WASH Head of Department Full-Time

The Action Contre La Faim Mozambique is hiring a WASH Head of Department , for Cabo Delgado.

Responsibilities

Lead the development of the WASH Country strategy in line with the country strategy for an effective relevant and qualitative implementation of WASH Programs in the Country Office, in accordance with ACF and international standards and national policies

Mission 1: Contribute to the definition of the country strategy, and to the definition of the strategy and positioning of the WASH technical department

The wash Head of Department is Responsible for

• Field teams’ understanding and continuous, systematic, and satisfactory monitoring of the humanitarian situation in WASH and the intervention context;
• The analysis of the WASH humanitarian situation;
• The internal/external dissemination of the information collected and analyzed to headquarters;
• The definition and quality of the sectoral mission strategy document in agreement with ACF International and national executives;
• Its contribution to the mission strategy and the WASH sector strategy;
• Taking into account Disaster Risk Management in the strategy and in WASH projects, including participation in the development of the emergency preparedness and response plan;
• Integration of the WASH sector with other technical sectors (Food Security & Livelihoods, Nutrition-Health, Mental Health & Care Practices);
• Taking into account gender (including all types of vulnerability or specificity such as chronic illness, disability), protection and environment in the WASH sector strategy;
• Monitoring the implementation of the WASH mission strategy, its revision, and its accountability;
• Feeding the technical and operational advocacy strategies of the mission, region and headquarters (in accordance with the advocacy objectives defined by the ACF reference documents);
• Identifying sector-specific advocacy themes for the mission in conjunction with the Deputy Country Program Director and the Country Director.

Mission 2: Coordinate the identification of needs and the formulation of project proposals

The wash Head of Department is Responsible for

• Coordination of the identification of humanitarian needs for WASH;
• Formulation, financing and implementation of WASH projects in integration with the Heads of Nutrition-Health, SAME, SMPS, Gender and Protection, MEAL Departments & involving the Logistics and Finance Departments in the definition/validation of WASH projects in new areas;
• Supporting the bases in the formulation, financing and implementation of WASH projects in integration with the Heads of Nutrition-Health, FSL, MHPSS, Gender and Protection, MEAL Departments & involving the Logistics and Finance Departments in the definition/validation of WASH projects in areas where the base is already established;
• Feasibility study of WASH projects (public health, technical, socio-economic, cultural and environmental) in conjunction with WASH Program Managers & Field Coordinators and/or Deputy Field Coordinators;
• Contribute to the prospecting of donors for his/her sector and ensure technical exchanges with the identified donors;
• Participating in donor visits at the request of the Deputy Country Director or Field Coordinators;
• The realization and/or validation of the WASH parts of the project proposals in accordance with the formats and deadlines of the donors;
• Taking into account the cross-cutting themes of gender (including all types of vulnerability or specificity such as chronic illness, disability), protection and environment in project proposals.

Mission 3: Support the implementation and ensure the reporting of programs/projects

The wash Head of Department is Responsible for

• Validation of key steps and methodologies of the projects implemented (chronogram, MEAL Plan, KAP (baseline/final), PDM, qualitative survey, assessment, technical studies, call for tenders, terms of reference, community approach, external evaluations ….);
• Support Program Managers in the analysis of WASH evaluation/survey reports and ensure their technical validation or ensure the drafting of reports in the absence of a Program Manager, in conjunction with the MEAL department;
• Drafting of technical background notes and SoP for the WASH Program Managers;
• Coordinating with logistics for the draft or validation of technical components of tenders/contracts, ensuring sample checks, quality checks etc.;
• Technical support (direct and remote) to WASH or multi-sector program managers and/or Field Managers with information sharing or alerting the Field Coordinator and/or Deputy Field Coordinator;
• Visit projects on a regular basis, ensuring the writing of visit reports with recommendations and interacting functionally on a weekly basis with the Program Managers;
• The existence of monitoring and evaluation systems and the integration of their results to ensure the improvement of projects, in particular in conjunction with the MEAL Department Manager;
• Validation, within the deadlines, of the WASH parts of the donor reports, as well as the amendments of the projects with the contribution of the teams;
• Validation, within the deadlines, of the WASH parts of the authorities reports;
• Validation, within the deadlines, of the WASH APR templates and providing technical feedbacks on a monthly base on APR;
• Drafting TORs for external WASH consultants, supervising consultants, validating external consultant reports;
• Supporting the mainstreaming of cross-cutting themes of gender (including any type of vulnerability or specificity such as chronic illness, disability), protection & environment within WASH reports & projects;
• Support the Deputy Country Program Director and/or Consortium Coordinators in the management of WASH projects in consortia or partnerships, including through training of partners and design of tools/scoping notes;
• Promote, support and ensure programmatic integration between the WASH sector and other sectors of intervention at the grassroots level (multi-sectoral project or between projects).

Mission 4: Ensure quality and accountability of projects

The WASH Head of Department is Responsible for

• Ensure technical compliance of programs with international technical rules, guidelines and standards, ACF framework documents and technical literature;
• Encourage the overall quality of project implementation to maximize their impact (cf. OECD DAC criteria);
• Guaranteeing compliance with norms (SPHERE and WHO), national and international standards of the technical quality of projects through specific ACF monitoring (quality project, field visit, external audit, etc.);
• Issuing and following up on technical recommendations;
• Alerting the Deputy Country Director and the Technical Advisor of any major difficulties encountered in the application of recommendations and/or any necessary adaptation measures;
• Alerting the Deputy Country Director and requesting the application of the precautionary principle in the event of a major public health risk;
• Promoting external and internal project evaluations, in line with ACF’s evaluation policy;
• The promotion of complaint mechanisms aimed at transparency and ethics in projects, particularly among the populations assisted;
• Promoting safety measures for staff and populations in the implementation of WASH projects (worksites) in collaboration with the Program Manager and the Logistics Department;
• Alert the Field Coordinators, Field Managers and Deputy Country Director to any delays or deviations from contractual and technical expectations;
• Promote and support the bases to operationalize the inclusion of beneficiaries in the design and implementation of projects;
• Promote and support grassroots operationalization of gender mainstreaming/sensitive/transformative approach (including any type of vulnerability or specificity such as chronic disease, disability ie. inclusion), protection mainstreaming/integration & environment within WASH projects.

Mission 5: Ensure ACF’s active participation in national sectoral coordination, technical platforms and develop sectoral partnerships

The WASH Head of Department is Responsible for

• Representing ACF in the national and sub-national sectoral coordination (sectoral table and/or cluster) and with the technical authorities;
• Interacting with the Regional Sector Coordination;
• ACF’s contribution to the various WASH sector action plans (Consolidated Appeal Process, Flash Appeal, Inter Agency Contingency Plan, HRP, national sector strategy, etc.);
• Technical communication (internal and external) on WASH projects in conjunction with the Field Coordinators, Field Managers and Deputy Country Directors Promotion of sector partnerships (civil society, NGOs, authorities, private sector, etc.) and capacity building;
• Drafting MoUs with national WASH sector authorities & supporting Program Managers and Field Coordinators and/or Field Managers in drafting MoUs with local WASH sector authorities;
• Drafting of consortium/partnership MoUs on technical aspects of WASH;
• External representation of ACF with state authorities in the WASH sector.

Mission 6: Manage the teams

The WASH Head of Department is Responsible for

• The functional management of the WASH Program Managers;
• The development of Individual Action Plans, in collaboration with the Field Coordinators or Deputy Field Coordinator when functional management, for each of its people;
• The evaluation of the technical performance of the WASH PM mentioned, in collaboration with the Field Coordinators or Deputy Field Coordinator when functional management;
• Ensure the recruitment when necessary of his team, and support the recruitment process of all WASH positions of the mission according to the HR guidelines in force;
• The development of the WASH skills of the mission, in particular by ensuring the creation of a training plan and its follow-up, and the animation of training and workshop.

Mission 7: Promote capitalization, technical development and research within the EAH department

The WASH Head of Department is Responsible for

• Capitalizing on the WASH sector at the mission level, particularly in relation to other technical sectors, centralizing it and bringing it back to headquarters (technical developments, pilot projects, innovative or poorly documented approaches, operational modes that can serve as a reference for the ACF network, successes/failures, contextual analyses, etc.);
• Supervision of the capitalization work of the Program Managers and the WASH department;
• Experience sharing with actors in the WASH sector in the country and region;
• Continuity of WASH knowledge and mission history;
• Implementation of new approaches proposed by headquarters or on the mission;
• The feedback of technical development and research needs to the headquarters and the implementation of project proposals in this sense (notably through the response to ACF’s internal calls for research projects)
• The implementation of research projects;
• Exploring scientific and technical partnerships (laboratories, universities, private sector);
• The development of its technical skills in line with the evolution of the sector.

Reporting responsibilities

• Review technical monthly WASH APR;
• Providing technical support to donor reports as per agreement;
• Weekly contribution to coordination meeting;
• Monitoring and evaluation reports.

Additional Responsibilities

• This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and the employee will also perform other related tasks as required and be responsible for reporting and the communication of progress and achievement of the specific assigned task;
• Maintenance of high technical standards;
• Conduct all duties in a professional manner following Action Against Hunger Mozambique Field Office staff regulations, Action Against Hunger mandate and charter including promotion of gender equality.

Requirements

Education

• Degree in Water Engineering/Construction Engineering/Public Health with experience in water, sanitation, hygiene projects with over 3 years of experience; OR
• Relevant degree with at least 5 years’ experience in project management, preferably in a humanitarian context. Experience can be considered in lieu of academic qualification, but not vice-a-versa.

Experience

• Demonstrated previous experience in WASH proposal writing and donor WASH reporting skills;
• Demonstrated experience in financial management and preparation of WASH budgets for programming;
• Several experiences in WASH project cycle management (including logistic and financial management);
• Several years of experience in organizing WASH formal and on-site training;
• Previous experience in external representation and coordination;
• Working experience in complex emergencies;
• An experience in a development would be a plus.

Technical skills

• Skills required:water points construction and rehabilitation, sanitation infrastructures desing and planification, , WASH in IDP sites, IPC, Hygiene promotion and awareness raising campaigns implementation;
• Skills that would be a plus: water governance, WASH’in Nutrition, WASH’in Emergency, CATI, formative study WASH barriers, cholera response, water networks, behavior change approach;
• Proficient in MS Office Applications;
• A strong understanding of project cycle management, monitoring and evaluation.

Cross-cutting competencies

• Ability to work in a difficult security environment when in field offices & under pressure;
• Strong ability to adapt, prioritize and work;
• Sensitivity to interculturality, good communication skills;
• Strong interest in teamwork & especially in programmatic integration;
• Strong interest in working on compliance (fraud and corruption risk management), protection and safeguarding;
• Ability to delegate & strong attraction to skill building;
• Excellent representation competencies;
• Environmental and Climate Sensitivity;
• Personal commitment to promoting gender equality in humanitarian work;
• Sensitivity to policies of prevention against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse;
• Good writing & speaking skills in English – mandatory;
• Fluency in Portuguese would be a plus.