Signpost Information Officer - Erbil

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity, and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

CONTEXTUAL BACKGROUND

The IRC established programs in Iraq in 2003 to address the overwhelming needs of displaced people in Iraq and the neighboring countries. Since re-establishing its presence in Iraq in November 2007, the IRC has been assisting thousands of internally displaced families in the northern, central, and southern governorates in the sectors of protection, gender-based violence (GBV), education, economic recovery, Child Protection, and emergency humanitarian assistance. Working in coordination with the humanitarian community in Iraq, the IRC's assistance and emergency programs address the needs of war-affected Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) and Syrian refugees from several operational bases in the country and include both camp-based and urban-based assistance. IRC operates throughout Iraq, with the main office in Erbil and field offices in, Baghdad, SAD, Anbar, and Mosul.

The IRC's Protection Team works to safeguard the human rights and well-being of those affected by several years of conflict and displacement in Iraq. Newly displaced Iraqis, as well as those who were formerly displaced, often lack access to critical documentation, basic social services, and key information about their civil rights.

Job Overview/Summary:

The IRC is launching the Signpost social media project, and under the direct supervision of the Senior Editorial Officer, requires a Moderator to moderate the content on the platform. Signpost is an innovative digital initiative providing the humanitarian community with a platform to reach crisis-affected and displaced communities around Iraq with accessible information. It began in 2015 in Greece and is a collaboration between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Mercy Corps (MC) and has since expanded to include instances in Jordan and El Salvador. Each Signpost channel provides users context-specific, up-to-date information on vital needs such as legal rights, transportation, and medical services in multiple languages – empowering individuals to make informed decisions at the most critical moments.

Signpost harnesses social media to communicate directly with refugees and asylum-seekers, listen to their questions, and provide information. The Moderator will communicate directly with our users every day -- replying to their comments, messages, and questions.

Major Responsibilities:

· Reply to messages and comments received on Signpost social media channels with the help of a team of experts and moderation guidelines.

· Engage users in the conversation online.

· Follow protocol to escalate any communication from vulnerable cases to the Protection Manager and Protection Coordinator.

· Feedback on (and translate into English if required) representative and noteworthy comments and write an analysis of the day’s communications (including responses to posts, trends in conversation, and information gaps).

· Develop content for the social media channels

· Share opinions, feedback, cultural awareness, contextual knowledge, and learning with the wider team on an ongoing basis.

· Collaborate with Editorial Manager, moderators, protection monitoring and legal teams to develop thorough, accurate, and well-researched answers

· Analyze information gaps amongst refugee populations to feed into future content creation.

· Keep up to date with all the new information that we put out on an ongoing basis and attend regular training as required.

· Develop tools such as a new service entry form, service entry update template, and new service provider agreement.

· Create accessible and digestible content on available services and service mapping

· Communicate with service providers continuously to ensure accuracy and consistency of information on the service map; Coordinate with other actors mapping services to avoid duplication of efforts.

· Reviewing the content and design of the service map on an ongoing basis.

· Conduct training for service providers on how to use the service map and solicit feedback from providers.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to Signpost Editorial Manager Position directly supervises: n/a

Indirect Reporting: n/a Other Internal and/or external contacts: The Social Media Moderators will work closely with other IRC departments of IRC on developing social media content to support their mission on Signpost.

Internal: Moderators; IMS team, protection monitoring team, and legal team

External: n/a

Qualifications

1. An accredited bachelor's degree, preferably in Legal studies or a related field, with 2 years of working experience

2. Strong computer proficiency and well acquainted with basic software tools - can navigate autonomously in Windows, Android, Skype, Microsoft Suite, and Google docs.

3. Knowledge of social media platforms, especially Facebook, and cultural use of these platforms.

4. Excellent level of Arabic and English

5. Writing skills in Arabic and English

6. High emotional intelligence (our users are in difficult periods of their lives and moderators need to empathize with them).

7. An understanding of the subtlety of language and an ability to apply communication guidelines in written responses.

8. The ability to exercise strong judgment in ensuring all answers are accurate.

9. A strong commitment to humanitarian principles

10. Ability to work autonomously and as a team player.

11. Experience managing a Facebook page or group is desired

Trial period

Every Signpost information officer must undertake a month’s trial period. During their trial period, the officer is trained by other members of the moderation team, so that they can eventually perform their work autonomously.

At the end of the month’s trial period, each moderator undergoes a review, where their performance is assessed, and the decision is made about whether to offer them a permanent role on the project.

Proficiency tests and trial period

Communication is at the heart of what we do, and we pride ourselves on gold-star communication - between ourselves and our audience. To uphold this standard, all Moderators must take proficiency tests. These include:

English Proficiency

Our primary training materials and much of the moderators’ communication with the Signpost global team take place in English. We require moderators to be proficient in English to at least the following levels:

● Writing: C1

● Reading: C1

● Listening: B2

● Speaking: B2

Translation test

Moderators need to mediate between the Signpost team and our audience. To do this, they need to translate questions from our audience (in their native tongue) to English, without losing any meaning or tone.

The translation test assesses your ability to translate between your spoken-dialectal language (the casual type used on social media) and English. We’re not looking for a professional translator, but your translation should be accurate, clear, and fast, whilst mimicking the tone of the original message (eg. frustrated, distressed, light-hearted).

Trial period

Every Signpost Moderator must undertake a month’s trial period. During their trial period, moderators are trained by other members of the moderation team, so that they can eventually perform their work autonomously.

At the end of the month’s trial period, each moderator undergoes a review, where their performance is assessed, and the decision is made about whether to offer them a permanent role on the project.

Working Environment: IRC office in Erbil. Occasional travel to Anbar. Constant daily contact with internal teams.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Gender Equality IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including maternity leave, gender-sensitive security protocols, and other supportive benefits and allowances. Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: Per the Iraqi Ministry of Health COVID-19 guidelines, IRC requires candidates who are selected for positions to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter IRC premises. However, the exemption is only accepted per the Iraqi Health regulation and upon the provision of a negative PCR test.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity: IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Notice to all Job Seekers

IRC implements an equal employment opportunity policy, and our recruitment process is based on merit.

Applicants and/or successful interview candidates (both internal and external) are not required to pay any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.

If anyone asks you for any financial or non-financial favors to help you secure a job at IRC, kindly report to [email protected].

ملاحظة لكل الباحثين عن وظيفة

تعتمد لجنة الانقاذ الدولية سياسة فرص عمل متساوية وان عملية التوظيف لدينا تعتمد على الجدارة .

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اذا قام اي شخص بطلب اي خدمة مالية او غير مالية لقاء مساعدتكم في تأمين فرصة عمل داخل المنظمة ،يرجى الابلاغ عن ذلك الى [email protected]