General Description of the Programme:

GOAL an International Humanitarian Organisation has had a presence in Turkey since 2013 and has been contributing to the migrant response since 2016 with a focus on responding to needs in health service delivery, social safety nets and the protection of vulnerable and marginalised migrants in southern Turkey.

GOAL has been working in Syria since 2013, responding to the acute needs of conflict-affected communities. GOAL is working in Idleb Governate, both through direct implementation and through partners, delivering food, non-food programming to highly vulnerable populations, and provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) through support to Water units, as well as emergency support to recently displaced households.

Job purpose:

Working within the Accountability Department of GOAL Syria, the main function of the Accountability Officer (AO) is to help promote a culture of accountability and ethics, an understanding of the necessity of accountability to affected populations, processes and policies throughout GOAL and the implications of unaccountability.

The AO will work closely with Accountability Coordinator (AC) to provide technical support to ensure that GOAL Syria’s accountability systems are implemented effectively. A part of the role will be coordination with the Accountability Team inside Syria to ensure a systematic reporting on CRM data, as well as for GOAL’s Partner organisations. On the other hand the AO’s workload will be to ensure that GOAL’s investigation activities are properly managed and follow the work plan as recommended and assessed by the AC. Support the AC to elaborates investigation strategies, plans and approaches, and leads or participates in Serious Complaints Committee meetings or Complaints Response Groupe meetings, or engage with investigation team in the conduct of investigations and reviews. Provides advices and recommendations on serious cases and ensure a proper documentation and reporting for each case.

Duties, objectives and competencies

Complaints Response Mechanism (CRM)

• Receive, respond, segregate and refer all complaints received through the accountability channels to the key focal person at each entity (systems, programs etc.)
• Work closely with Accountability Coordinator to define and organize information per entity.
• Follow up on serious complaints and feedback referrals with appropriate entities/sectors and respond to raised pending issues as needed.
• Support the activities of GOAL’s Accountability team in Syria, which includes the Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and investigations into serious complaints.
• Provide capacity building, technical support and training to the Accountability team based in Syria as well as the Programmes team and GOAL’s local Partners on all areas of complaints handling, response and investigations.
• Work with the Accountability Coordinator to see that the CRM and the Whistleblowing procedures for serious cases are adapted to the context to ensure its access and availability to staff and project participants.

Investigations

• Work closely with the Accountability Coordinator (Amman) to manage the Serious Complaints Tracker of GOAL Syria, including entry and updates.
• Ensure that results generated by field findings/investigation activities are summarized, well recorded and communicated with Accountability Coordinator to inform programming and address issues on time.
• Receive, respond, segregate and refer all serious complaints received through the accountability channels to the key focal person at each entity (systems, programs etc.)
• Translate Investigation Reports and other details and documents related to investigations from Arabic into English.
• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) scanning activities for GOAL Syria’s complaints response and wrongdoing awareness activities
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and guidelines on the above, with support from the Accountability Coordinator (Amman).

Capacity Building and Training

• Lead the development of training materials, including on-line versions (using Articulate), relating to accountability, including complaints response, investigations and the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS).
• The AO will be the main training resource for GOAL Syria on complaints response, investigations and the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS).
• Work with Accountability Coordinator (Amman) to develop and maintain standard operating procedures on the above.
• Provide technical support to GOAL’s Partners on CRM data and investigation reporting.
• Provide technical support to GOAL’s local Partners running their Complaints and Response Mechanisms (CRM).
• Work with Partners to conduct investigations in line with GOAL Syria’s standard operating procedures on same.

Reporting and report writing

• Ensure proper records and filing of accountability data such as serious complaints follow ups/referrals and management of data – schedules, outcomes, feedback database and documents.
• Compile and submit timely reports on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis to Accountability coordinator when requested
• Tailor complaints and feedback reports templates according to the donor requirement, based on specifications provided by Accountability Coordinator
• Draft monthly and quarterly reports for donors on areas of Complaints and Response Mechanisms (CRM), aid diversion, and serious complaint investigations.
• Draft quarterly reports for GOAL HQ on performance of Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM), aid diversion, and serious complaint investigations.

Carry out additional responsibilities as assigned by the Accountability Coordinator

Requirements (essential)

• Degree level qualification in a relevant field – Social, Humanities, Human Rights, law or other relevant fields. A higher degree level (such as Master or a specialised technical Degree) in a relevant field will be an advantage.
• Minimum of two year’s work experience, with previous experience working with NGOs / Humanitarian agencies a distinct advantage. Note that a Master or specialised technical degree will be seen as worth of two years of experience.
• Demonstrated ability to engage in analytical and critical thinking to assess complaints
• Demonstrated capability in capacity building (GOAL staff, partners and other stakeholders)
• Fluency in English with strong English written and oral competency.
• Commitment to beneficiary accountability, humanitarian ethics, child protection and gender.
• Strong writing skills and excellent attention to detail.
• Experience in data analysis and interpretation.
• Familiarity with data analysis and presentation tools and programmes (Microsoft Office Powerpoint, Excel, PowerBI).
• Leadership and the ability to lead by example.

Requirements (desired)

• Previous experience working in the INGO or humanitarian sector and understanding of the context of NW Syria, desirable.
• Very good understanding of CHS, accountability standards, principles and mechanisms desirable.
• Demonstrated capability in developing and delivering training sessions.
• Good understanding of Child Protection and Gender issues – specifically but not exclusively in the Syrian context would be an advantage.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with previous experience in coordination activities a distinct advantage.
• Experience being a lawyer or legal consultant or experience with community or social affair is a plus.

General terms and conditions

GOAL has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Child Protection Policy, which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants and children from exploitation. GOAL also has a confidentiality policy ensuring the non-disclosure of any information whatsoever relating to the practices and business of GOAL, acquired in the course of duty, to any other person or organisation without authority, except in the normal execution of duty. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to these policies any job offer made is also subject to police clearance. GOAL is an equal opportunities employer.

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document. Any published closing dates are estimated. Due to the nature of GOAL’s work we aim to fill vacancies as quickly as possible. This means that we will close adverts as soon as we have found the right candidate and this may be before the published closing date. We would therefore advise interested applicants to submit an application as early as possible.