Senior Advisor, WASH Monitoring
Contract type: Permanent, Full time
Salary: Salary and benefits are location-dependent and are established through market-based assessment. The following are examples of starting annual salaries: UK: £42,871; Nigeria: Nira 11,510,146; South Africa: Rand 716,121.
Location: The role can be based in the UK or one of the following WaterAid Country Programmes – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia subject to right to work eligibility in the respective countries.
Closing date: Applications will close 23:59, Monday 24th April 2023. Availability for interviews is required week commencing 29th May 2023.
How to Apply: To see the full job pack, please click ‘Apply’.
Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter into one document in either Word Document or PDF format.
In your covering letter please set out your suitability for the role and also briefly answer the following three questions on a separate page, in no more than 500 words in total:
1. What are your top 3 skills/areas of experience that you feel meet the requirements of the role?
2. What is your approach to the provision of technical advice and support?
3. What mechanisms exist for updating WASH data at the local government level in low-income environments?
About WaterAid:
Want to use your skills in WASH monitoring to play a vital role in making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere?
We need passionate, creative and dedicated people. In return, you will be encouraged and empowered to be yourself at your very best. Together, we will make a bigger difference.
Join WaterAid as Senior Advisor, WASH Monitoring to change normal for millions of people so they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good. On top of that you’ll be joining a 2020 Great Place to Work® award-winning organisation.
About the Team:
This position will be based in the Quality Programmes (QP) team of the Programme Support Unit (PSU), part of the WaterAid UK International Programmes Department (IPD). IPD operates in over 20 countries with approximately 600 staff in total. PSU is a diverse, motivated, and fun group of 30 technical experts, specialists, advisors, and managers, passionate about bringing sustainable WASH access to the world’s poorest and most marginalised people.
PSU exists to provide thought leadership, specialist support, normative guidance, learning, knowledge management, and planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting support across the organisation, particularly to WaterAid country programmes. PSU collaborates with many functions across the organisation including the Policy & Campaigns Department, Fundraising, and Regional Management Teams across South Asia and Africa, as well as with WaterAid partners, to bring sustainable and inclusive WASH to everyone, everywhere.
About the Role:
In order to increase WASH coverage in an equitable way, improve the sustainability of WASH and improve transparency, it is necessary for service providers and regulators to collect data on the status of WASH. Monitoring is an essential component of a strong WASH system that can both deliver and sustain WASH outcomes. The Senior Advisor, WASH Monitoring provides and coordinates thought leadership, strategic advice and support on national and local processes for monitoring the status of WASH as part of a wider ‘system strengthening’ approach. The role focuses on the use of WASH data for planning, budgeting, transparency and accountability.
You will work collaboratively with other specialists across the wider WaterAid federation to embed knowledge and approaches for monitoring the status of WASH across all of our work. You will collaborate with country and regional colleagues in developing and applying WASH monitoring guidance to local contexts; support key WASH monitoring projects; facilitate the WASH Monitoring Community of Practice, represent WaterAid on external networks, support fund development and donor engagement. You will support the documentation of experiences and learning related to WASH monitoring. You will also work with WaterAid’s programme monitoring and evaluation team to align WaterAid’s internal programme monitoring framework with aspects of WASH monitoring and support sustainability monitoring.
The Senior Advisor, WASH Monitoring will:
Develop guidance, standards, and address knowledge gaps (approx. 25% time)
• Lead the co-design and development of relevant normative frameworks, standards and guidance materials related to WASH monitoring for both internal and external audiences in collaboration with country teams, regional teams and other thematic experts.
• Provide and coordinate in-depth thought leadership and strategic advice on WASH monitoring, framed within a system strengthening approach.
• Establish a consistent understanding of WASH indicators, data collection mechanisms, data updating mechanisms, analysis techniques and incentives for use of WASH service level data to improve targeting of investments in WASH.
• Manage the improvement of WASH service level monitoring tools.
• Lead the production of reports and experience documentation.
Provide and coordinate targeted technical support to countries and regions on WASH monitoring (approx. 30% time)
• Respond efficiently and effectively to ad hoc requests from country and regional colleagues for support on WASH monitoring related matters.
• Lead the integration of WASH monitoring into WaterAid’s core programme work, advising on closer alignment between WASH monitoring and WaterAid’s M&E processes
• Design and facilitate training workshops on WASH monitoring.
• Provide training on use of ICT tools for WASH monitoring (for example mWater, AKVO, Kobo, Water point mapper).
• Manage e-learning modules related to WASH monitoring.
Consult and collaborate with other WaterAid teams on WASH monitoring (approx. 20% time)
• Support preparation of funding proposals and donor engagements.
• Alongside the other thematic Senior WASH Managers and policy advisors, provide high level strategic technical input into specific strategic initiatives and positioning.
• Provide technical inputs and programming learning to help shape policy research, analysis, and influencing initiatives at local and global scale, led by the Policy and Campaigns Department.
• Support the PSU Research & Learning team in maintaining and promoting information management system and knowledge sharing platforms (e.g. KnowledgeNet, WASH matters) that provides access to guidance and knowledge products.
• Contribute towards the internal System Strengthening Community of Practice to support cross-team learning on WASH monitoring.
• Consult and collaborate with other WaterAid teams (e.g. PSU, IFP, PCD, SP, communications) in understanding and applying key principles in WASH monitoring in their respective roles (where relevant).
Engage with and influence the WASH sector (approx. 10% time)
• Represent WaterAid in networks and external collaborations with other organisations in relation to WASH monitoring
• Coordinate with the Policy and Campaigns Department in jointly engaging the WASH sector at all levels, build relationships with leading global and regional WASH agencies, participate in external networks and platforms to share WaterAid’s learning in policy and practice, and to enable WaterAid to learn from others.
• Maintain or develop current collaborations or networks and assist or initiate new collaborative efforts that support the delivery of the WaterAid organisational strategy.
Contribute to team processes (approx. 15% time)
• Be an integral part of the Quality Programmes team, helping to ensure the integration of our support work and a joined-up articulation of our core framing materials.
• Support PSU annual planning, budgeting, and reporting processes.
• If applicable, ensure high quality one-to-one performance management of staff/consultants/interns you directly manage that brings out their best in alignment with PSU plans and the organisational strategy.
About you:
Essential skills
Extensive commitment, experience and demonstrable knowledge and skills in the area of WASH monitoring, systems thinking and sustainable WASH in developing countries, demonstrated through a progressive career record with at least the most recent significant experience being in a similar level role.
A relevant Post Graduate degree or equivalent.
A systems thinker, with proven experience of working on system strengthening programmes.
Proven intermediate level competence in use of ICT tools such as mWater, ArcGIS, and Excel.
Very strong writing ability in English. Ability to synthesise information, analyse its relevance and communicate it in accessible formats that target the needs of different audiences with proven experience of producing clear, succinct written products, reports and experience documentation. Able to give examples of previous written products authored.
Proven success in offering technical assistance, consulting, and/or advisory services to empower and to develop capacities.
Proven experience of working with local government, national government and service providers (including utilities) in low income settings.
Ability to handle highly specialized, unusual, and challenging technical assignments, resolve complex issues in practical and imaginative ways.
Organised and efficient. Demonstrated ability to drive tasks forward to completion in a timely manner while maintaining high quality. Escalate issues where appropriate.
Experience of designing, developing and facilitating in-person and virtual meetings and workshops.
Solid IT skills, particularly with core Microsoft Office software.
A team player, able to work responsibly, under pressure, and collaboratively across diverse groups and culture.
Working style that reflects WaterAid’s values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation.
Ability to travel internationally up to 30%, if necessary.
Although not essential, we also prefer you to have:
Functional ability to communicate well in at least one additional WaterAid official language (French, Portuguese, Spanish)
Experience managing projects that involve staff from various countries, departments and/or multiple external stakeholders.
Experience of formation and nurturing of virtual communities of practices and networks.
Experience of planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluating programmes of work.
Additional information
Our Benefits
Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience.
Our Commitment
An inclusive workplace:
We are committed to being an organisation where everyone is included, respected, and empowered to be their best. We represent and celebrate our staff, partners and everyone we work with, and create a culture where everyone can reach their full potential.
Equal opportunities:
We are an equal opportunity, disability-confident employer and are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions and ways of life. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, national or social origin, health status, and economic or social situation.
Safeguarding:
We are also committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.
