Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) Officer at Mercy Corps

Position Status: Full-time, Regular
Reports Directly To: M&E Advisor
Supervisory Responsibility: None

Program / Department Summary

• Waves of resource-based, ethnic, and sectarian conflict, rising criminality and banditry, and expanding violent extremism are rendering North Central and Northwest Nigeria increasingly insecure.
• While multiple initiatives seek to address the complex causes of violence, community and security responses to drivers and triggers are often piecemeal at best, and ineffectual at worst.
• Existing Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) systems suffer from slow responses, poor coordination, top-down mandates that limit community ownership, weak dispute resolution skills among responders, little political and financial investment, leadership structures that exclude women and youth, and scant rigorous evidence. The result of ineffective EWER systems is that unchecked, violence proliferates.
• To examine and mitigate these barriers, Peace Action for Rapid and Transformative Nigerian Early Response (PARTNER) will pursue a bold approach to collaboration across local, international, government, non-government, community, state, and security stakeholders. Our consortium of Government Agencies and CSOs will be led by Mercy Corps in a mentorship capacity in Years 1 and 2, after which local partners will assume leadership, working hand-in-hand with other consortium members.
• Local ownership, fueled by iterative organizational performance assessment and capacity strengthening, will inform each component of the proposed sustainable, flexible, and evidence-based national EWER system that builds on existing locally-led and gender-sensitive conflict management mechanisms for vertical integration; incentivizes quick responses through horizontal coordination; and fosters increased trust in security and government actors to promote inclusive and collective action. By embedding EWER innovations within formal structures from the beginning, PARTNER will increase Nigeria’s self-reliance in leading a holistic, coordinated, and effective effort to promote sustainable peace.

General Position Summary

• A Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) is an essential part of Mercy Corps' commitment to excellence and integrity, by providing individuals, organizations, local groups, and other stakeholders a means of raising concerns about potential staff misconduct or sharing feedback or programmatic activities (positive and negative) with Mercy Corps, independently from program operations. In the context of Nigeria, rolling out and implementing CARM will ensure that the Nigeria team will continue to uphold Mercy Corps' high standards of accountability.
• The CARM Officer will support CARM implementation primarily within the PARTNER portfolio, dividing his/her time between the continued establishment, maintenance, management, and adaptation of CARM implementation within the PARTNER program implementing organization and the rollout of CARM into EWER related activities.
• While working with the program teams and MEL teams s/he would manage and support the adaptation of CARM work plans, focusing on CARM rollout and maintenance.
• The priorities will include supporting program-specific and country-level standard operating procedures (SOPs), defined processes and mechanisms, production of bi-monthly analysis reports and program-level reports on CARM, and the production and development of training plans and awareness materials for staff from both programs and departments on administering Mercy Corps accountability framework in communities.
• This includes Mercy Corps' own expectations of their staff and program activities. S/he will deal with day-to-day feedback that includes handling of complaints, questions, reports and requests for support as received from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in the communities PARTNER program works directly.

Essential Job Responsibilities
Implementation & Program Quality:

• Support the implementation and adaptation of the Nigeria CARM strategy/operational manual.
• Provide strong support to CARM channels covering project locations including phone line, WhatsApp business and email which document and receive community feedback.
• Support the creation and circulation of a bi-monthly CARM report for relevant stakeholders, that presents CARM findings, successes, trends and tweaks to implementation processes, and adaptation as a result of feedback received.
• Support in the preparation of a weekly and/or as necessary status update on CARM for the COP as requested.
• Support in the development of work plans at the programmatic and partner levels for the roll-out of CARM.
• Help to develop feedback and data-flow mapping.
• Together with MEL colleagues, support in the development of a system for analyzing trends in feedback received.
• Produce internal reports on CARM itself, in response to feedback received via training and awareness session evaluation forms.
• Support the communications team and/or local partners in designing and disseminating appropriate communication materials that promote the use of feedback mechanisms or transparency (hotline business cards, distribution signs, community signs and banners, etc.);
• Conduct field visits, engage CARM spot checks, trainings.
• Liaise with necessary units to support programs in encouraging community participation in needs assessments and project design
• Support in the maintenance and organization of CARM database, in coordination with the PaQ team.

Capacity Building:

• Support with orientation sessions for staff and field partners and other CARM stakeholders.
• Training of staff on receiving complaints and feedback and on community sensitization, particularly on informing communities and handling feedback on sensitive subjects of potential staff misconduct.

Coordination:

• Collaborate with other actors to develop referral maps and mechanisms for communities where MC implements programs.

Organizational Learning:

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries:

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
• Report on any problems encountered in the field such as project participant complaints, local authority interference, and security threats to MC staff and activities. Coordinate with MC Security Officer and State Manager on any threats to MC staff and activities; follow up on incidents/security threats in areas of operation.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• No Supervisory Responsibility - (None)

Accountability:

• Reports Directly To: M&E Advisor
• Works Directly With:PARTNER Consortium members, Program Team, PaQ team members including MEL and Communications Teams, Ethics and Assurances Director, Safeguarding Focal Point, CARM programmatic focal points, and all project, including Mercy Corps beneficiaries.

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in relevant field. Proven (at least intermediate) report writing skills are required.
• 2-4 years of related work experience, preferably with an international or local Non- Governmental Organization (NGO).
• Excellent writing skills in English, languages such as Hausa a plus. The ability to write reports at a native English level.
• Proven experience in data collection, data entry, data/information management and analysis.
• Proven experience in developing or contributing to accountability frameworks, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for feedback mechanisms.
• Experience and/or training in handling sensitive information - Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) training is an advantage, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Child Protection knowledge and capacities.
• The ability to work closely in a team, be patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and work in an environment that is often stressful and potentially volatile.
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language challenges. Tact and diplomacy are essential;
• Understanding of preventing sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding and how other types of code of conduct issues may arise in CARM mechanisms and best practices for raising awareness of and responding to those concerns.

Success Factors:

• Critical problem-solving skills and the ability to work out methods of delivery in very different operating contexts.
• S/he will be highly motivated, and capable to work without direct supervision.
• S/he will demonstrate attention to detail, will be committed to working long hours, be able to work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment and be willing to travel regularly to Mercy Corps field offices and project sites.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions:

• The position is based in Abuja and requires travel to project states.
• Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.