Accountability Field Officer At Catholic Relief Services

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Accountability Field Officer

Department: Safeguarding Team

Band: 5

Reports To: Safeguarding and Accountability Manager

Country/Location: Egypt/Cairo

Background

The CRS Egypt country program began in 1956 at the invitation of the Egyptian president Nasser by providing relief assistance to the victims of the Suez War. Over the following few decades, CRS Egypt moved from large-scale food relief to long-term poverty alleviation and development programs. CRS Egypt works in a wide variety of areas within the development field.

Currently, CRS Egypt has three main programs: education assistance program and livelihoods program for refugee support, and local partnership. Projects under these programs range from the provision of technical assistance and capacity building to partners, promoting peace and tolerance, educational grants for refugees and assistance to refugee community schools, and technical support and start-up funds for refugee and vulnerable Egyptian entrepreneurs. Additional programming includes Emergency Preparedness and Response projects that arise as needed. The Operations department, supported by a regional Management Quality unit, ensures the country program develops and maintains the highest level of operational standards.

CRS Egypt currently holds a both a main office and a refugee support office in Maadi with activities in Greater Cairo, Upper Egypt and the North Coast.

The Safeguarding Team supports these programs by systematically ensuring the safety, dignity, and meaningful access of CRS project beneficiaries is protected and that CRS activities do not unintentionally increase beneficiaries’ exposure to protection risks. As part of this, the Safeguarding team implements preventive measures to ensure CRS beneficiaries as well as staff are protected from harassment, exploitation, and abuse. As the CRS Egypt Country Program has over 10 partners and directly serves over 60,000 beneficiaries a year, key accountability staff are required to ensure projects are consistently responsive to beneficiaries needs and that any safety concerns are quickly addressed.

Job Summary

As a member of the Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Egypt Safeguarding team, you will serve as the Accountability Field Officer. Specifically, you will be responsible for collecting and documenting beneficiary feedback, organizing feedback files, and following up with employees to ensure timely response to beneficiary feedback. Your service-oriented approach will ensure CRS projects continue to be responsive to beneficiary needs.

Job Responsibilities

Manage all internal feedback channels including hotlines, the CRS Facebook Page, suggestion boxes and others.
Receive, document, and organize beneficiary feedback submitted via various channels including hotlines, the CRS Facebook Page, suggestion boxes, WhatsApp, face to face interactions, etc.
Respond or direct beneficiary feedback to appropriate staff, following up to ensure timely response
Report any safeguarding concerns or sensitive feedback to senior management immediately as per CRS procedures
Coordinate with accountability focal points on different project teams to ensure information disseminated to beneficiaries is up to date
Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests
Maintain and update online and hard copy filing, and database systems used to track beneficiary feedback
Identify, direct, and follow-up on cases that require referrals
Type, format, and translate documents to be used for information dissemination, trainings, and presentations.
Recruit, train and supervise accountability volunteers.
Report on accountability data and trends while adhering to donor requirements.
Train staff and volunteers on internal accountability system.
Compute and proofread data for accountability records and reports.
Attend meetings and transcribe meeting minutes
Troubleshoot problems involving beneficiary feedback channels

Any other related duties, as assigned

Required Background, Experience, and Requirements:

Education and Experience

Graduate degree in a directly related field.
Two years of work or volunteer experience in community development and mobilization. Additional education may substitute for some experience.
Training and Facilitation experience preferred.
Experience with a local or international NGO a plus; additional education may substitute for some experience
Experience in MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and information management systems; proficient in Word
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Personal Skills:

Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment
Good interpersonal skills and the ability to interact effectively with diverse groups
Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented
Strong organizational skills

Required/Desired Foreign Language: Excellent command in English and Arabic.

Travel Required: Job requires limited travel to Upper Egypt (approximately 5%) and occasional travel within the Cairo metropolitan area (approximately 15%).

**Safeguarding Policy:**CRS is committed to safeguarding program participants from exploitation and abuse. The successful candidate is expected to sign and adhere to the CRS Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.

**Vaccination Requirement:**CRS is committed to the health and safety of all program participants and staff. Staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 as of December 1, 2021 or registered in the national registry and awaiting their first appointment. Confirmation of vaccination status is required to undertake work with CRS as of December 1, 2021.

Key Working Relationships

Supervisory: Volunteers

Internal: Safeguarding Team, Project-level Accountability Focal Points

External: Project beneficiaries

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.