Program Assistant, Accountability at Caritas Communication

Job Summary

The Program Assistant, Accountability will work closely with the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Program Manager, Advisor and Director, Humanitarian Services.

The Accountability Assistant will contribute to improving the quality of Caritas Nigeria programming through the accurate registration and timely follow up of any complaints about Caritas Nigeria activities/staff and also contributes to the development of appropriate messaging and communication strategies. The Accountability Assistant is the first point of contact for beneficiaries who need to raise complaints. As such, the Accountability assistant will need to be neutral and establish mechanisms based on the highest integrity which beneficiaries will trust.  Establish and ensure effective functioning of the Beneficiary Complaints and Response Mechanism, enhance the trust and confidence of beneficiaries, identify areas of our work which need to be improved and ensures learning from the feedback received.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Beneficiary Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and Establishment and Promotion of the CRM

• Establish, implement and monitor the beneficiary Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) in line with caritas Nigeria standard beneficiary CRM procedures;

• Build capacity and understanding among staff, partners and contractors on beneficiary accountability and CRM;

• Accompany project teams to the field in order to spread awareness about the CRM to beneficiaries, as well as local authorities and stakeholders in Caritas Nigeria areas of implementation, during field visits;

• Regularly assess effectiveness of all information-sharing efforts and incorporate findings into revised approaches;

• Maintain records of CRM awareness raising and promotion activities (including approximate numbers of participants) and submit to Senior MEAL Specialist as required.

Implementation of the CRM

• Ensure the effective functioning of the beneficiary CRM and that beneficiary complaints/feedback is adequately captured, analyzed, addressed and responded to in a timely manner and utilized by the program and coordination teams;

• Receive complaints through telephone hotline, in writing and in person;

• Follow up on complaints received by other Caritas staff with the same diligence as complaints received through the CRM directly;

• Treat urgent and/or sensitive complaints with the immediate attention they require, and ensure a fast resolution;

• Maintain confidential and detailed records of all complaints in the CRM database and other electronic and hard copy filing systems, as appropriate

• Respond to complaints objectively, accurately, and in line with Caritas Nigeria guidelines, using information provided by Project Managers, officers/Monitors, project documents, and procedures

• Follow up on pending complaints with Project and Coordination staff;

• Ensure feedbacks received via the accountability line along with other channels are handled in line with the agreed Feedback Handling Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), and that feedback and responses are registered in Feedback Database.

• In line with the Caritas Feedback SoPs, receive and register feedback and their responses in Feedback Database. Make sure that feedback is logged in an accurate and timely manner.

• Refer feedback to the appropriate team, including rapid identification and referral of serious concerns such as those related to child safeguarding, unsafe programming, sexual exploitation and abuse, fraud and corruption. 

• Respond and communicate in a dignified and respectful manner with children and adults regarding their feedback, including informing them of what decisions have been made by programs or technical advisors related to their feedback, and ensuring this is documented in the Feedback Database. Where relevant, support implementation staff to close the feedback loop meaningfully. 

• Provide technical support to the accountability line operators.

• Analyse patterns and trends in complaints to help Caritas Nigeria improve its programming;

• Produce a monthly analytic CRM report.

• Adapt and improve the CRM based on monitoring of its effectiveness. 

Other

• Provide regular and timely updates on progress and challenges to supervisors and other team members;

• Assist project teams with other activities, as requested by the immediate supervisor;

• Perform any other related activities as assigned by the immediate supervisor. 

Qualification and Experience

• Qualified bachelor’s degree/HND in Social Sciences, Sociology, Computer Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics, or any related field.

• At least 2 years’ experience of working experience in monitoring and evaluation with INGO, NGO, and civil society organizations.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively manage a variety of internal and external relationships.

• Fluent in the English Language (Oral and Written) and the local dialect of the work area.

• Willingness to reside and ability to travel throughout South West Nigeria.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

• Demonstrated experience in community participation/engagement-type projects.

• Ability to work under pressure, efficiently handle multiple tasks, quickly find creative solutions to problems and challenges that arise, and manage stress and time in a fast-paced work and fluid operating environment.

• Ability to foster and maintain a spirit of unity, teamwork, cooperation, and learning.

• High degree of accountability and integrity and ability to coach, mentor and inspire subordinates.

• Sensitivity in working with multiple cultures and beliefs, and to gender equity.

• Proficient with Microsoft Office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.

• Ability to work both independently and as a part of a team.

Key Competencies

Should possess good skills in;

• Knowledge of commonly used probability and purposive sampling techniques

• Determining activities/process/output/outcomes/impact

• Identifying and detailing key monitoring and evaluation activities.

• Facilitation and training of field staff on data gathering and data compilation

• Knowledge of improving the quality of information during information gathering.

• Data and result oriented; team player, proactive and innovative.

• Good communication skills (oral and written)

• Information management and reporting, networking and stakeholder engagement, negotiations and persuasion, planning and organizing and problem analysis.

• Attention to details.