Senior WASH Officer

Background/IRC Summary:  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war and disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

IRC has been working in Pakistan for approximately 40 years, managing and delivering large, complex programs to meet the needs in health, education, safeguarding, environmental health and livelihoods for displaced, poor and disaster affected communities. IRC works in partnership with local government and non-governmental organizations and is currently working across the country. 

IRC Pakistan will be implementing five years “leveraging Inclusive WASH for Empowerment in Pakistan (LIFE-Pakistan) project i.e. Water For Women Fund supported by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian government.

With an overall goal of gender equitable and socially inclusive WASH services for improved health conditions of marginalized groups, this project aims to directly improve the lives of 168,000 beneficiaries in 75 villages in three districts of KP, Pakistan.

Project Objectives:

1.                   Inclusive community level WASH

2.                   Improved WASH governance

3.                   Strengthened decision making around WASH.

The project will focus on schools and health centers that serve communities, as well as community and household WASH. A process of participatory training and discussion will be utilized to strengthen women’s role in the community and will be supported with life skills training and gender protection programming. Knowledge management and learning through ongoing monitoring, periodic evaluations and research will keep the project on track, provide evidence for advocacy for improving legislative environment, and draw learning for future programming.

Job Overview/Summary:  The Senior WASH Officer will supervise, organize, and manage all water, sanitation and hygiene project implementation, ensuring that activities are relevant, efficiently implemented.

Major Responsibilities:

·         Provide technical support, strategic leadership, and support to the IRC EH program.

·         Mobilize community groups, sensitize, and train them on specific topics as required, coordinate and facilitate meetings.

·         Quality checks on WASH Officer assignments.

·         Provide ongoing leadership to the project team and oversee implementation and coordination of activity plans to ensure targets are met.

·         Directly lead and/or supervise staff in management of grant/program implementation, including staff recruitment and training, workplan development, inventory, and budget management.

·         Plan and manage WASH project activities in a phased and prioritized manner with full consultation and coordination with project staff and other agencies both governmental and non-governmental.

·         Assess and monitor field-based resources and capacities (Human, material and financial).

·         Manage and collaborate with Engineer for selection and designing of water systems including source selection, storage, treatment, and distribution for new systems and/or the rehabilitation of old systems.

·         Ensure appropriate management and operation of sanitation system (including excreta disposal, vector control, solid waste disposal, drainage) taking full account of local conditions, resources, customs, and cultural norms.

·         Ensure Pakistan National Sanitation Policy guidelines are in place while framing sanitation related strategies and programming.

·         Continuously improve performance in Environmental Health and hygiene innovation while maintaining compliance with all government bodies and donors.

·         Assist in ensuring daily reporting of problems regarding WASH facilities to the WASH Manager, in order to flag issues as soon as they arise. As much as possible, potential solutions should also be presented when reporting problems.

·         Support achievement of sustainable WASH outcomes for women, the poor, transgender, and persons living with disabilities (PLWDs).

·         In collaboration with the MEL unit carryout assessments, design surveys and monitoring mechanism for project sustainability.

·         Ensure the effective communication, collaboration and networking developed and maintained with government bodies, donors, and partners.

·         Strengthen capacity of institutes to support and sustain WASH services.

·         Develop work-plans for the sector and supervise compliance to ensure objectives and targets are met and achieved.

·         Improve program efficiency and effectiveness through evidence-based approaches and implementation follow-on, including supervising inputs, local conditions and resources.

·         Identify problems and proposes remedial action. Identifies alternative courses of action, to accelerate/improve program delivery.

·         Prioritize training workshops to improve existing practices and introduce new practices or ideas.

·         Exchange information on implementation, status, capacity and risk mapping and preparedness.

·         Responsible to ensure that clients of IRC are accurately explained their rights and duties.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: WASH Manager

Position directly supervises: WASH Officers.

Job Requirements:

a) Education:

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree (Honors) or master’s degree in project management, Public health, Human Resource Management, Social/Environmental Science or other relevant field, preferably with inclusive WASH specialization.

b) Work Experience:

• Proven experience of 3 years in WASH projects, preferably in NGO environment.

c) Demonstrated Skills and Proficiencies:

• Demonstrate analytical, project conceptual and planning skills, clear and realistic activity.
• Profound cultural awareness and sound knowledge of public health issues.
• Ability to exercise good judgement and make decisions independently.
• Extremely flexible, and able to cope with stressful situations.
• Dynamic and the ability to work with limited resources.
• Highly effective written and verbal communications skills
• Proven management, project planning, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Language Skills: English, Urdu, and Pashtu

The IRC Core Values and Commitments;

·         The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity Anti-Retaliation and Combating Trafficking in Persons.

·         IRC is committed to ensuring that IRC staff is suitable to work with children and have the knowledge s/he needs to uphold and abide by the IRC’s Child Safeguarding Policy.

o   Level of interaction with children: less frequent direct contact with children

·         IRC recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of our organizational mission. As such, IRC is committed to the promotion of gender equality in all aspects of our operations and programs. Our organizational policies, procedures and actions demonstrate this commitment.

Women candidates and persons with disability are highly encouraged to apply.