Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) Officer at Street Child

ToR – Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) Officer 

Position : Complaints Response Mechanism Officer 

Reports to : Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Manager  

Duty Station : Maiduguri, Borno (including frequent field visits)  

Contract Term : 1-year fixed term with possibility of extension 

Working Hours : Monday to Thursday 8:30am - 5:15pm, Friday 8:30am - 1:30pm 

About Street Child 

Street Child is a UK non-profit organisation established in 2008 that aims to support children living in vulnerable settings to ensure they have access to education, including the estimated 260 million school-age children worldwide who do not attend school. (UNESCO 2020).  

Street Child works to ensure children are safe, in school, and learning - even, and especially, in low resource environments and emergencies. Street Child specialises in working with local level organisations for lasting impact. Since 2008, Street Child has supported 750,000+ children and 50,000+ caregivers across 20+ countries in Eastern Europe, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Street Child is a dynamic and fast-growing British NGO recognised for an agile, ambitious approach and has an annual programmatic portfolio of $28M across a range of conflict and crisis contexts. 

About the Role 

Street Child is looking for a dedicated Complaints Response Mechanism (CRM) Officer to support our accountable and people-centred programmes in Nigeria. The successful candidate will support Street Child’s Child Protection, Education, and Livelihood teams through design, implementation, and maintenance/analysis of accessible, context-specific community complaint and feedback mechanisms that can inform organizational accountability and best practice in the ongoing humanitarian response. The successful candidate will join the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Team and work within the wider organizational M&E framework. 

The CRM Officer will be expected to maintain the CRM database by ensuring proper documentation and aggregation of CRM data including qualitative and quantitative analysis of complaints received, investigated and responded to as well as providing detailed summaries of complaints issues to feedback to the program team during monthly and quarterly meetings/reports.  

The CRM Officer will work with key stakeholders (internal and external) to complement existing good practice and addresses current and emerging Accountability to Affected Persons (AAP) gaps. The work of the CRM Officer will support the implementation of the Street Child CRM and AAP Guide and Policy (2022), other KPIs such as Disability Inclusion Roadmap, Gender Policy and relevant street child policies and good practice requirements.

Key Responsibilities 

Project Management 

• Under the guidance of the protection manager, compile sensitive complaints like harassment, SEA, abuse, and exploitation and process according to the CRM SOP. 

• Provide guidance and technical support on complaints and feedback to the humanitarian response, in all phases of project cycle. 

• Develop an activity implementation plan for complaints and feedback and other MEAL related activities with support from MEAL Manager. 

• Lead/organize regular monitoring visits and if required project action plans revisions and modifications. 

• Ensure compliance with Core Humanitarian Standards on Quality and Accountability. 

• Working with MEAL Manager, ensure adequate data capturing of project participants. 

• Coordinate and support CRM activities, especially at the community level. These can include: identifying appropriate candidates for outreach volunteers, delivering sensitizations and training, overseeing implementation and conducting monitoring in the field. 

• Oversee the work of the Helpdesk agents and community outreach workers, providing practical advice and guidance. 

Information and Coordination 

• Support the MEAL Manager in the design, development, and review of an organisation-wide complaints response policy and associated mechanism to capture community-generated feedback. 

• Take the lead in regular collection and categorisation of complaints and feedback. 

• Prepare monthly and quarterly analysis and reporting of incoming complaints and trends and identify solutions. 

• Escalate and follow up on complaints received with concerned project teams. 

• Ensure that Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials on complaints and feedback are context specific (including language, content, and socio-cultural appropriateness). 

• Serve as a focal person for CRM and accountability coordination and capacity strengthening for Street Child’s national partners, including CRM spot check and capacity building. 

• Represent Street Child within relevant coordination structures such as the Community Engagement, Accountability and Learning (CEAL) Working Group. 

Safeguarding 

• Collaborate with the Safeguarding Focal Point to ensure that Street Child global and national policies on Safeguarding and Child Protection are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility.  

• This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Street Child’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures. 

Key Relationships 

• This role will report to the MEAL Manager and be sited within the MEAL Department. 

• The CRM Officer will have regular and substantial engagement with other Street Child staff and stakeholders including: 

• Senior Management Team (SMT), Department Managers and Technical leads 

• Third-party vendors and service providers 

• National partner organisations (primarily MEAL personnel) 

• Community members and other key stakeholders in project locations 

Person Specification 

• Excellent interpersonal and listening skills with honesty and confidentiality; ability to deal tactfully and discreetly with situations, people and information. 

• Ability to positively influence others and successfully reconcile differences. 

• A self-starter with a demonstrated strong results-based orientation and with high levels of integrity, credibility and dependability – especially under pressure. 

• An energetic team player who can effectively collaborate, and who can stand alone when necessary. 

• Commitment to Street Child’s mission, vision and values, and the ability to convey with enthusiasm Street Child’s role in accompanying and serving forcibly displaced people and in advocating for their right to protection and a life in dignity. 

• Acceptance of diversity and inclusion as a core value. 

• Willingness to work in flexible, sub-optimal, stressful and unstable environment. 

• Willingness to travel through the country to different states. 

• Alignment with Street Child’s 4P’s – Purpose, People, Performance, Partnership – in approach to everyday work duties. 

Qualifications and Experience 

• Bachelor's degree in Management, Social Research, and Development Studies or a related field or comparable addition to experience. Masters degree is an advantage. 

• Minimum of 3 years proven experience in accountability especially accountability to affected populations (AAP) feedback mechanisms concepts and international humanitarian quality standards (CHS, Do No Harm). 

• Previous experience of working with national or international NGOs. 

• Experience in implementation of accountability and complaints reporting mechanisms in Nigeria. 

• Experience in developing and/or managing complaints reporting mechanisms across programs. 

• Understanding of monitoring processes, learning, adaptation and evaluation. 

• Ethical, focused on treating complainants/ community fairly and culturally sensitive. 

• Innovative and solutions oriented with sound analytical, conceptual and strategic thinking skills. 

• Proven interest & commitment to humanitarian and development principles and demonstrable understanding of conflict/post conflict development contexts and community engagement. 

• Excellent communication skills and experience in report writing. 

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. 

• Proficiency in English (Spoken and written proficiency in Hausa and Kanuri an added advantage). 

• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Terms 

This role is based in Street Child’s office in Maiduguri, Borno State, and will involve considerable travel between Maiduguri and field implementation sites in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa State. 

This role will have a moderate to low frequency of contact with children and candidates will be required to submit to background check and commit to Street Child safeguarding and child protection standards. 

Application Instructions 

Street Child welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age.