Water Security Senior Advisor
Contract: Permanent, Full Time
Location: WaterAid is a global and equal opportunities employer. For practical and legal reasons, the successful candidate must be based in and legally able to work in any of the following country programmes:
Ethiopia, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Zambia
For the UK Location: We offer hybrid working, A minimum of 40% of working time is spent face-to-face, in a WaterAid office. For UK-based staff, WaterAid is located at Canary Wharf, London and this will be your location and contract base.
Salary & Benefits: Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience. See further details below:
- UK: £48,314 – £50,729 with excellent benefits
- Nigeria: 18,397,645 -23,445,232 NGN with benefits
- Nepal: 2,470,742 – 3,077373 NPR with benefits
- Ethiopia: 18,353 – 31,435 USD with benefits
- Rwanda: 26,700,728 – 36,196,712 RWF with benefits
- South Africa: 827,550 – 1,034,437 ZAR with benefits
- Uganda: 123,026,016 – 163,009,471 UGX with benefits
- Zambia: 461,019 – 645, 426 ZMW with benefits
About WaterAid:
Want to use your skills in water supply engineering, groundwater development and learning facilitation 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 a Senior Advisor Water Security to change normal for millions of people so they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good.
About the Team:
The Water Security Senior Advisor is a senior position in the WASH Technical Effectiveness team, reporting to the Water Security Lead. The WASH Technical Effectiveness team is situated within the Programme Support and Knowledge Team (PSK) of the WaterAid UK International Programmes Department (IPD).
IPD operates in 17 African and Asian countries. PSK is a diverse and motivated group of 20+ technical specialists and advisors, passionate about bringing sustainable WASH to the world’s poorest and most marginalised people. PSK leads and supports organisation-wide programme learning and knowledge management, collating and disseminating programme knowledge and facilitating knowledge exchange.
About the Role:
Reporting to the Water Security Lead, the Senior Advisor Water Security co-leads the delivery of core team responsibilities regarding the thematic areas of water and other closely associated topics. Applying a people-centered, systems strengthening approach to WASH, they provide high-quality specialist technical analysis, advisory, and support services to the design, inception, implementation, troubleshooting, monitoring, and/or assessments of WaterAid’s programming worldwide, at both strategic and operational levels.
In collaboration with country, regional and global colleagues, they co-lead the facilitation of effective learning and management of technical and programme knowledge across the organisation, and co-leads the development of relevant standards and guidance.
The Water Security Senior Advisor will:
Provide and coordinate targeted technical support to Wateraid programming (approximately 50% of time)
- Provide in-depth strategic and technical advisory support on water security, water resources and environment, catchment and watershed protection, hydrogeology, water supply, water quality, services delivery and management models, engineering and procurement, assets management, resilience, sustainability, and/or other inter-related topics for high quality WASH programming in both urban and rural, low-income settings, including households, schools, health care facilities and/or other relevant public places, incorporating WaterAid’s and the sector’s leading practices, innovations and methods.
- Coordinate with other technical colleagues for coherent embedding of cross-cutting topics such as gender, climate, systems strengthening, finance, and partnerships.
- Provide high quality, detailed technical analysis and advisory support to project design, inception, implementation, troubleshooting, monitoring, and/or assessments.
- Co-lead the facilitation of thought leadership on these technical topics across the organisation. Act as a subject-matter authority.
Support programme learning and knowledge management (approx. 15% time)
- Co-lead capturing of organisational programme knowledge and experience on water-related topics.
- Co-lead facilitation of effective learning and knowledge management on these topics across the organisation. Guide and support country and regional colleagues to do the same.
- Identify knowledge and implementation gaps on these topics. Coordinate with relevant teams to develop and carry out practical research plans.
Support development of programme guidance and standards (approx. 5% time)
- Co-lead the development of water-related normative frameworks, standards and guidance materials for both internal and external audiences in collaboration with country, regional and global colleagues.
- Support country, regional and global colleagues to develop a consistent understanding and application of water-related technical considerations into WaterAid’s core programme work, and in applying relevant guidance, standards and considerations to their specific context.
Support fundraising, external engagement, and communications (approx. 20% time)
- Support donor engagement, intelligence gathering, and preparation of funding proposals.
- Provide strategic technical input into specific strategic initiatives and positioning alongside the other advisors.
- Coordinate with other teams in jointly engaging the WASH sector at all levels. Foster, promote and support global WASH related networks to enhance WaterAid’s ability to share its experience and to learn from others.
Contribute to team processes (approx. 10% time)
- Be an integral part of the PSK team, helping to ensure the integration of our support work and a joined-up articulation of our core framing materials.
- Support PSK annual planning, budgeting, and reporting processes
About You:
- Strong technical experience in water supply engineering, groundwater development, water resource and environmental management, catchment and watershed protection, hydrogeology, water quality, service delivery and management models, procurement, asset management, resilience building, sustainability, and/or other inter-related topics across different settings, demonstrated through a progressive career record.
- A relevant post-Graduate degree or equivalent work experience.
- Strong experience in offering technical assistance, consulting, and/or advisory services to empower and to develop capacities.
- Ability to handle highly specialized, unusual, and challenging technical assignments, resolve complex issues in practical and imaginative ways.
- Strong writing ability in English. Experienced in producing practical knowledge products targeting the needs of diverse audiences.
- Working style that reflects WaterAid’s values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation.
- Solid IT skills, particularly with core Microsoft Office software.
- Ability to travel internationally up to 30%.
Although not essential, we also prefer you to have:
- Relevant technical experience in systems strengthening, sustainable development, sanitation, hygiene, behaviour change, health, gender, inclusion, environment and/or other WASH-related topics.
- Working knowledge in French, Portuguese, Spanish, and/or any language widely spoken in the countries where WaterAid has programming.
Closing date: Applications will close at 23:59 on 13th October 2024. Interviews will be held between 24th – 28th October 2024 via Microsoft Teams.
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. Please answer the following questions in your covering letter:
- What is the biggest lesson you have learnt during your career when it comes to provision of technical support and advice?
- Imagine that you are remotely reviewing a funding proposal for implementation of small-scale solar-powered groundwater pumping schemes in a rural area of a Sub-Saharan African country. What specific checks would you do to ensure that the project described in the proposal was feasible to deliver in the chosen area?
- Briefly describe your top three skills / experiences that you feel meet the requirements of this role?
Pre-employment screening: In order to apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the countries listed above. All of our UK based vacancies require a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to comply with our Safer Recruitment policy.
Our Commitment
Our People Promise:
We will work with passion and focus to ensure safe and sustainable water, toilets and hygiene are available to everyone, everywhere. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to put the wellbeing of our people first, to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.
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.