Community, Accountability Reporting Mechanism Manager - Haiti

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps helps communities develop their own ideas to solve Haiti’s most daunting problems by using innovative approaches to bring Haitians new social and economic opportunities and to make their country more secure, productive and just.  Established in January 2010, Mercy Corps Haiti has offices in Port-au-Prince, Canaan, Arcahaie, and Mirgoane and more than 80 staff implementing programs in economic development, agriculture, natural resource management and humanitarian response.  Mercy Corps’ economic development work is guided by the principles of pro-poor development and demand driven strategies. Mercy Corps takes a progressive approach to development that leads communities and entrepreneurs from relief to sustainable livelihoods to resilience.

Mercy Corps seeks to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression around the world by helping to build safe, productive and just communities. While we recognize that high-risk conflict and humanitarian emergencies are difficult to manage, we believe that transitional environments - countries affected by civil war, economic and political crisis, or natural disasters - offer tremendous opportunities for positive change. It is imperative that Mercy Corps present itself as a key and trusted partner with a variety of donors, international NGOs, government authorities, international institutions, and civil society actors to be part of the process of positive change. Our global experience in important transition countries is a key factor in building the knowledge, expertise, and management skills to position Mercy Corps as the partner of choice for linking development and transition programs in Haiti.

General Position Summary

Under the supervision of the Director of Programs, the Community, Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) Manager will work to establish, maintain and continuously strengthen the accountability system within the organization. It will be responsible for establishing an effective Community, Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) to improve feedback and trust with participants in all Mercy Corps programs in Haiti. It will ensure that all Mercy Corps Haiti projects and programs comply with the organization's global CARM policy and minimum standards, utilizing guidance and documented good practice to meet the needs of the context. It will manage the workflow of handling community feedback, including processing feedback from program participants, and ensuring they are responded to and that feedback informs adaptive program management. As such, he/she will be the mission focal point for compiling feedback reports and will be expected to provide recommendations to programs to improve their interventions.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Design and implement the CARM system and tools

• Ensure that CARM is budgeted for in each project/program and manage the portfolio level master CARM budget (staffing and operational running costs)

• Develop and regularly update Mercy Corps CARM standard operating procedures, including data protection protocols  in accordance with the organization's CARM policys and guidance.

• In collaboration with program and/or base CARM focal points, conduct community consultations to identify feedback mechanisms appropriate to project/program intervention areas and ensure that each project/program has at least three feedback channels

• Collaborate with CARM team members and the project/program team to ensure that community members are iteratively informed about CARM and available feedback channels (‘sensitization’) throughout program implementation.

• Communicate and disseminate procedures, policies, and tools for handling feedback/complaints, as appropriate, to CARM team members, project staff, participants and other stakeholders

• Develop and implement the CARM plan for each program in collaboration with the CARM focal points for each program

• Directly monitor the centralized telephone feedback mechanism (green line) and log, grade and respond to feedback received.

• Verify the documentation of cases that are received via other channels and logged by CARM Officers in the CARM database, and quality assure their appropriate use of the standard Mercy Corps grading system, and that all feedback is responded to.

• Ensure that the workflow for each piece of feedback - intake, logging, grading and response - is managed and documented, and that the feedback loop is always closed with the community member.

• Maintain an effective system for recording and filing all correspondence and other related documents for quick and easy reference

• Ensure that access to feedback and PII is  managed in strict adherence to the CARM SOP and enclosed data protection protocols related to the storage and transfer of data.

• Develop and monitor key indicators related to the performance of CARM and facilitate data driven decision making on how to improve it (safety, access, inclusion, efficiency)

• Conduct studies and evaluations on MRAC as needed in collaboration with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) department to assess community ownership of MRAC and adjust SOPs as needed

• Follow up with relevant stakeholders on agreed-upon system-level corrections, adjustments, and actions by informing and strategizing with the Program Director

• Ensure that MRAC is integrated and budgeted for in all new projects/programs.

Reporting

• Provide timely feedback to the program director and program teams on community reactions and concerns regarding the project/program activities implemented

• Prepare monthly feedback reports, provide recommendations and share with programs

• In coordination with the programs, track all actions taken on these feedbacks and include them, as appropriate, in the monthly MRAC report and program donor reports

• Provide feedback to program participants and stakeholders accordingly, whenever necessary

Staff training and capacity building

• Train staff, partners, and other stakeholders on Mercy Corps CARM processes and tools

• Take the necessary initiatives to gradually and sustainably socialize CARM policies and its standard operating procedures to all Mercy Corps Haiti team members

Collaboration with partners

• Facilitate a participatory process for establishing the robustness of partners’ accountability mechanism (‘CARM’)

• Facilitate agreement on a workplan for each partner to have CARM in place, including the options to use Mercy Corps tools to develop their system, or to advertise Mercy Corps feedback channels

• Collaboratively monitor partners’ CARM and identify opportunities for strengthening processes and systems, and peer learning with Mercy Corps

Internal and External Coordination

• Ensure coordination and working relationships with all CARM focal points in Mercy Corps Haiti, Mercy Corps Global, and within the humanitarian community in Haiti

Supervisory Responsibility

Direct supervisory responsibility: (01) CARM Officer, (01) CARM assistant, plus CARM Focal Points by program

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

**Works Directly With:**Regional Community Accountability Advisor and Global Community Accountability  Team, CARM Focal Points in programs and/or bases, Safeguarding Focal Point, Haiti MEL team, and program staff (in relation to project activities and deliverables) as well as the Feedback Management Committee

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualifications and Transferable Skills

• Bachelor's degree in research methods, social sciences, economics, law, social sciences or other relevant field required.

• At least five years of related professional experience, preferably with an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in the area of monitoring and evaluation, accountability, safeguarding or protection.

• Demonstrated interest and commitment to humanitarian and development principles and proven experience in remote data collection and management.

• Knowledge of the principles of informed consent and confidentiality, and required measures to ensure data protection through the receipt, storage and transfer of sensitive information.

• Experience designing and/or implementing capacity sharing strategies, such as onboarding, training, shadowing, coaching and mentoring.

• Excellent computer skills: proficiency in MS Office package and some knowledge of database management would be an asset.

• Have good writing and design, analysis and synthesis and report writing skills

• Have a perfect ability to work with a multi-ethnic team in a culturally appropriate and equitable manner.

• Experience working with partners in a collaborative, equitable and participatory manner.

• Perfect command of French and Creole are mandatory, both oral and written. English is an advantage.

Success FactorsThe successful candidate will have effective communication skills both verbal and written, multitasking, organizational, and prioritization skills are required. It will have the ability to develop, follow and monitor procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with other team members and awareness and sensitivity to multicultural work - development and the ability to train and facilitate dialogue among a diverse group of people with various abilities and work styles. A strong commitment to working with community members to make concrete improvements to their livelihoods and living conditions in the Agriculture and Micro Entrepreneurship sector. The candidate will need to have the ability to creatively problem solve, juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected and sudden events that may impact activities. Patience, honesty, integrity, tenacity and a good sense of humor desired.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in (Port-au Prince, Haiti). The population of Port au Prince (PaP) is estimated at around 2.5 million people.  Although infrastructure is fairly poor in the capital, comfortable housing with water and electricity are readily available. There is reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive. PaP offers many places to eat in all price ranges, as well as shops, and supermarkets which are comparable to a US supermarket.

Based on the fluctuating security context due to gang violence, movements can be restricted on short notice. Walking is not possible in most cases, however, weekend getaways to the mountains or the beach are an option, security permitting. Self drive is permitted, however driving can be challenging and traffic is often very heavy.

Travel by car and air to field sites will be required and offer more secure and stable conditions. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme**.** We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.