Community Accountability Reporting Mechanisms (CARM) Assistant (on Rolling basis) (Applications will only be accepted if submitted through the URL link provided below)

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.

In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions

into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Now, and for the future.

The Program / Department / Team (Program / Department Summary)

As an organization, Mercy Corps is committed to accountability to all of our stakeholders, including the people we serve.  Mercy Corps takes a participatory approach in engaging with local communities throughout the program design and implementation. A Community Accountability Reporting Mechanism (CARM) is an essential part of Mercy Corps’ commitment to excellence and integrity, by providing individuals, organizations and local groups a means of raising concerns about potential staff misconduct or sharing feedback on programmatic activities (positive and negative) with Mercy Corps, independently from program operations. In the context of Lebanon, implementation and engagement of a CARM will ensure that the country team’s programs will continue to uphold Mercy Corps’ high standards of accountability.

The Position (General Position Summary)

Under the umbrella of the Technical Resources and Quality Unit, supervised by the Community Accountability Reporting Mechanisms (CARM) Officer, the CARM Assistant is a key position to handle day-to-day collection, management, and response to all feedback cases within a certain program location – including both for directly implemented activities and for activities implemented with or via partners. The CARM Assistant will ensure responding directly to all feedback concerns and complaints raised by program participants and community members through a safe, accessible, transparent, and confidential CARM system.

The CARM Officer will help the CARM Officer in ensuring proper procedures of managing and responding to all feedback are followed by all Mercy Corps team members and partners, as well as helping the CARM Officer to review feedback reports from partners and provide recommendations to programs for implementation improvements and overall learning.

The CARM Assistant will support country level initiatives as requested , in addition to temporarily supporting the Iraq and Jordan offices.

Essential Responsibilities

Implementation and Program Quality

Working under the direction of the CARM Officer, they will handle the following responsibilities:

• Assist the CARM Officer to ensure each program has at least three active, context-appropriate feedback channels informed by community preferences and by following proper procedures.
• Collect all feedback received via community-based feedback channels, like Email, Hotline, Feedback Boxes, WhatsApp and social media in all intervention sites and ensure documentation of all feedback in the CARM database.
• Ensure feedback received through each feedback channel is following proper protocol procedures and ensure all community members are aware of their rights and entitlements.
• Assist in training partner team members of proper procedures for collecting, logging, and grading based on Mercy Corps’ or partner’s standard grading system, and that appropriate action is taken based on feedback grade.
• Contact informants who provided non-anonymous feedback seeking additional information – only when necessary – (place, name, details of the case...) to resolve their feedback more appropriately.
• Ensure closure of all feedback cases by following up closely with relevant team member(s).
• Help the CARM Officer contact informants who provided non-anonymous feedback to inform them about case resolution and collect data on overall satisfaction; ensure this is documented in the Country-level CARM database.
• Support the CARM Officer in tasks related to community engagement, sensitization and distributing Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials across all intervention sites.
• Ensure confidentiality for all feedback received and protect identities at all times

Security

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.

(Example Section Below - Adapt to Specific Role, Safeguarding Responsibilities are required for all roles)

STRATEGY AND PLANNING

• Work with the Country senior leadership team to develop and support the Country and Regional strategy.
• Mobilize support services and risk management resources to enable country and regional leadership teams to execute their respective strategic priorities.

REGIONAL SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT FUNCTIONS

• Support country team adherence to Mercy Corps and donor policies and procedures.
• Capture and disseminate best practices on CARM across country teams to ensure highest quality and standards.
• Provide dedicated support to country teams in the event of an emergency or startup of a complex program that requires additional resources.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

N/A

Accountability

Reports Directly To: CARM Officer

Works Directly With: CARM Program/Ethics/Assurance/ Safeguarding focal points, and all project/program teams, as well as other NGOs/ CBOs.

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 Qualification & Transferable Skills: Any skills you have gained through education, volunteer, work, or life experience that are relevant for the position will be considered. Be sure to fully explain transferable skills and success factors and how they apply to this position in your cover letter.

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Development, Humanitarian Studies, or other relevant field is preferred.
• Minimum one year of previous work experience in an international or local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in the same field is required.
• Knowledge of working on RIMS is an asset.
• Proven experience in remote data collection, and data management.
• Excellent Computer skills: proficiency in MS Office package, and strong knowledge of database management is required.
• Excellent listening, interpersonal, communication, and networking skills; ability to work with diversified populations.
• High level of self-awareness and self-development with the maturity to deal with constructive feedback.
• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Success Factors

A successful incumbent will have good communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrated attention to details, and will be committed to working ethically with Mercy Corps stakeholders regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, abilities, or gender. They will be highly motivated, and capable of working with or without direct supervision. Other factors include:

• Willingness and ability to quickly learn new information/concepts and implement them.
• Strong team player with initiative and positive attitude towards problem solving.
• A learning approach to work with excellent capacity building skills.
• Attention to detail and patience to double check data results.
• Self-starter, multi-tasker, solution-seeker, and innovator.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Beirut, and it requires up to 1% travel to support country programs, which may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited. No Housing for this role and staff will have access to good medical services.

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

Team Engagement and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

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.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).