Project Officer RFMS – Malawians Only at Catholic Relief Services

About CRS

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.

Background 

Catholic Relief Services started collecting monthly data on food security as a pilot in 2016, in response to the call for higher-frequency data to better understand resilience in food insecure areas (Heady and Barrett 2015). In 2017, after initially promising results, this effort was expanded to be representative across CRS project areas as part of the USAID-funded UBALE project in Blantyre Rural, Chikwawa, and Nsanje. These data have been (and are being) used to inform resilience measurement (Knippenberg et al. 2019), better understand food security dynamics and predictive models (Gholami et al. 2022, Christian et al. 2023), and empower communities with information (Khalago and Upton 2023).

Based on these successes, CRS partnered with Cornell, the World Bank, and the Government of Malawi in 2020 to expand MIRA to the representative level in districts identified by the National Resilience Strategy and USAID as resilience hotspots, at the same time integrating the SWIFT poverty measurement approach developed by the World Bank to estimate poverty rates. This effort became the Rapid Feedback Monitoring System. It rolled out first in six districts in August 2020, adding four more in July 2021, and two more in December 2022. The RFMS in turn added three high-density urban areas – Blantyre, Zomba, and Mangochi – in March 2022.

Job Summary:

As a Project Officer, you will contribute to the achievement of RFMS objective by supporting the project team and enumerators to effectively implement and scale the RFMS.  You will contribute to planning, budget management, supporting enumerators to effectively collect data, and documentation and knowledge management. Your planning, management and coordination skills will ensure quality implementation of activities on budget and time thereby improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve

 

Roles and Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and operationalize monthly action plans based on data collection-related activities based on the detailed implementation plan.
• Support Senior Field Supervisors to ensure that enumerators have necessary resources to effectively collect data, including logging issues with devices and stipends based on feedback from the Toll-Free line and monthly feedback form.
• Work closely with the Program Manager and Field Supervisors to gather procurement needs and update quarterly procurement plans, including raising requisitions and following through the procurement process.
• Contribute to Project’s Knowledge Management efforts by supporting the Project Manager with report writing and updating project information on Gateway and SharePoint RFMS page on a regular basis.
• Support with organization of project meetings at national and sub-national level, including backstopping field teams during annual community meetings.
• Manage enumerator payment requests, transfers and liquidations for all payments processed through the Airtel Money portal and ensure that necessary documentation is provided in a timely manner.
• Contribute to the annual planning process, budget forecasting and project-level BCR discussions.
• Take minutes during meetings, support drafting of activity reports and support Senior Field supervisors with compilation of community shock reports.

 

 

Required Languages -English  and Chichewa ( preferred)

 

Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 40 %.

 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• 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

 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with partners
• 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).

 

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

 Key Working Relationships:

Internal RFMS CoP, Program Manager, Snr. Field Supervisors

External RFMS enumerators, government and sector stakeholders

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required Degree in Economics, Rural Development or other related fields.
• Minimum of 4 years of work experience in project support. Experience in the field of data management and for an NGO would be a plus.
• Additional education may substitute for some experience.

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.

• Integrity
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Strategic Mindset
• Accountability & Stewardship

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

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

Note:  All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer