Company Profile

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. CRS Ghana was established in 1958, a year after Ghana gained independence. In Ghana, CRS works with local partners to tackle poverty on several fronts including improving health and nutrition; increasing access to safe water and improved sanitation; promoting agriculture to enhance food security; and increasing financial assets through Savings and Internal Lending Communities. 

Job Description

• Job Title:         Community Mobilization Specialist
• Department:     Programming (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion)
• Band:             D
• Reports To:      Project Coordinator
• Country/Location:     Ghana/Tamale
• Start Date:        July, 2017
• End Date:         June, 2020

Job Summary:
As a member of the Integrated Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement (ICOWASH) project team, you will facilitate the achievement of project objectives through coordinating and reporting on all project activities and providing technical guidance and advice to staff and implementing partner(s) advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your coordination and relationship management skills will ensure that the project for which you are responsible applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Job Responsibilities:

• Support the coordination and implementation of all assigned project activities as outlined in the detailed implementation plan in line with CRS program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices.
• Facilitate community individuals or groups to plan, carry out and evaluate WASH activities on a participatory and sustained basis to improve health and other needs on their own initiative or stimulated by peers
• Develop and manage relationships with partner organizations especially in the District Wide Approach Program to WASH to ensure the effective implementation of sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene projects in communities, schools and health centers
• Support the development and implementation of appropriate participatory approaches to WASH and work closely with district and community stakeholders to develop and execute mobilization and sensitization activities
• Support WASH Officers in the development of annual work plans, budget preparation, and assist to implement them to achieve project goals and planned results
• Monitor and report any challenges and/or gaps identified to inform adjustments to plans and implementation schedules. Assist partners in their efforts to reflect on project experiences.
• Support accountability through coordinating project evaluation activities and assisting partners in their efforts to collect and analyze project data per specified mechanisms and tools. Collaborate with local partner(s) to prepare reports per established reporting schedule.
• Provide coaching, tailor individual development plans, and complete performance management for direct reports. Monitor and assess performance to ensure capacity for successful support of high quality programming.
• Collect information on staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and monitor capacity building and technical support activities to ensure effective impact.
• Complete project documentation for assigned activities. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.

Key Working Relationships:

• Supervisory:      WASH officers
• Internal:     Regional/HQ technical advisors, Head of Programs, WASH and other line managers, Project Coordinator, WASH Specialist, SILC Specialists, M&E Specialist, and other WASH Officers
• External:      Government partners and Service providers (Contractors)

Scope:

• You will be supervising 6 WASH Officers.

Travel Required:

• 50% of time (day trips)

Required Skills or Experience

• University degree in social science, community-based development or related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in programs in community mobilization and outreach. Experience in the field of sanitation and hygiene promotion and for an NGO would be a plus.
• Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement.
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data preferred.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of local language (Mapruli, Frafra and Talen) would be preferable.

Personal Skills:

• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment.
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members.
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities.
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented.
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of local level issues

Required/Desired Foreign Language:

• Not Applicable

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Competencies:

• Accountability: Improving our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms, and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
• Analysis and Critical Thinking: Engaging with data, challenging biases and assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding of evidence through reflection and perspective-taking, and making informed programming decisions.
• Monitoring: Implementing monitoring activities, including timely collection of quality data, set up and maintenance of databases, facilitation of participatory reflection on monitoring results, and submission of timely progress reports.