Water Intervention Manager

ABOUT THE COMPANY

At the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the U.S. commitment to the global 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. One goal was to reduce by half the number of people without access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation by the year 2015. Later, that global goal for safe drinking water access was met two years ahead of schedule, according to the Joint Monitoring Program, although progress varied widely from country to country, and the global sanitation goal fell far short. To play a role to help reach this MDG goal (and beyond), in 2003 the leading US-based non-governmental organizations working in water and sanitation formed the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to offer sustainable solutions through advocacy, shared knowledge, and collaborative programming.

JOB SUMMARY

PurposeMWA is seeking an experienced Water Intervention Manager for the Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development Plus (RAPID+) Program. RAPID+ is a five-year program running from November 2021 – September 2026 convened and led by MWA. The program has primary funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) and contributions and investment funds from private sector actors, four facilitating partners including CARE Kenya, the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Food for the Hungry (FH) and World Vision (WV) and five hosting county governments. RAPID+ aims to improve access to water and rangeland services for 200,000 people in the five counties of Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, and Wajir. RAPID+ activities are being implemented using a gender transformative lens and systems development approaches. These two aspects are expected to embed sustainability and inclusivity in the program. The goal of RAPID+ is to improve access to safe and sustainably managed water and rangelands in RAPID+ counties to contribute to resilient livelihoods for communities in a peaceful environment. The program is contributing to this goal through two outcomes: (1) Pastoralist communities have increased access to sustainable and safe water for multiple uses benefiting men, women, and youth, and (2) Pastoralist communities have improved access to safe and ecologically healthy rangeland resources that promote greater integrity, social cohesion, and gender equity.Job SummaryThe Water Intervention Manager will report to the RAPID+ Program Director and provide overall coordination and management for the program’s water interventions. The manager will focus on leveraging the water delivery expertise in the partner entities to ensure high quality, timely delivery of program results. For the five key interventions under the water outcome of RAPID+ (water governance, infrastructure rehabilitation, private sector participation in the water sector, water resource management, and water for productive use) the manager will ensure that results are being achieved as planned. They will also be required to provide necessary trouble shooting and support and ensure the sharing of best practices across the program partners. The manager is expected to closely collaborate with the other sectors of the program focusing on governance, rangeland management and gender. The manager is also required to work closely with the Kenya RAPID+ partners, specifically the County Coordination Units (CCUs) in the five ASAL counties of implementation, as well as the county governments. Within MWA, the Water Intervention Manager also expected to liaise closely with existing MWA programs relevant to the RAPID+ program. These include the Drought Resilience Impact Platform- Fixing Uptime Now and Decision Improvement (DRIP-FUNDI) and the STAWI Mashinani program.QualificationsA Master’s degree in Water Governance, Water Resource Management, International Development, Environmental Studies is required. An undergraduate degree in environmental, civil, mechanical or water engineering is mandatory.A minimum of 6 years of practical experience in executing water or WASH related programs at a reputable International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO), a private sector firm, or a management consulting firm is mandatory.Demonstrated experience of successful management, including management of complex, multi-activity projects is required.Candidates must have experience engaging and collaborating with multiple partners and strengthening partnerships.Experience working with county government officials and institutions is mandatory.Candidates applying for this position must have strong report writing skills and will be evaluated on this.Experience in donor reporting, work plan development, and budget oversight is necessary.Knowledge of and demonstrable experience in implementing system development approaches and working with private sector entities is desirable.Previous experience working in ASAL areas of Kenya is strongly preferred.Experience in Microsoft 365 applications including MS Office package (Excel, Word, PowerPoint,), MS teams as well as virtual meeting software is necessary.A working knowledge of data collection and analysis platforms including but not limited to Stata, SPSS, Excel, Kobo Collect, ODK etc. is highly desirable.Knowledge, Skills, and AbilitiesCandidates need to have an analytical and systems-thinking mindset.A capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgments and decisions is highly desirable.The ability to identify opportunities for refined program interventions and assess risks to program implementation is a plus.Excellent presentation and communication skills.The ability to lead diverse/multi-disciplinary teams.Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented, and results-oriented.Application: Interested candidates should submit applications via email to mwak.jobs@mwawater.org with the subject line RAPID+ Water Intervention Manager by the 1st of April 2024. Applications should include a cover letter and a detailed CV with three references.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Programme and Technical RolesContribute to the implementation of policies, laws, strategies, standards, and tools in the water sector in the target counties. This will include providing technical support to the counties to operationalize water policies, acts, rules, and regulations to contribute to improved access to basic water services.Develop approaches that ensure integration of water activities across other RAPID+ sectors.Facilitate the incorporation of gender transformative approaches across all RAPID+ water activities.Provide technical solutions to program teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning to ensure that RAPID+ applies standards, sector best principles, tools, and systems to help ensure high-quality program implementation.Advise program teams on integrating government and donor strategies, priorities, and technical requirements into RAPID+.Support capacity strengthening initiatives in water programming for RAPID+ partners, through helping to develop learning and training strategies/agendas/curriculums and conducting trainings and workshops.Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, partner organizations, and other institutions, and participate in forums in the water sector to collect and share best practices.Work with the RAPID+ partners to define quality control processes and suggest improvements for the water- related activities.Provide technical support to strengthen County Departments of Water and the Environment in service delivery.Support timely and prudent expenditure by RAPID+ partners on water related activities.Work closely with existing private sector partners and engage new potential partners whose innovative approaches could lead to sustainable and improved water access in the target counties.Monitoring, Learning and ReportingSupport MEL personnel in analysis of field data to be used in program reporting, learning and program improvements, including qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis and narratives from RAPID+Support the preparation and review of quarterly, semi-annual, and annual program progress reports.Support Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) personnel to develop, execute and periodically review the program MEL plan.Participate and prepare material for key RAPID+ leadership and learning forums including the Program Steering Committee (PSC) Meeting and the annual Program Management Group (PMG) forum.Develop a monthly learning article on RAPID+ activities in collaboration with MEL personnel and the RAPID+ program director to be posted on the MWA website, partner websites and other relevant outlets.In close collaboration with the MEL team, host quarterly webinars to disseminate learnings from the RAPID+ program.Contribute to capturing lessons learnt during project implementation and developing concepts and proposals for future work.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Business development, Partnerships, Technical support, Project preparation and planning, Quality control and supervision

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Post-graduate education