Job Title: Accountability Officer
Department: Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and learning
Band: 7
Reports To: MEAL Manager
Country/Location: Rwanda (Kigali) with Field Trips
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
Country Background:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been working in Rwanda since 1961. CRS Rwanda’s key programing areas include agriculture, early childhood development, economic strengthening, justice and peace building. To achieve this, CRS collaborates with the government of Rwanda, donors, the Catholic church, private sector, and civil society organizations. CRS Rwanda has an annual budget of over $8 million USD and is comprised of over 80 staff.
Job Summary:
CRS in Rwanda is committed to integrating community accountability mechanisms across its program portfolio and to support this process, is seeking an Accountability Officer to help implement these standards and other related priorities. Under the direct supervision and support of the MEAL Country Program Coordinator, the Accountability Officer will contribute to the development of an accountability system for the country program as a whole and for implemented projects. He/she will work closely with the Project Managers to ensure that the mechanisms selected are practical, effective, and agreed upon with the project participants. He/she will work within the framework of our standards of community participation and accountability, which he/she will ensure is operationalized. Your rigorous, service-oriented approach will ensure that CRS projects in Rwanda consistently apply best practices and constantly work to improve the impact of its benefits for those we serve.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:
Under the supervision of the MEAL Manager
Technical assistance and accountability guidance to the program:
- Help provide technical assistance to projects to ensure that community participation standards are integrated throughout the project cycle (design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation) within the country program.
- Be a resource person for the application of policies and procedures related to accountability within the various projects.
- Provide guidance, and share resources and information with staff on accountability and train.
- Support the process of acquiring and implementing a green line at the country program level.
- Animate the platform for the collection and management of all feedback (telephone or not) from participants.
- Assist in training CP staff and partners on the use of the feedback collection and management platform.
- In collaboration with project teams, develop a process to solicit and encourage input from key project stakeholders Assist in identifying useful information for case studies and reports on promising practices of CRS projects related to accountability.
- Track any difficulties and/or gaps identified and report to MEAL coordination to guide adjustments to accountability implementation plans and timelines.
- Collect information on staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations related to accountability and monitor the capacity building and technical support activities for effective impact.
- Support the coordination and implementation of all accountability activities assigned to you by the MEAL coordination, in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and best practices.
Accountability to communities and participants:
- Be the focal point and respondent for the operation of the accountability mechanism, including the platform for collecting and managing all community feedback from CP projects.
- Propose standard discussion processes to handle different feedback scenarios (e.g., if a person wishes to remain anonymous, etc.)
- Support project staff to:
- Support the development of the beneficiary accountability strategy, including greater community participation, the definition of community indicators, and the establishment of a responsive feedback mechanism.
- Support efforts to collect, process feedback, and document lessons learned to strengthen program-level learning.
Integration of cross-cutting protection, communication, and visibility
- Integrate CRS fraud protection and reporting principles into project and Country Program (CP) feedback mechanisms.
- Support the development of communication materials adapted to the local context, projects, and communities on feedback mechanisms.
- Develop case studies and reports on lessons learned and improvements and adaptations to the accountability system.
- Represent CRS and contribute to discussions with potential partners and all stakeholders.
Accountability compliance with the MEAL Policies and Procedures (MPP)
- Be a resource person for the application of policies and procedures related to accountability within the various projects.
- Analyze donor requirements for accountability and make suggestions for their consideration in project implementation.
- Assist in defining community indicators of success for all CRS projects within the PC.
- Support MEAL project self-evaluations and guide projects to actions to comply with policies and procedures related to accountability.
- Support partner organizations in establishing accountability mechanisms.
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in social science, psychology, development, communication, or other related domains.
- At least 4 years of professional project support experience with NGOs or government agencies in planning and implementing accountability programs, development programs or emergency response, disaster risk reduction.
- Experience in participatory rural development, participatory preparation of action plans, community involvement or empowerment of communities in projects.
- Experience working with communities and partners at the local level.
- Community or peer training experience required.
- Experience in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), including the Office suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and database management.
Required Languages – Strong oral and written skills in both English/French and Kinyarwanda.
Travel – This position requires a significant level of coordination of activities across the country program. Frequent travel is expected, up to 50% of work time.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Be autonomous and proactive, while being able to engage stakeholders to facilitate and implement solutions when appropriate.
- Very good observation, listening and facilitation skills – able to facilitate group discussions with project participants, communities, local leaders, partners, and all levels of CRS staff.
- Ability to handle sensitive situations and information appropriately.
- excellent interpersonal communication and influencing skills.
- Calm attitude to solicit and receive different types of feedback from stakeholders.
- Good relationship management skills and ability to work closely with local partners and community members.
- Attention to detail, accuracy, and punctuality in the execution of assigned responsibilities.
- Proactive, resourceful, results- and service-oriented: Ability to make timely decisions.
- Proven organizational skills and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
- Must be able to respect the privacy, sensitivity, and confidentiality of the type of information a person may encounter in this role.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of participatory and rural development processes
- Acceptance of cultural differences in a multi-stakeholder environment
- Knowledge of principles and best practices in integrating protection and community empowerment into the development
- Good understanding of application processing (to be used to build staff awareness and understanding of agency protection and fraud policies)
- Good understanding of project planning, reporting, M&E, and participatory approaches.
- Excellent understanding of how local NGOs and the government system work, with knowledge and appreciation of the CRS vision and mission
Specific MEAL competencies:
- Accountability: improve our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms, and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
- Learning: Promote excellent knowledge management and collaborative learning processes at the project, program, and institutional levels, generate strong elements for learning in projects and programs, enabling action, decision making, and influence.
- ICT for MEAL: Apply knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT), hardware, and software, to timely and accurate data collection, database management, analysis, and information accessibility.
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.
- Personal accountability
- Acts with Integrity
- Builds and Maintains Trust
- Collaborates with Others
- Open to Learn
- Strategic Mindset
- Develops and Recognizes Others
- Leads Change
Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none)
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Project Manager, Project FCRM focal point, Project MEAL Officers, MEAL Assistant, Head of Programming (HoP), Head of Operations (HoOps), Human Resources Office, PMs/COPs
External: NGO and civil society partners, government partners, technical partners, Community participants
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from women, youth, and people with disabilities.
How to apply
Interested and qualified candidates should complete the attached application form, Self -Declaration Clause and submit them together with one page Cover letter plus updated CV (maximum three pages) all in/as one document – via email only to: RW_HR@crs.org no later than Friday May 05, 2023, at 5:00pm.
Please, include below statement in your cover letter:
“By applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I understand that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and my personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.”
Also include your full names and title “Accountability Officer” in the subject line. Due to anticipated high interest in this post and the expected number of applicants, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Kigali April 22, 2022
Kumud Chandra
Acting Country Representative
CRS/Rwanda Program
