Community Development Officer

Full Job Description

Action Against Hunger - USA is part of theAction Against Hunger International network. As an independent NGO, ActionAgainst Hunger USA currently manages operations in 8 countries: Kenya, SouthSudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Haiti with over $100million in programs, and approximately 1,800 permanent staff based in New YorkCity, Washington D.C, Nairobi, and country offices. Additional growth isanticipated.

I.               Summaryof position

The officer will be working under the overallsupervision of the Deputy field coordinator, the Community Development Officer will providethe technical expertise on approaches and methods for organizing broad-scalecommunity engagement. Through his/her work the Community Development Officerwill seek to increase community (local authorities and beneficiaries)involvement through working with all institutional organs agreed upon in theproject. The officer will work closely with the CORPs (community-owned resourcepersons) and community members to mobilize and facilitate the implementation ofvarious development projects and activities. The officer will play a pivotalrole in building community capacity, monitoring community component projectprogress, coordinating mobilization and sensitization efforts, supportingprogram staff, and maintaining effective communication with county programpersonnel. In addition, the officer will provide inputs to the development oftraining materials relevant to community-level activities.

Purpose:

·    To effectively and efficiently facilitate theimplementation of Action Against Hunger activities at the community level andensure communities are empowered to participate in project design, planning,implementation, evaluation and exit. The Community Development Officer will work towards increasedcommunity (local authorities and beneficiaries) involvement.

·    To strengthen the working relationship betweenACF and all stakeholders at the county level through proper networking,cooperation, communication and collaboration.

Engagement:  

·       Liaise with and facilitaterelevant communication and exchange with the Local Community, local Authoritieswithin county and sub county, ward and location level in the area.

·     Takethe lead in the respective ACF project mobilization and sensitization during projectinception, Progress review, completion and final Handing over the process.

·       RepresentAction Against Hunger in various county-level external meetings on community interventions planning and programming.

·       Work closely with the sector level focalpersons to plan and implement interventions at the community and household levelensuring active linkage for greater impact.

·       Liaise with the relevant other actors todocument project interventions and outcomes at community level.

Delivery:

·       Gather all the community CRM(complaint response mechanism) data during field visits and share it with themeal coordinator through the Deputy field coordinator.

·       Conduct Quarterly review meetingsfor all ACF ongoing projects and share outcomes with the respective projectofficer through the Deputy field coordinator.

II.              Essentialjob duties

1.     Coordination of CommunityLevel Capacity Building:  25%

·       Identify the training and capacity-buildingneeds of community level health workforce and members.

·       Develop training plans and workshops toaddress these needs, focusing on skill enhancement and knowledge transfer.

·       Collaborate with relevant subject matterexperts to support capacity-building sessions.

·       Monitor and evaluate the impact ofcapacity-building initiatives on community members for continuous improvement.

2.     Lead in Community Level Activities’Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning: 15%

·       Design and implement monitoring and evaluationsystems for community-level activities.

·       Regularly collect data on project progress,outcomes, and impact at the community level.

·       In liaison with the MEAL officer, analyze community-leveldata to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.

·       Prepare and present reports on monitoringfindings to the line manager and other relevant stakeholders.

·       Coordinate documentation of community-levellearning (success stories, best practices, challenges, among others) and ensurethey are shared with the project team for input and sharing internally andexternally.

3.     CoordinateCommunity Level Mobilization:                       25%

·       Develop and execute effective strategies tomobilize community members for participation in project/developmentinitiatives.

·       Organize and facilitate community meetings,workshops, and awareness campaigns.

·       Collaborate with community leaders andinfluencers to ensure active engagement and participation.

·       Get a community database with all relevantcontacts in all ACF operation areas in the county for proper networking,cooperation and collaboration.

·       Foster a sense of ownership and responsibilityamong community members for project success.

4.     SupportProgram Staff in Implementation of Community Level Activities:        15%

·       Collaborate with program teams to ensurealignment of community-level activities with broader project goals.

·       Provide technical guidance and support toprogram staff in the execution of community-based projects.

·       Ensure that all the plans and indicators ofthe community mobilization team are realistically set and oversee theirachievement;

·       Support in all ACF assessment/survey,planning, capacity building, implementation and support in the communitymobilization and sensitization during the exercise

·       Get security updates from the respective CORPs(community-owned resource persons e.g. CMSG, CDC, Health team etc.) in all theoperation areas for the ACF staff consumption.

·       Address any challenges or issues that ariseduring implementation and propose solutions.

·       Contributeeffectively to articulate community-level component in the regular programreports including internal and donor reports. 

5.     Building Partnerships with Project Stakeholdersand Partners:                   10%

·       Work with the FC, DFC and technical program staffto expand cooperation between communities and the local authorities duringproject implementation ensuring local needs, priorities and initiatives areintegrated into the local authorities’ plans

·       Act as a liaison between the community, all stakeholdersand base program personnel.

·       In liaison with the line manager, communicateproject updates, challenges, and successes to relevant stakeholders at thecounty level.

·       Participate in coordination meetings to ensureseamless integration of community initiatives into larger county/base programs.

·       Collaborate with base program personnel toleverage resources and opportunities for community-level activities.

·       Ensure awareness about project priorities,strategies and approaches

·       Analyseongoing experience for lessons learnt and best practices and share with the project team for use in knowledge sharing and planning.

·       Liaisewith the project team to ensure anticipation of stories and begin theirdocumentation at early stages.

·       Proactivelycontribute to knowledge networks and communities of practice.

6.     Branding, Communication and Visibility    5%

·       Ensure all project activities at the communitylevel are well branded with Action Against Hunger and donor visibility as perthe project visibility and communication guidelines.

·       Ensure capturing of quality images/photos andvideos for activities at the community and share with the project team andcommunications officer 

7.     Any Other duty                         5%

·       Perform any other duties asmay be assigned by the line manager.

III.      Supervisory roles

•     None

IV.        Fiscal Responsibility

·       Preparecash forecast for community engagement and development activities

·       Ensureexpenditure is as stipulated in the budget lines with strict adherence to thebudget limits

·       Propose anticipatedbudget re-alignment on time discussing with Deputy Field Coordinator

·       Inliaison with the Deputy Field Coordinator, monitor budget spending against thespending plans

·    Ensurediligence in grants utilization including timely spending and value for money.

V.             Physical Demands

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·       This position entails a lot of travel to the field to supportcommunity level activities. The employee must attest to a level of physicalfitness capable of enduring physically difficult, highly stressful situations,which may include the necessity to walk long distances, to eat a limited dietand/or to reside in potentially uncomfortable housing.

·       The physical demands described here are representative ofthose that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essentialfunctions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enableindividuals with disability to perform the essential functions.

VI.            Working Conditions,Travel and Environment

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VII.          Gender EqualityCommitments & Zero Tolerance to Abuse

At all times, Actionagainst Hunger commits to;

·       Foster anenvironment that reinforces values of people of all genders equal access toinformation.

·       Provide a workenvironment where people of all genders must be evaluated and promoted based ontheir skills and performance.

·       Promote a safe,secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly forchildren, beneficiaries, and members of staff.

·       Help to prevent anytype of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.

·       Be acquainted withHAP principles (Humanitarian accountability and partnership)

·       Respectbeneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sexorientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age,or marital status.

·       Value and respectall cultures.

VIII.        

·       Bachelor'sdegree in Community Development, Social Sciences, International Development, ora related field or

·       Diploma in Community Development,Community/Management Studies, or related social sciences course from arecognized institution