Project Officer-Commodity Compliance

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. For nearly 60 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made disasters affecting Ethiopia's most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS' disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. CRS's humanitarian work in Ethiopia also provides livelihoods support to farmers and entrepreneurs, promotes equality and inclusion, and mitigates the impact of COVID-19.

As part of CRS family, you will join the more than 5000 strong and vibrant individuals working globally to accomplish the mission of CRS. CRS/Ethiopia invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for the following position.

Job Title:                        Project Officer - Commodity Compliance 

Band:                              VII

Required number:        One

Department:                 JEOP/CRMCU

Employment Term:      Definite (i.e. until April 30, 2027)

Reports To:                  Senior Project Officer-Commodity Compliance

Country/Location:       CRS Ethiopia/Dire Dawa

Job Summary:

As a member of the JEOP Commodity Compliance project team, you will be responsible for compliance visit and follow up monitoring finding closure of JEOP project last mile activities in support of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work serving the poor and vulnerable. Your thorough and service-oriented approach will ensure that the project consistently applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

 I.         Purpose of the Position:

• Support last mile commodity management follow-up for JEOP consortium partners in line with the JEOP program quality principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practice
• Provide feedback on the status of reported monitoring findings, and set an action plan for those pending for action on monthly bases

• Closely support partner staff capacity on-spot during compliance visit

II.    Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

Compliance Follow up Visit

• Support last mile commodity management follow-up for JEOP consortium partners by regular reviewing and visiting the last mile JEOP program implementation at FDPs,
• Review risk monitoring reports for assigned JEOP Partners to ensure data integrity on JEOP Management Application (JEOP - MA),
• Consistently updating partners about their risk level and performance status using of the follow-up sheet (JEOP - MA), on monthly bases
• Prepare and conduct visit schedule at partner operational area monthly in coordination to the unit’s developed plan and partner’s risk and finding status (Bower BI - Reporting Dashboard)
• Review and frequent intensive follow up plan, for those partner’s working site having high risk, more findings, and sensitive cases (like incident reports)
• 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,
• Maintain strong working relationship with partners at different levels (FDP, Sub Offices and Coordination offices)
• Participate in a joint assessment with partners on the specific issues; like reported incidents, to set a comprehensive solution. Identify and indicates symptoms that may bring risks that cause similar results,
• Support CRS supply chain department for commodity management practice in its PDPs

Support partner staff capacity

• 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.
• 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.
• Share good practices, commodity management rules and regulation on a formal training.
• Complete project documentation for assigned activities. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.

Conduct entry/exit meetings with partner

• Provide information of the purpose and specific location of visit plan
• At every end of the visit, discuss on observation, recommendations, and capture partner’s reflection to include to the compiled report,  
• Jointly set an action plan for those pending issues that needs further support and/or time frame and update the working tool, JEOP – MA, after every visit.

Preparing and submitting reports

• Share lists of verified record IDs on weekly bases, and on spot for those inconsistent records to the Project Manager- Commodity Compliance
• Collect supportive document confirming the closure of specific findings and update the application to reflect the change,
• Compile detail field reports after every visit and share to Senior Project Officer- Commodity Compliance.

Education and Experience

• MA/MSC Degree in related field of study with 2 years' relevant experience or 4 years relevant experience for BA degree
• Experience in the field of Commodity Compliance and for an NGO would be a plus. 
• Additional education may substitute for some experience. 
• 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). 

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

Required/Desired Foreign Language: - English, Amharic and Afaan Oromo, Somali, Hadiya, Sidama, Tigrenga

Travel Required: Extensive field travel to partner activity sites for up to 50% of work time.

Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory: No supervisory responsibility

Internal:  Works closely and collaborates with Field Officers and Project Officers.

External: Collaborates with counterparts from implementing partner and government stakeholders.

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.

·       Trusting Relationships

·       Professional Growth

·       Partnership

·       Accountability

Disclaimer:  This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

You should fill the application form through this link: https://form.jotform.com/230943350862557 and attach your up-to-date CV on / before the application deadline April 15, 2023. You will be contacted only if selected for written exam/interview. Phone solicitations will not be accepted. These job opportunities are open to Ethiopian nationals only.

CRS requires its staff to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. 

** Qualified women & persons with disability are highly encouraged to apply**

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer