I. Background on ACTED

ACTED is a French humanitarian NGO, founded in 1993, which supports vulnerable populations, affected by humanitarian crises worldwide. ACTED provides continued support to vulnerable communities by ensuring the sustainability of post-crisis interventions and engaging long-term challenges facing our target populations, in order to break the poverty cycle, foster development and reduce vulnerability to disasters. Our interventions seek to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and development crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is both global and local, and adapted to each context. Our 3,300 staff is committed in to responding to emergencies worldwide, to supporting recovery and rehabilitation, towards sustainable development.

Our teams in the field implement some 340 projects in 34 countries covering the following sectors emergency relief, food security, access to health, education and training, economic development, microfinance, advocacy, institutional support, and regional dialogue, cultural promotion.

Based on considerable experience addressing the needs and situations of vulnerable communities, ACTED contributes to the international agenda towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, through a wide range of partnerships, innovative initiatives, and campaigns.

For more information, please visit our website at www.acted.org

1. Position Profile

The Information Management Officer will work within the FST (Field Support Team). The FST will be focused upon providing both direct and indirect support to WASH coordination platforms and/or clusters where present globally, regional focus areas. All members of the team may also be deployed to or provide indirect support to FST target countries or operations globally. All members of the team, although having distinct technical portfolio’s and profiles, are expected to contribute to improved and strengthened WASH coordination (pre, during and after emergency) and relevant capacity building activities. Similarly, all team members are expected to contribute to inter-cluster/sector harmonization and cross cutting issues of gender, age, diversity, advocacy, environmental sustainability and accountability to affected populations and ensure dissemination of information, and learning and capacity building through to national platforms.

Responsibilities

Function 1: Support service delivery of the National WASH Coordination Platforms

• Where there are national and a sub-national coordination platforms support linkages to promote effective communication, reporting and engagement.
• Adapt, improve or maintain existing in-country information management approaches for regular collection (5Ws), analysis and reporting of WASH cluster activities, achievements and resources
• Establish linkages with key organisations (e.g OCHA, IMMAP, ACAPS) and other Clusters to keep informed and disseminate information regarding new IM approaches, technologies or initiatives
• Contribute to the exchange and refinement of IM approaches, tools and technologies within the Sector.
• Provide technical support to regional / national IMOs in organising country-level data audits and joint work-planning.
• Identify and provide technical support, mentoring and training to country IMOs as required
• Provide in-country briefs or remote support at the arrival of any country IMO, and ensure a debrief and transfer of files at the departure of any country IMO

Function 2: Informing strategic decision-making for the humanitarism response

• Preparing needs assessments and analysis of gaps (across and within sectors, using information management tools as needed).
• Support the development and analysis of needs assessment and monitoring programmes, providing IM leadership in assessments and monitoring, including joint assessments and training.
• Support the estimation of spatial and temporal gaps, overlaps and coverage of Cluster activities and projects.
• Identifying and finding solutions for (emerging) gaps, obstacles, duplication and cross-cutting issues : work with coordinator / cluster partners to identify information gaps at national and sub-national levels and propose ways to bridge those gaps
• Establish and maintain information databases that consolidate, analyse and report/disseminate information critical to decision making.
• Compile and disseminate effective assessment approaches, methods of analysis, presentation or dissemination used within the regions
• Provide remote technical support to national IMOs with regards methods or presentation as required, in collaboration with the Assessment Officer
• Work with FST members, particularly the Assessment Officer to develop tools and guidance for the establishment of country-level needs assessment and monitoring frameworks.

Function 3: Planning and strategic development

• Supporting the development of sectoral plans, objectives and indicators that directly support realization of the response’s strategic priorities.
• Contribute to the development of SMART strategic objectives, outputs and indicators
• Contribute to developing and promoting a cohesive monitoring plan for measuring cluster achievements
• Ensure discussions of roles & responsibilities for information collection, analysis and sharing with other key clusters (e.g. Health & Nutrition; Education; Shelter/NFIs; etc).
• Applying and adhering to common standards and guidelines.
• Adopt and promote the use of global / in-country data standards to facilitate inter-operability between clusters
• Promote any in-country technical standards or best-practices and ensure their inclusion in the monitoring plan
• Clarifying funding requirements, helping to set priorities, and agreeing cluster contributions to the HC’s overall humanitarian funding proposals.
• Provide the necessary IM products and inputs to support this process, including funding, needs, coverage and geographic and technical gaps: compile and disseminate log frames, indicators and monitoring plans used within the regions / countries
• Provide remote support to country IMOs in conducting secondary data reviews and developing humanitarian needs overviews in conjunction with the Assessment Officer.
• Provide remote support to country l-IMOs in developing effective indicators, log frames and monitoring plans
• Provide remote support to country-IMOs in analysis of available data and development of decision-supporting products

• Work with FST members to support national platforms in the Strategic Response Planning processes and to identify best-practices and lessons-learnt across regions / clusters
• Work with FST members to compile tools and guidance to address traditional overlaps with other key clusters

Function 4: Advocacy

• Support the collection and analysis of advocacy issues through response tracking, quality monitoring, assessments, meetings, or other
• Lead the development of appropriate IM products to support advocacy on the given issue
• Contribute to the development and roll-out of cluster advocacy strategies and workplans
• Ensure linkages with key advocacy groups
• Provide technical support to regional / country IMOs in determining information needs and systems for its collect, in data analysis and product development
• Work with FST members to support global / regional level advocacy needs and strategies

Function 5: Monitoring and reporting

• Lead on the preparation of SitRep inputs with emphasis on Cluster plans, targets, achievements and advocacy concerns
• Lead on the preparation of Cluster reports and inputs to inter-cluster products
• Measuring performance against the cluster strategy and agreed results, recommending corrective action where necessary
• Ensure that activity tracking indicators are measurable, and feed into strategic level indicators
• Ensure their collection and analysis on a regular basis
• Produce regular dashboards against SRP indicators and targets and highlight significant gaps or changes in needs and priorities
• Compile and disseminate best-practice monitoring systems and reporting formats across the regions and countries.
• Work to promote effective tools and products between regions
• Provide technical support to regional / national IMOs in the refinement and roll-out / adaptation of key tools or products
• Work with regional / national IMOs to determine and track coordination / FST performance indicators
• Work with FST members to support regular monitoring of country platform performance
• Work with FST global hub members to develop monitoring and reporting systems with regards coordination / FST performance

Function 6: To build national capacity in preparedness and contingency planning

Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Monitoring

• Support the development and maintenance of a document repository to support secondary data reviews
• Support the development and maintenance of ongoing monitoring of the key WASH threats and risks in the country

Minimum Preparedness Actions (MPA)

• Ensure the development of an IM strategy and tools for potential emergency spikes and support capacity building / training on these tools.

Contingency Planning and Advanced Preparedness Actions

• Ensure the development of appropriate (simple) tools for capacity mapping, needs monitoring and response tracking in the first phases of response.
• Compile and disseminate adaptable tools and approaches used across regions / countries for capacity mapping, needs monitoring and response tracking in the initial phases of a response.
• Support regional / national IMOs in the refinement of appropriate tools and products in preparation for or during contingency or response planning exercises, adapting tools for potential emergency spikes
• Work with FST members to develop tailored training and technical support to national platforms
• Work with FST members and UNICEF programme to support the development of clear transition / deactivation strategies and workplans where relevant

Function 7: Accountability to affected populations (AAP)

• Support the exchange of in-country lessons and tools with regards AAP between partners
• If relevant provide IM support to the development and maintenance of any tools or platforms used to track Cluster AAP reporting and performance

III. Qualifications: