REACH Assessment Officer

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

We are currently looking for a REACH Assessment Officer to support our REACH Syria team in Amman.

Supervisor: REACH Assessment Manager

Title: REACH Assessment Officer

Location: Amman, Jordan

Contract duration: 6 months

Start date: ASAP

Country profile

The dynamic and multi-faceted nature of the Syrian humanitarian crisis has created significant challenges for information management. With 13.1 million people in need within the country as well as 5.6 million refugees outside of the country, the capacity of the humanitarian community to understand and meet the needs of conflict-affected populations is extremely stretched. To respond to a crisis of such scale, timely and comparable information is required across Syria and its neighboring countries. In this context, since 2013, REACH has been working closely in coordination with humanitarian clusters as well as with other national and regional coordination mechanisms such as OCHA and Cash Based Responses Technical Working Group to address information gaps and implement assessments that contribute to informing the humanitarian response. Overall, since the onset of the deployment, REACH has been involved in macro and regional multisectoral assessments, informed cash and voucher programming across Syria through monthly Market Monitoring Exercise, extended technical support to the CCCM Community Level IDP Tracking Project in Syria and conducted rapid assessments in response to contextual changes. More information can be found here: http://www.reach-initiative.org/where-we-work/ongoing-field-presence/syria.

POSITION PROFILE

Functions

Under the supervision of the REACH Assessment Manager and IMPACT HQ in Geneva, the REACH Assessment Officer is responsible for the management and implementation of all REACH ad hoc needs assessments and rapid needs assessments in and out of camps, including their preparation, implementation, and follow-up. He/she will also be responsible for related logistics, partner coordination, reporting and finance requirements and will be required to provide input to the strategic development of REACH in country and region, if relevant.

Summary

The REACH Assessment Officer shall be responsible for:

• In coordination with Country Coordinator and REACH Assessment Managers, design, implement, and monitor REACH needs assessment strategy in and out of camps across Syria;
• Ensuring that assessment strategies are implemented in a structured and coherent manner in line with project and strategic objectives;
• In coordination with REACH Assessment Managers, external representation of REACH with donors, partners, and the wider aid community through clusters and sectoral working groups;
• Management of REACH assessment field staff to ensure a smooth and timely implementation of activities;
• Coordinate and ensure timely data collection, analysis and, in partnership with GIS/DB team, mapping of datasets, ensure that all collected data are geo-referenced;
• Works closely with GIS and database teams in country;
• Ensure the writing of timely, accurate, and coherent assessment reports, and factsheets;
• Keep track of all projects and programmes assessment schedules and work with field staff to design and implement REACH assessment procedures;
• Supporting the development/revision of assessment/programme strategies, donor reports, or new proposals;
• Conduct timely and accurate monitoring and evaluation of all programme outputs;
• Liaising with programme staff of other ACTED departments to ensure close coordination and information sharing is maintained;
• Coordinate timely and accurate reporting to IMPACT HQ along with the REACH Assessment Managers and Country Coordinator.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Assessment Design and Implementation

The REACH Assessment Officer (AO) is responsible for designing the methodology, tools, and data analysis plan associated with each needs and rapid needs assessment, according to REACH requirements and principles. He/she will manage the planning, implementation, and follow-up of all REACH- and projects-specific assessment activities conducted in country. In operations in which REACH is a project component of a wider ACTED intervention, the REACH AO is required to contribute to the preparation and follow up of the project plan and ensure that activities are properly coordinated and implemented.

The REACH AO is responsible for leading the implementation of RNAs and needs assessment, providing support to the development of assessment, database, and GIS tools with the REACH team. This will specifically include, with the GIS/DB team, designing of data collection tools (household surveys, focus groups, KI surveys); development or review of databases; contributing to GIS data collection procedures and mapping thereof through ARC GIS and other ESRI products in particular; and analysis of spatial and other information to contribute to reports and other information products.

2. Reporting and M&E

The REACH AO shall provide technical support to the relevant ACTED department terms of the preparation of new project proposals, development of programme strategies, implementation of project activities, and any other required inputs.

The REACH AO is responsible for the timely and accurate preparation of narrative and financial donor reports related to REACH activities in country through close liaison with the Project Development and Finance departments. The REACH AO shall conduct continuous, accurate, and timely monitoring and evaluation of all programme outputs utilising the IMPACT M&E framework. 3. Creation of timely, accurate, and coherent research outputs

The REACH AO is responsible for consolidating all analyses and conclusions from each assessment into REACH products such as factsheets, reports, presentations using IMPACT HQ templates, where needed. He/she will liaise with Geneva and Regional GIS/DB Specialists in order to spatially analyse and represent data in interactive web map or static map format, as relevant.

He/she must ensure the writing of timely and accurate assessment reports and factsheets, ensuring the quality and accuracy of technical information provided as well as the confidentiality and protection of collected information, in line with the IMPACT data protection policy. He/she is responsible for ensuring that deliverables are submitted on time to partners and donors.

4. Staff Management

The REACH AO is responsible for day-to-day management of project and field staff both directly and remotely across all hubs of the Syria mission. He/she is expected to guide and direct REACH staff and prepare and follow up workplans with each staff member that directly reports to him/her. The REACH AO will ensure that all field teams are comprehensively briefed on the objective, expected outputs and that the overall implementation strategy of any given activity is clearly understood. He/she will ensure that project/field staff are given training and complete all the necessary documentation in line with program requirements set by REACH.

5. External engagement

Representation of ACTED/REACH in cluster and inter-cluster meetings, as well as technical working groups, when relevant. He/she will engage with external partners, including UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, and other partners as needed based on the topic at hand. He/she will ensure to present at all relevant forums to raise awareness of the assessments within his/her portfolio.

REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master’s degree in relevant discipline;
• 1 year of relevant working experience in a humanitarian setting;
• Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting;
• Excellent analytical skills – ability to situate findings within a wider context;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• A self-starter with a strong existing ability to work independently;
• Team management experience, an asset;
• Ability to operate in a cross-cultural and cross-country environment, requiring flexibility;
• Fluency in English required;
• Familiarity with the aid system, and understanding of donor and governmental requirements;
• Prior knowledge of the Syria context an asset;
• Ability to operate Microsoft Word and Excel;
• Ability to operate SPSS or related statistical programming an asset;
• Ability to operate Adobe Indesign an asset;
• Experience with all parts of the research cycle, an asset.

CONDITIONS

• Salary defined by the IMPACT salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus
• Additional monthly living allowance
• Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)
• Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance
• Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package