Job Description
Job Title: Global WASH Advisor
Reports to: Global Technical Senior Advisor WASH
Terms: Permanent, full-time
Location: Hybrid Dublin Office, Ireland.
Salary: Grade 6 (€57,683 – €64,092)
Requirements: The role requires at least 30% travel and may be deployed in emergency responses.
About Concern:
Established in 1968, Concern is a non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organisation, dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
Concern’s vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. Concern strives for a world free from poverty, fear and oppression.
Our culture is values driven and we believe that our people are central to all that we do and are key to delivering on our goal of Reaching the Furthest Behind First. We are committed to ensuring a workplace where everybody feels valued and are enabled to succeed in their work and contribute to delivering on our mission.
The Strategy Advocacy and Learning Department (SAL) supports the whole organisation in developing and setting strategy and supporting implementation of the same, assuring programme impact, supporting advocacy and influencing and facilitating and driving organisational learning. The Technical Assistance (TA) Unit provides direct assistance to Country Programmes and comprises over 30 advisors who support ongoing learning, programme quality and capacity development.
Role Purpose:
The global WASH Advisor provides high-level technical leadership, strategic guidance, and responsive support to Concern’s WASH portfolio across multiple country programmes. The role ensures the effective implementation of global WASH strategies, strengthens programme quality, develops technical capacity, and reinforces organisational learning across all contexts. Building on Concern’s technical expertise, the advisor will also drive innovation, support climate adapted WASH programming, and proactively identify new funding streams to expand Concern’s WASH footprint in line with evolving donor priorities.
The global WASH advisor will also ensure that construction activities adhere to Concern’s engineering and construction minimum standards, providing technical oversight to guarantee safety, quality, compliance, and consistency across country programmes ‑related construction activities adhere to Concern’s engineering and construction minimum standards, providing technical oversight to guarantee safety, quality, compliance, and consistency across country programmes.
Responsibilities:
1) Delivering Concern’s WASH strategy & technical unit workplan
- Support implementation and iterative refinement of the global WASH strategy, annual workplans and thematic objectives.
- Keep WASH guidance, tools and methodologies current, coherent, accessible, and aligned with Concern’s Programme Quality commitments.
- Promote a locally led approach both through programme design and implementation and engagement with local actors.​
- Identify new WASH funding streams and support strategic donor relationships. Provide technical assistance to grow country portfolios on WASH & climate adaptation (risk assessments, resilience pathways, community-based measures).
- Support country teams to develop strong concept notes and proposals that reflect emerging funding opportunities and innovative, scalable WASH solutions.
2) Support to country programmes (technical & advisory)
- Act as WASH focal point for a portfolio of 5 to 10 country offices and provide, high-quality, responsive technical support (remote and in country) across water supply, sanitation, hygiene promotion, WASH governance and sustainability using different capacity building and coaching modalities.
- Conduct support visits to strengthen design quality, M&E systems, implementation fidelity, and risk management.
- Design and deliver capacity building for national and international WASH teams (training, mentoring, peer learning).
- Coordinate with Concern teams working on climate, health, nutrition, livelihood, logistics, finance, emergency response, equality and protection to ensure integrated, context appropriate interventions.
- Lead or contribute to technical reviews of proposals and programme documents to ensure quality, climate sensitivity and alignment with standards.
3) Specific Engineering and Construction Advisor Tasks
- Offer guidance on WASH related infrastructure quality (e.g., boreholes, small water systems, sanitation facilities).
- Promote application of engineering minimum standards where relevant, integrating risk reduction, safety and equity in infrastructure design.
- Disseminate simplified engineering SOPs/specifications/tools relevant to WASH and coordinate with others technical Advisors and partners when works exceed internal WASH scope.
- Coordinate the Concern construction standards working group.
- Support to tracking and oversight of compliance on construction and the environment.
6) Representation, networking & strategic engagement
- With Country Programme teams, document and disseminate best practice, innovations, and lessons learned across the WASH sector.
- Represent Concern in global WASH fora, technical working groups, coalitions, and consortia and strengthen partnerships with academic, technical, climate and operational actors to enhance learning and visibility.
7) Cross sectoral, emergency & organisational support
- Contribute to cross sectoral analyses and strategy processes (contextual analyses, meta evaluations, policy reviews).
- Support recruitment for WASH related roles
- Uphold and promote Concern’s values, including our workplace equality, diversity and inclusion, and safeguarding values.
- Dedicate time to professional development and sector engagement to maintain cutting-edge practice.
Role Holder Requirements:
Essential
- Education: A postgraduate qualification in WASH or Environmental Engineering or equivalent years of professional experience working in the specialised area with a qualification in Civil or Structural Engineering.
- WASH programme experience: A minimum of three years’ experience supporting programming in fragile and conflict affected countries or contexts within an NGO environment, ideally across a range of countries.
- WASH sector coordination and representation at national & international level
- Proposal & funding development. Experience in generating & securing WASH programme funding and proposal development, including via non-traditional funders (e.g. private sector funding)
- WASH “software” approaches: Experience with WASHFIT, CLTS, or similar behaviour/system change methodologies.
- Environment, climate adaptation & risk: Experience with NEAT+ and Environmental Impact Assessment studies and design of climate-resilient WASH infrastructure and systems.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrable ability to build relationships with and influence colleagues across all levels of the organisation
Desirable
- French language skills
- Solar powered water systems: experience designing or providing technical support for the management of solar powered water systems
- Gender equality: Experience applying gender related approaches within WASH programming.
- Digital monitoring and mapping: Experience with WASH data management platforms and mapping platforms such as mWater.
Competencies:
- Strong project management and analytical skills
- Managing Yourself
- Individual Leadership
- Communication & Working with Others
- Delivering Results
We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations and is committed to promoting equality.
If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.
If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance – for example if you have a disability e.g. a hearing impairment – please let us know and we will do our best to respond to your needs.
Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be shortlisted on a regular basis, and we may offer posts before the closing date.
Important information:
Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct supported by three Associated Policies: The Programme Participant Protection Policy, the Child Safeguarding Policy, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here. These have been designed to ensure the highest level of protection for everyone the organization engages through its work.
The policies set out the behaviours and responsibilities that Concern staff, and all its representatives (including consultants, contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, partners, visitors, ambassadors and Board members) are expected to uphold. They also articulate Concern’s commitment to safeguarding and protecting adults and children from harm in all aspects of our work. We will therefore do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Consequently, working or volunteering with Concern may be subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking. 
In this context, all staff and representatives of Concern have a responsibility to uphold the highest standards in their work, in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies.
Your Personal Data:
During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation. 
For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office. 
You have certain rights under data protection legislation. For more information on how to exercise those rights please visit www.concern.net/about/privacy 
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