1. Role and responsibilities

The CEA Officer will work on community engagement, information to communities and participation approaches with affected populations. The position will contribute to the design and development of tools, guidance and conduct trainings on design and methods on good communication with communication (CwC) practices and community involvement in projects. This includes a focus on generating two-way communication with the communities and inclusion of their voices in the project management cycle. The CEA Officer will work closely with the Safe and Inclusive Programming (SIP) Coordinator and Community Feedback Mechanism Team Lead on strengthening the promotion and implementation of the Community Feedback Mechanism (CFM) and promoting a culture of accountability to the affected population with the communities and the NRC teams.

The following is a brief description of the role.

1. Ensure compliance with NRC policies, guidelines and standards
2. Ensure compliance with Community Engagement and Accountability, and Safe and Inclusive Programming (SIP) action plan, tools, handbooks, guidelines and standards.
3. Implement assigned functions in accordance with the SIP action plan.
4. Facilitate community participation in programming.
5. Organize and execute tasks independently according to priorities and standards.
6. Prepare and develop status reports.
7. Provide specific technical support and capacity building towards project staff and partner organisations.
8. Assess, promote and document ideas for technical improvement and further program development options.
9. Ensure that projects target beneficiaries most in need and explore and asses new and better ways to assist.

Specific responsibilities 

1. Contextualise existing tools and guidance and develop new tools and guidance on how to involve the community in the project stages; formulation, implementation and evaluation of projects.
2. Conduct trainings on accountability, community engagement, information provisions, accountability, and the various tools and guidance on community engagement.
3. Collaborate with project staff on the design and application of Community Participation techniques and tools which promote greater integration of the community in the development of projects.
4. Contribute to the strengthening of Communication with Communities (CwC), the effective linking of the opinion of the populations with the planning, implementation and monitoring of projects.
5. Work with field teams on how to develop communication materials on NRC, humanitarian principles, the right based approach, specific projects and community-relevant information to increase transparency.
6. Identify communication gaps between the field teams and the community, in order to propose improvement actions that promote transparent, timely and effective communication with the communities.
7. Contribute to the organizational learning of the area by carrying out specific analyses, lessons learned and reports regarding community participation processes, communication with communities and feedback received from affected populations.
8. Contribute with information for the construction of reports to donors in the sections related to the accountability under their responsibility, as requested by the grants area.
9. Attend relevant internal and external coordination and network fora to identify opportunities for collaboration, strengthen coordination and foster learning.

Critical interfaces

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

• SIP Coordinator
• CFM Team Lead
• SIP Manager
• Area Programme Managers
• Core Competencies (sectors) Managers and Coordinators
• NRC field/project staff, Community members, participants in NRC projects

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 three categories:

Education / Background

• A background in the humanities or social sciences especially anthropology, ethnography, cultural studies, communication, social work or related field is relevant for this position.
• At least 1 years of experience with humanitarian work in a non-government organisation (NGO), charity or association, preferably in an emergency or post-conflict setting in Humanitarian Response,
• Experience in community participation, community approaches, communication with communities and/or communication for development, attention to complaints and/or feedback, experience in social and/or humanitarian projects is welcomed.

1. Professional competencies 

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

Generic professional competencies for this position: 

• Ability to build trust.
• Ability to facilitate constructive dialogue.
• Assertive communication and excellent diction.
• Integrity and ability to handle sensitive matters discreetly.
• Interpersonal skills for teamwork to achieve goals institutionally.
• Ability to transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through training, mentoring and other formal and non-formal methods.

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience relevant to this position:

• Experience in community participation, community approach, communication with communities or communication for development.
• Experience in social projects that have involved the integration of communities in the planning, execution or evaluation of the projects.
• Experience with qualitative data collection methodologies and preferably fieldwork.
• Experience in data analysis and report writing and ability to present data and convey information clearly and concisely and identifying trends.
• Preferably theoretical knowledge and work experience in information management and systematization. (Management of databases in online platforms or Excel).
• Proficiency in MS Office Applications (Word, Excel…).
• Fluency in both English, Ukrainian and Russian (speaking, reading, writing).

2. Behavioural competencies

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

• Acting with integrity
• Working with people and building meaningful relations
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Planning and delivering results
• Coping with Change
• Empowering and building trust