants Unit, Operations Unit, Human Resources teams, Safety and Security, etc.

§ Region/Global: Regional M&E unit, Regional T4P unit, HQ Ethics & Compliance unit, as well as M&E and Accountability staff in other country programs

Key External Contacts: Partner organizations, other humanitarian actors, UN agencies

#LI-DNI

Qualifications

Education: BA/BS Degree in international relief and development, public health, social sciences, or a related field; MA/MS a plus

Work Experience:

· At least 3 years of managerial experience within the international development / humanitarian sector, some of which was at a manager level (at least year experience supervising staff)

· At least 3 years of experience in accountability, client responsiveness, M&E, social services or other beneficiary or client-facing role

Demonstrated Skills:

· Excellent technical skills in contemporary accountability, humanitarian standards or relevant M&E methods and practices, with hands-on experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis

· Strong program/technical management, planning and reporting skills

· Strong written and oral communication skills, with ability to express ideas and concepts clearly and persuasively with senior internal and external stakeholders

· Proven ability to design and lead training engagements with staff and partners to enhance skills and adapt to changing program demands

· Strong client-focused orientation

· Strong methodical planning and organizational skills

· Strong analytical, presentation, and reporting skills

· Excellent relationship-building, interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively work with colleagues and beneficiaries

· Experience of working successfully with local stakeholders such as local and international NGOs, government, etc. with sensitivity and diplomacy

· Mature and structured approach to team management and project delivery

· Positive attitude to work, self-reflective, motivated, inspired, collegial

· Proven ability to work well in and promote teamwork, thrive in a multi-cultural environment, be flexible and handle pressure with professional grace

· Strong commitment to IRC’s mission, purpose and values

Languages: Professional fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic.

Computer/Other Tech Requirements:

· Full professional competency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

· Experience with mobile data collection (i.e ODK/ONA, KOBO, CommCare) and data management software strongly preferred.

Working Environment

The position is based in Beirut, and expected to travel frequently to Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Akkar, and the Bekaa.

WOMEN OF ALL BACKGROUNDS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: rescue.org