Helpline Assistant

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.

1. Role Summary:

The Helpline Assistant is responsible for the management of the central helpline that receives calls from households requesting services from NRC Lebanon. The Assistant will sit within the Accountability Unit that falls within the Programme Support Unit at NRC Country Office. The Assistant will manage service request calls from NRC’s four operational areas (North, Bekaa, South and BML) and will support with basic data cleaning and analysis. The position reports directly to the Accountability Officer and has a direct technical line to the NRC program to whom trends and gaps are reported.

Generic Responsibilities:

1. Adequately communicate and share general information about NRC’s operation in Lebanon.
2. Develop knowledge of NRC’s core competency in order to most effectively attend to callers.
3. Share regular reports of received calls with program Focal Points in the areas, and perform follow-up as needed to ensure proper handling of cases.
4. Update the Program’s FAQs document as needed to ensure up-to-date information is given to callers.
5. Handle sensitive and non-sensitive complaints and feedback calls, and actively promote accountability and PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) standards and principles.

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Represent NRC using excellent communication skills with beneficiaries, communities and stakeholders.
2. Receive calls via the centralised program helpline, triage/classification of cases, update database and refer admissible cases to the program Focal Points in the areas in a timely manner. Follow-up with Focal points on status of cases (in process, closed, open).
3. Maintain the helpline database, compiling, revising and cleaning of entered data.
4. Receive and follow-up on results of referred calls from the area teams, and update helpline database accordingly.
5. Provide feedback, when needed, to calls requesting follow-up on eligibility, based on the reports provided by the program teams.
6. Coordinate with Database officers on possible move-ins and move-outs reported through the helpline.
7. Handle calls on complaints and feedback and ensure these are reported to the Accountability Unit for follow-up.
8. Handle sensitive calls (related to SEA/ protection) and ensure these are reported to the Protection Coordinators in each area office for follow up, in a reliable and confidential manner.

Critical Interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Program Specialist
• Project Managers
• Program Database Officers
• Protection Coordinators at Area Office level
• Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinators at Area Office level

1. Competencies:

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following two categories:

1. Professional competencies

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

• Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities

• Knowledge of English, written and oral and fluency in Lebanese Arabic is must
• Professional management of confidential/sensitive information and handling SEA cases
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Knowledge of, respect and empathy for the communities we are working with
• Desirable experience in handling a helpline

2. Behavioural Competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, and the following are essential for this position:

• Communicate with impact and respect
• Working with people
• Planning and delivering results
• Handling insecure environments
• Working under stress