Complaint and Feedback Coordinator

Job Description

Position:                                          Complaints and Feedback Mechanism Coordinator

Reports to:                                     M&E Manager

Supervision of:                               CFM  Officer, Helpline Assistants (2x)

Duty station:                                  Juba, south Sudan

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organization’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships. 

1. Role and responsibilities

As a humanitarian organization, NRC must remain accountable to the affected population it serves. In particular, NRC seeks to regularly engage with affected communities and to ensure all feedback and complaints received are addressed, followed up, and utilized to enhance the office’s understanding of the consequences of its programming. To increase accountability and impact, NRC is strengthening existing mechanisms through establish a centralized, transparent and widely communicated complaints and feedback mechanism (CFM). The purpose of the Complaints and Feedback Mechanism Coordinator (CFMC) is to oversee the operationalization of a centralized CFM mechanism including helpline using digital  community hub platform within NRC south Sudan office and to build on it to create a culture of accountability to affected population. He/she will act as a focal point for all CFM related issues within the office, and coordinate with programs and support functions. The CFMC will ensure that clear, transparent rules for raising and processing complaints are established, and that complaints are recorded and addressed by relevant parts of NRC Country Office within a reasonable timeframe. The CFMC will ensure quality in responses through capacity building and support of staff involved in responding to complaints and utilize the information received through complaints and feedback channels to produce periodic reports and analysis that can strengthen programming and increase overall organizational accountability to beneficiaries and the wider affected population.

Generic responsibilities

1. Ensure adherence to NRC policies, handbooks, guidelines and donor requirements
2. Design and support dissemination of relevant information to beneficiary, host communities, and relevant partners
3. Design and support efficient and transparent dissemination of relevant information to affected population on requesting services and make a complaints or feedback.
4. Ensure smooth operationalization of the helpline and CFM, ensuring that it is adapted to the context in South Sudan, and the mechanism is accessible, trusted and utilized, and follow up is appropriate.
5. Follow up on process of handling service-related complaints with field focal points, and ensure that standard procedures are followed
6. Ensure that sensitive cases (staff misconduct, PSEA, protection, fraud/corruption) are shared immediately with pre-identified focal points for action.
7. Contribute to monitoring accountability minimum standards in coordination with the Monitoring & Evaluation teams.

Specific responsibilities

1. Coordinate the operationalization of NRC CFM system and develop/build upon existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)  and digital community hub for CFM within the country office
2. Communicate and disseminate complaints handling procedures, policies and tools as appropriate to beneficiaries, project staff and other stakeholders.
3. Train all field staff to carry out regular community feedback functions and ensure adherence to NRC South Sudan CFM SOPs and internal policies.
4. Ensure key information reaches beneficiaries using a number of methods (leaflets, orientation, and help desk) and ensure that all beneficiaries proper receive their benefits.
5. Receive process and respond to beneficiary feedback and complaints and guide beneficiaries seeking help through hotlines, field visits, and other complaints and feedback mechanisms.
6. Compile analyze and disaggregate monthly complaints and feedback by state, county, area, project, gender,  etc to produce monthly Feedback/Complaint reports.
7. During distributions, establish a help desk/information table to the community members to answer beneficiary comments/questions.
8. Support beneficiaries by providing information services, follow up internally with complaints and feedback referrals process for handling by appropriate area officer and CC teams.
9. Respond to pending issues, provide support as needed, and communicate progress back to beneficiaries.
10. Maintain a proper filing system for all the complaints and feedback with filling codes, work closely with Program team in order to collect feedback from sector leads about referred complains to their respective sectors.
11. Refer allegations of irregularities, fraud, corruption or other forms of misconduct by directly informing the relevant departments

Critical interfaces

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Project Managers, Protection Coordinators, Protection Coordinators, Referral focal points
• M&E, Protection, Grants, Partnerships and Technical Specialists, Consortia
• Human Resources Manager and Investigations Coordinator
• Compliance Unit

1. Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

1. Professional competencies

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• At least 4 years of experience in an international NGO preferably in an emergency or post-conflict setting, beneficiary reception and/or counselling, CFM, or related field.
• Experience in handling sensitive feedback
• Experience in facilitating the capacity building efforts of diverse colleagues, including local partner agencies.
• Ability to present (sensitive) data and convey information clearly and concisely and identifying trends
• Fluency in both English and Arabic (speaking, reading, writing)
• Computer skills, including MS Office (Word, Excel)

Context related skills, knowledge and experience (shall be adapted to the specific position):

• Strong analytical and communications skills
• Ability to receive and handle confidential and sensitive information (highly approachable, trustworthy and confidential)
• Strong management skills (ability to demand results and be empathetic, non-defensive but decisive, firm and resilient)
• Experience and ability to train others and transfer knowledge
• Knowledge of the context in South Sudan
• Familiarity with  NRC’s core competencies is an asset

2. Behavioral competencies (max 6)

These personal qualities influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies and the following are essential for this position:

• Working with people
• Communicate with impact and respect
• Analyzing
• Planning and delivering results
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision
• Patient, flexible and creative
• Initiating action and change

1. Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for and evaluated on the responsibilities and the competencies, based on NRC’s Performance Management System. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The individual Work and Professional Development Plan
• The NRC Competency Framework