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 or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, 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 over 30 years, and manages and delivers large, complex programs to meet the needs in health, education, protection, environmental health and livelihoods for displaced, poor and disaster affected communities. IRC works in partnership with local government and non-governmental organizations and currently works in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.

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.

The project will reach its goal through three pillars:

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 programing.

Job Overview/Summary: The Senior Wash Officer is responsible for the organization and managing of all water, sanitation and hygiene projects and activities, ensuring that activities are relevant, successfully implemented.

Major Responsibilities:

·         Ensure the availability of accurate, complete and up-to-date information required for effective WASH programme implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation with a particular focus on inclusiveness.

·         Provide technical support to relevant Government agencies in order to develop capacities related to their roles and responsibilities in the Rural WASH Sector.

·         Participate in inter-sectoral collaboration with other programme colleagues, primarily Supply/ Procurement, Education, Health and Local Governance to identify priority needs and appropriate strategies, share information and provide advocacy on water and environmental sanitation.

·         Organize and attend regular meetings with government counterparts, contractors and other partners to analyze and evaluate designs, processes, facilities and outcomes to ensure achievement of objectives and attainment of sustainability and/or take corrective action when necessary to meet project objectives.

·         Ensure effective communication and networking developed and maintained through partnership and collaboration with members of the development community, including NGOs, UN and bilateral agencies.

·         Prepare all procurement, contracting and construction management documentation. Enhance programme efficiency and effectiveness through evidence-base approach and implementation follow-up.

·          Contribute to the development of training and orientation materials. Document results and lessons learned from WASH programme implementation to promote knowledge sharing with counterparts and WASH stakeholders.

·         Ensure successful preparation and delivery of WASH technical outcomes during scoping, development and implementation phases of WASH initiatives.

·         Establish modalities to ensure sustainability of facilities and extended use by clients.

·         Lead the delivery of WASH services for clients to meet the IRC standards and / or the national WASH standards, depending on the context.

·         Coordinate the activities of WASH Partners, together with other UN agencies, governmental and non-governmental counterparts and local authorities to ensure delivery of WASH services to beneficiaries.

·         Jointly with technical staff of implementing partners and other WASH actors, update detailed needs and resource assessments and revise designs of technical plans as necessary, taking into account practical aspects of implementation, long-term sustainable solutions, and relevant technical specifications and guidelines.

·         Advise and assist the IRC programme staff on the development of WASH aspects of the programme including planning, budgeting and input to financial management of the programme.

·         Provide guidance and support to clients on all water, sanitation, hygiene promotion related issues, to ensure quality, cost-effectiveness, sustainability and impact soundness in their implementation.

·         Ensure that the WASH Monitoring System data collection and reporting is carried out systematically, properly and timely with quality information.

·         Report regularly on WASH activity implementation by all WASH sector partners, while maintaining accurate records of all relevant WASH performance indicators.

·          Prepare regular sectorial reports and submit material for preparation of periodic project monitoring reports as required.

Job Requirements:

a)      Education:

·         Minimum Bachelor’s degree (Honours) or Master Degree in Social/Environmental Science, Public health or other relevant field, preferably with water specialization

b)      Work Experience:

·         Minimum 2 years experience in WASH project, preferably in NGO environment

c)      Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

·         Profound cultural awareness and sound knowledge of public health issues.

·         Ability to exercise sound judgement and make decisions independently.

·         Ability to work effectively with community members, demonstrating integrity and respect

·         Extremely flexible, and have the ability to cope with stressful situations.

·         Creativity and the ability to work with limited resources.

·         Highly effective written and verbal communications skills

·         Strong planning, organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills

Language Skills: English, Urdu and Pashtu

Others: 

Gender Equality and Diversity:

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, minorities, persons with disability (PWD) and transgender candidates are highly encouraged to apply.