Country Director

Country Director, Pakistan

Place of work:

Islamabad, Pakistan

Reports to:

Regional Director – South Asia

Direct Reports:

Senior Management Team

Key relationships:

Regional Leadership Team, counterparts and peers, relevant staff in International Programme Department and Funding units in UK office, WA member countries and relevant external relationships.

Background

WaterAid formally commenced its work in Pakistan in 2006 though we had initiated support to WASH partners since in 1996.WaterAid Pakistan currently operates under the MoU provided by the Ministry of Interior (Government of Pakistan). We work closely with the government and our sector partners to serve vulnerable communities to provide safe drinking water, proper sanitation and good hygiene. This includes enabling access towards sustainable and disaster-resilient WASH services; catalysing hygiene behaviour change to enhance quality of life; collaborative efforts and mechanisms to strengthen institutional capabilities for effective WASH service delivery; engage and connect with cross sector actors relevant to WASH (education, health and nutrition) and support all legislative efforts that recognise WASH as a basic human entitlement.  

Primary Purpose of the Role

The primary purpose of the Country Director (CD) is to provide leadership to the Country Programme (CP) and to contribute to the regional, pan Asia and global leadership of WaterAid. The CD achieves this by steering the direction of the CP, empowering and developing staff and partners and influencing public and private institutions on the impact that improvements in safe water and improved sanitation and hygiene can make to the poorest and most excluded - therefore contributing to wider poverty reduction and human development.

Key Accountabilities

1.     Provide visionary & strategic leadership to the country team promoting a management culture that is supportive, empowering and collaborative.

2.     Build, lead and manage high performing and diverse teams by creating an environment that enables staff to maximise their potential and facilitates high performance.

3.     Develop and deliver the country programme strategy and multi-year plans in line with WaterAid's Global Strategy, organisational principles and values. Link programme practice and policy advocacy to maximise our impact.

4.     Lead planning and interventions to ensure that WaterAid Pakistan is acknowledged as a leader in the sector.

5.     Ensure the successful, on time, delivery of country strategy; and all annual plans and budgets. Provide quality assurance in terms of delivery of plans, capacity development and programme quality, monitoring and evaluation.

6.     Represent WaterAid externally, ensuring that WaterAid's vision, mission, values and aims are communicated in a compelling way. Facilitate the building of relationships between partners, staff and other stakeholders.

7.     Accountable for the effective and efficient use of WaterAid’s financial resources; transparent management and reporting of all income streams and compliance with restricted funding contractual obligations.

8.     Actively facilitate and strengthen relationships amongst sector actors; represent WaterAid within the sector, build in country and regional networks, identify and influence key stakeholders to strengthen the WASH sector, maintain strong external relationship including government, key INGOs, donors, academic, media and research institutes.

9.     Contribute as a member of the global and regional leadership teams of WaterAid to support organisational effectiveness and development. Engage and collaborate at regional and global levels on strategic, thematic and learning priorities as appropriate. 

10.  Lead the process of country strategy development and maintain the approach to ensuring that the CP has integrated Rights, Equity and Inclusion into its work as well as being a diverse and inclusive place to work.

11.  Promote fundraising from all acceptable sources and support fundraisers in UK and members countries; and understand the local funding context and identify appropriate funding opportunities to increase income.

12.  Develop thorough understanding of the external environment we are operating in, identify and manage risk to ensure appropriate health and safety, safeguarding and security procedures are in place.

13.  Ensure that WA’s Code of Conduct and other global policies are respected and adhered to and represent WA’s stated global positions on key development issues effectively, adapting it to the country context as appropriate.

Note: The role will require in-country, regional and international travel.

Person Specification

Essential: Master’s degree qualification in a relevant field (Development Studies, Environmental or Social Sciences, Public Health, Water Resources, Civil Engineering and any other relevant field.

Education, Experience and Technical Skills

Essential

Desirable

·     Extensive proven experience of working at a senior level with strategic leadership, management and financial accountabilities.

·     Track record of leading and managing diverse & multi-disciplinary professional teams (preferably WASH sector).

·     Proven leadership and empowering management style building trust and diverse inspiring high performance.

·     Ability to develop long term strategic country plans, translate into time bound operational plans.

·     Track record of developing strategic and operational partnerships with national NGOs and government authorities for programme, policy and advocacy interventions.

·     Successful engagement with national governments, bilateral and multi-lateral agencies on policy influencing with a track record of successful advocacy.

·     Proven record of raising funds from government and/or international agencies (bilateral/multilateral), managing large budgets with diverse international donor base.

·     A sound understanding of international development (policy and programme), especially around WASH in developing countries.

·     A strong commitment to equity and inclusion, diversity and pro-poor development.

·     High compatibility to WaterAid Global Code of Conduct and ways of working.

·      Ability to plan own work, setting priorities and completing it under pressure or when faced with competing demands.

·     Demonstrating resilience and adaptability in personal leadership style.

·     Track record of leading a country office in an international development organisation.

·     Proven experience in managing organisational growth and change and institutional development especially within the development sector.

·     Experience of leading on participatory monitoring and impact assessment missions.

·     Significant experience of WASH in communities in urban and rural settings.

·     A good understanding of participative hygiene promotion approaches and methodologies.

·     Ability to communicate clearly in a relevant local language.

·     Strong digital capability.

·     Experience of working in Pakistan will be strongly preferred.

The post is open to Pakistani nationals or those with a valid work permit to work in the country.

Kindly be informed that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.