Accountability Officer (1)

Concern Worldwide is a nongovernmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. Concern Worldwide’s integrated programming approach aims to tackle all dimensions of poverty, focusing on the overlapping areas of health, education and livelihoods while maintaining our response to emergencies. Concern fully integrates equality in all its work, with emphasis on a gender transformative approach. Concern Worldwide has been operational in Sierra Leone since 1996. . Concern currently operates in the Districts of Western Area Urban (Freetown), Western Area Rural, Tonkolili and Port Loko – as well as remotely in Kambia.

On this note, Concern would like to invite well experienced and professional applicants for the under mentioned role:

Job Title

Accountability Officer (1)

Reports to:

Consortium Director

Direct reports:

Non

Liaises with:

Key stakeholders (internal and external) to complement existing good practice and addresses current and emerging Accountability gaps.

Job Location:

Freetown with travels to the provinces for regular Field support

Contract Details:

Fixed Term

Department:

Saving Lives

Job Purpose:

The Accountability Officer will support in ensuring accountability within the Saving Lives Phase 3 Programme. This includes the management, functionality and popularisation of the Saving Lives Phase 3 Complaints Response Mechanism (CRM) system. The post holder will implementation, and maintain the context-specific community complaint and feedback mechanisms that can inform organizational accountability and best practice in the programme. Ensuring the CRM systems adheres to the key principles of Accessibility, Confidentiality, Transparency and Safety. The successful candidate will be part of the Consortium coordination unit with strong linkage to the development and quality team and work within the wider organizational MEAL framework.

Main duties & Responsibilities:

General Responsibilities:

The Accountability supervisor will be expected to maintain the Saving Lives 3 CRM database by ensuring proper documentation and aggregation of CRM data including, ensuring confidentiality and qualitative and quantitative analysis of complaints received, investigated and responded. S/he will provide anonymous detailed summaries of complaints issues to feedback to the program team during monthly and quarterly meetings/reports. The post holder will promote accountability in the programme though capacity building, championing and technical guidance.

The Accountability Officer will work with key stakeholders (internal and external) to complement existing good practice and addresses current and emerging Accountability gaps.

Specific Roles and Responsibilities

• Under the guidance of the Consortium Director, compile and ensure confidentiality of sensitive complaints like harassment, SEA, abuse, and exploitation and process according to the Concern CRM SOP.
• Develop an activity implementation plan for complaints and feedback with support from Consortium Director.
• Lead/organize regular monitoring visits and if required project action plans revisions and modifications.
• Ensure compliance with Core Humanitarian Standards on Quality and Accountability.
• With the support of the Consortium Director support partners to ensure that all programme participants and stakeholders have access to timely, accurate, and relevant information on their rights/ entitlements with in the Saving Live Programme
• ensure that the programme measures and improve accountability through assessments of performance on accountability-
• With the support of the Consortium Director, support programme staff and partners to ensure that evidence generated and learnings are shared with programme participants, stakeholders and partners
• Working with Consortium Director, ensure adequate data capturing and correct storing of project participants.
• Coordinate and support CRM activities, especially at the community level. These can include: delivering sensitizations and training, overseeing implementation and conducting monitoring in the field.
• Under the supervision of the Consortium Director advisor provide practical advice and guidance to Consortium members.
• Take the lead in regular collection and categorisation of complaints and feedback including those received through the Complaints phone line.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly analysis and reporting of incoming complaints and trends and identify solutions and share with line manager and Consortium team lead
• Escalate complaints received to the Consortium Team Leader and Safeguarding manager in timeline as per SOP.
• Ensure that Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials on complaints and feedback are context specific and accessible (including language, content, and socio-cultural appropriateness).
• Serve as a focal person for CRM and accountability coordination and capacity strengthening for the consortium partners, including CRM spot check and capacity building.
• Represent the consortium within relevant coordination structures such as Community Engagement working Groups.
• Actively participate in collective exercises such as preparation or updates of Preparing for Effective Emergency Response (PEER) plan, Security Management Plan (SMP); proposal development; Concern strategic plan and other Concern initiatives.
• Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, ensuring the organization’s experience and expertise is well communicated and consistently presented, and that we are seen as a professional organization.
• Ensure the efficient and transparent use of all Concern’s resources in order to maximize the benefit to the targeted communities.
• Promote accountability and ensure compliance with Concern’s Code of Conduct and Associated Policies (Programme Participants Protection Policy, Child Safeguarding Policy, and Anti-trafficking Policy), Anti-Fraud Policy and Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), including the complaint and response mechanism (CRM), to ensure maximum protection of programme participants and the efficient and transparent use of Concern’s resources.
• Promote Equality, especially gender, within the organization and across programmes, in line with Concern’s Equality Policy and, and ensures targeting and project implementation is informed by How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (HCUEP).
• Undertake other related duties as may reasonably be assigned by the Country Management Team or by Line Manager.
• Ensure adherence to Concern policies and procedures.

Person specification:

Essential

• Educated to Bachelor level in Development (or related discipline) OR equivalent professional experience.
• Between 2 and 3 years of experience in Accountability or Programmes in an (I)NGO in a high pressured, results focused and dynamic environment.
• Strong organisational and planning skills/experience with high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent written, communication and interpersonal skills in English, including strengths in writing and editing narrative reports/documents.
• Excellent computer skills particularly Microsoft office (high proficiency in Excel, word, PowerPoint).
• Demonstrated ability of coaching, training and building the capacity of staff/teams and partners.
• Experience dealing with sensitive matters in a highly confidential and discrete manner and ability to build/maintain trust.
• Strong networking, influencing and leadership skills.
• Able to take initiative and work independently – while keeping line manager, etc. appropriately informed. Ability to work both as part of a team and independently.
• Ability to juggle competing priorities, meet deadlines and work under pressure. Strong analytical capability.
• Local languages; Krio and Temne.
• Trained in quality standards such as Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), SPHERE, Red Cross Code of Conduct, etc.
• Experience of MEAL and Communications.

Emergency response

Concern is committed to responding to emergencies efficiently and effectively in order to help affected people meet their basic needs, alleviate suffering and maintain their dignity. To this end, when emergencies strike and Sierra Leone Programme is to respond, all staff are required to actively participate in the response, regardless of location and contribute to the efforts aimed at achieving the humanitarian objective of the organization

HIV & AIDS

Concern Sierra Leone is committed to respond to HIV & AIDS and to a supportive working environment for those infected or affected. Each staff member is required to contribute to achieving this commitment by:

• Raising awareness and being updated on HIV & AIDS issues.
• Protecting him/herself and colleagues.
• Sharing information with colleagues and avoiding stigma and discrimination.

Gender Equality

Concern Worldwide in Sierra Leone recognizes that the establishment of equality of opportunity between men and women is fundamental to both the achievement of fairness and to poverty elimination.

Therefore, each staff member of Concern is expected to be sensitive to equality issues in their relationships with colleagues and in their work and to participate in implementation of gender mainstreaming plans, both at the workplace and in programmes.

Safeguarding at Concern: Code of Conduct and its Associated Policies

FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should apply with:

• An application letter
• Recent Curriculum Vitae including names and full contact addresses of three (3) referees, one of whom must be their current or most recent employer.
• Candidates must state the position of each referee and his/her relationship to the candidate.

You can send through email to info.sl@concern.net

Please mark your application as per the references stated in position above

(by email please put the reference in the SUBJECT heading).