Background/IRC Summary:  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war and disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

IRC has been working in Pakistan for approximately 40 years, managing and delivering large, complex programs to meet the needs in health, education, safeguarding, environmental health and livelihoods for displaced, poor and disaster affected communities. IRC works in partnership with local government and non-governmental organizations and is currently working across the country. 

Job Overview/Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is seeking a dynamic and self-motivated individual for the position of Sr. Client responsiveness & Action officer for a five-year USAID-funded Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Project in selected districts of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Newley Merged Districts. The project focusses on implementing interventions to achieve the intended result of “Increased incomes for women-owned micro-businesses and women workers”. These interventions will stimulate women’s economic and social empowerment and prepare foundation for integrating interventions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).  Furthermore, the project will also facilitate computerized national identity card (CNIC) registration of approximately 1.20 million direct women clients in 49 districts in 3 provinces.

The Senior CRA (Client responsiveness & Accountability) Officer will be responsible to extend support in achieving the good and great standards of Client Responsiveness and Core Humanitarian Standard in all IRC programs/projects (70% WEEA, 30% IRC other Project). Reporting to WEEA MEAL Manager, the Senior CRA Officer will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of client feedback channels for mainly WEEA project and will also provide her/his support to IRC central MEAL team for other IRC projects. S/he will ensure that feedback mechanisms (both proactive and reactive) are established in consultation with communities; regularly promoted through different means; hotline is managed and clients’ feedback is regularly collected using client Feedback form, maintained using Feedback Registry and data is uploaded on web-based Project Management Information System with support of MEAL team; analyzed, disseminated on PowerBi dashboard with support of MIS Manager and responded to client in timely manner with support of program and MEAL team. S/he also ensures that CRA reports are regularly generated within the agreed frequency and results are shared with MEAL Manager and made available on dashboard, presented regularly during project meetings to inform design and delivery of the project. Additionally, the CRA Officer will conduct feedback sessions, focus group discussion (FGDs) and surveys to solicit for clients’ feedback. The CRA Officer will also support MEAL Manager to prepare and implement proactive and reactive feedback channels plans and be provide hands-on support in conducting assessments for designing and selection of feedback channels. S/he will ensure that client feedback data is fully secured and access to hard data is restricted to authorized individuals.

Major Responsibilities:

• Promote accountability and ensure compliance with IRCWAY policies, global Humanitarian Standards for Quality and Accountability, including the Feedback and Complaint Response Mechanism (FCRM), to ensure that affected communities and people are at the center of IRC response.
• He /She will ensure robust clients’ feedback mechanism is in-place to encourage the communities to share their feedbacks and concerns related to WEEA and other IRC projects.
• He /She will ensure that feedback channels are in-place and culturally appropriate for the communities/populations.
• He /She will manage WEEA hotline and coordinate with MIS manager for dissemination of CRA data on PowerBi dashboard.
• He /She will support the MEAL full time staff and casual/incentive worker/consultant in capacity building on IRC Client responsiveness global initiative for program staff in all field locations to ensure that client feedback and complaints are received, appropriately recorded, and responded in a timely manner.
• He /She will lead the activity for proactive channels data collection with support of full time or casual staff by conducting survey, focus group discussion etc.
• He /She will be working with MEAL and program teams/project leads, partners and relevant stakeholders in the field to ensure that a proper and secure archiving system for proactive feedbacks collection (quantitative and qualitative) is in place and being use appropriately.
• He /She will provide practical leadership on certain accountability issues in coordination with the supervisors/program team and report back to the clients.
• He /She will provide direction to the WEE partners at the field level, ensuring full understanding of the FCRM.
• Setting up and managing the Feedback Registry and other tools developed by WEEA team to ensure that they are fully functional, secure and being used in WEEA and other projects’ field locations.
• Conducting detailed data analysis for quantitative and qualitative data received through the different channels and presenting statistics in clear formats to highlight feedback trends to program and Management.
• He /She will be working closely with the MEAL Manager &Coordinator in preparing weekly, monthly and quarterly CRA reports and presentations for sharing with the Senior Management Team.
• He /She will take lead on client satisfaction surveys of the projects in coordination with WEEA MEAL and IRC central MEAL team.
• Provide support to IRC central MEAL team in integrating Client Responsiveness in project lifecycles of all IRC projects.
• Facilitate MEAL Manager during different monitoring, evaluation, accountability and evaluation surveys, studies and other activities of WEEA.
• Any other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Desirable:

• Experience in working with Newley merged districts.
• Experience in managing client feedback channels.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: MEAL Manager Position directly supervises:  None.

Other Internal and/or external contacts: MEAL Officers, MIS Officer, MIS Manager, Partner CR focal person and Central MEAL team

Job Requirements:

a)      Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in, Statistics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Project Management, Computer Science, or in any other relevant discipline. Master and Postgraduate degree will be preferred.

b)      Work Experience:

• 3-4 years of experience of monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning in humanitarian context and working directly with communities.
• Expertise of setting up and implementing feedback complaint response mechanisms within a reputable international or national NGO is essential.

c)      Skills & competencies:

• Intermediate analytic skills and understanding of statistical data (e.g., statistical analysis), ability to recognize, interpret and synthesize patterns in data.
• Effective, high-quality communication, writing, and interpersonal skills are required in English and Urdu language.
• Strong oral communications skills in Pashto, Urdu and English.
• Ability to work as good team player and sound capacities to work in a diversified team.
• Willingness to work under pressure and stressful situations without minimal supervision and without compromising on deadlines or quality.
• Strongly resilient to unfavorable situations.
• Understanding on Humanitarian standards (CHS).
• High proficiency in using Microsoft Excel (data analysis and visualization), MS Word, PowerPoint and mobile data collection using KOBO, CommCare etc.  

d)      Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Good communication and presentation skills.
• Good computer skills and competency in Word, Excel, Power Bi and PowerPoint.

Language Skills:  Pashto, Urdu and English

Others: 

The IRC Core Values and Commitments.

• The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Adult Safeguarding, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity Anti-Retaliation and Combating Trafficking in Persons.
• IRC is committed to ensuring that IRC staff is suitable to work with children and have the knowledge s/he needs to uphold and abide by the IRC’s Child Safeguarding Policy as well as Adult Safeguarding Policy.
• Level of interaction with Adult (Above 18): Frequent direct contact with adult and less frequent direct contact with children.
• IRC ensures that its staff must actively practice the roles and responsibilities related to client responsiveness, accountability to people in affected communities and must have competencies to solicits and listens to feedback and other’s perspectives, responds to feedback with maturity and sensitivity and takes appropriate decisions and makes changes to behavior or actions in response to feedback.
• IRC recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of our organizational mission. As such, IRC is committed to the promotion of gender equality in all aspects of our operations and programs. Our organizational policies, procedures and actions demonstrate this commitment.

Women cadidates and differently abled persons are highly encouraged to apply.