Concern Worldwide recruits 01 Technical Lead Market Led Sanitation (DRC)
Job Title: Technical Lead Sanitation Activity, DRC
Job Location: Eastern DRC, TBD
Job Type: Regular, Full Time
Reports to: Chief of Party. You will also work closely with the Programmes Director, program technical staff, and global WASH technical advisors.
About the role: This is a 60-month, new role with unaccompanied terms based in Eastern DRC (Goma) with a salary of Grade 4 €43,268 – €48,076.
*This position is contingent on upon successful agreement award and USAID approval. We would like you to start in September 2021 (dependent on funding approval).
Concern Worldwide has operated in the DRC in 1994, successfully implementing programs in emergency response, livelihoods, protection, and health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) throughout the country. Concern DRC has eight offices with over 300 staff throughout the country. The head office is in Kinshasa with coordination offices in Goma (North Kivu) and Kalemie (Tanganyika). At the program implementation level, there are offices in Manono, Nyunzu, Kiambi, and Kabalo (Tanganyika) and Kitchanga (North Kivu).
Your purpose:
Concern Worldwide seeks a Market-Based Sanitation Technical Lead for an anticipated project “Rural and Peri Urban Sanitation (RAPS)” in Eastern DRC. The project aims to improve basic sanitation by establishing a dynamic market system for sanitation in Eastern DRC, simultaneously building supply and demand for sanitation through engaged and strengthened private and public sectors and creating an enabling environment for sanitation marketing in rural and peri-urban areas.
The activity will focus on three high level objectives: 1) increased private sector-led supply of quality sanitation and hygiene services and products, 2) increased household demand for accessible, affordable, and desirable services and products, and 3) strengthening an enabling environment for market-driven sanitation. The project will be further designed in collaboration with the donor, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The program will emphasize conflict-sensitivity and the participation and inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
The Technical Lead – Market-Based Sanitation will be a dynamic force to drive the increase of market-based sanitation in DRC. The Technical Lead will be responsible for technical leadership of the program. They will bring innovation and best practices in scaling up basic sanitation in peri-urban and rural communities to the project activities. They will also provide technical mentorship and oversight to program staff and partners. The Lead will design and implement needs-driven and evidence-based market-based sanitation activities, adhering to Concern program quality standards.
They will provide technical expertise on developing and overseeing the successful delivery of activities to drive supply and demand for sanitation products and services in rural and peri-urban settings. They will also analyze growth opportunities and bottlenecks in the sanitation private sector, and support the development of entrepreneur-based, human-centered design solutions to increase access to affordable, desirable sanitation products and services. The Lead will identify linkages with the public sector with regard to strengthening the regulation and standardization of sanitation services. They will serve as the technical point of contact on market-led sanitation to the donor as well as public, private and non-government stakeholders, when needed.
The Technical Lead – Market-Based Sanitation will be responsible to:
Provide technical leadership and oversight for the planning and implementation of project activities, ensuring that design, start-up, implementation and close-out are in line with Concern quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and best practices in sanitation marketing.
Lead Private Sector Engagement (PSE) strategy and market-based approach to stimulate innovation and investment to meet demand, while factoring sustainability, local market conditions, and overall viability.
Create and implement sanitation marketing strategy in collaboration with District Sanitation Centers and sanitation product entrepreneurs
Develop relationships with financial institutions in order to facilitate access to finance options for entrepreneurs and households to support WASH investments, particularly in sanitation
Engage existing and potential sanitation enterprises to conduct participatory, innovative design challenges to overcome key barriers to basic sanitation and improve supply of affordable, desirable, and inclusive sanitation products and services.
Support the design and implementation of the social and behavior change strategy and demand creation activities.
Effectively manage talent, and supervise and mentor technical staff and local and international STTAs to achieve goals and ensure completion of programs on schedule and within budget. Strategically tailor individual development plans and complete performance assessments for direct reports.
Supervise technical staff in providing guidance to organizations coordinating training and service provision in the private sector in DRC.
Lead the development of program learning – identify opportunities for learning, research and publications in the area of market-led sanitation. Facilitate the dissemination of promising practices and lessons learned to contribute to Concern’s knowledge management agenda. Ensure integration of innovations and best practices.
Maintain a constructive dialogue and technical exchange with field counterparts, implementing partners’ technical staff, and other Concern departments and projects.
Work in collaboration with the rest of the leadership team and consortium partners to ensure that activities are technically sound, and implemented on schedule and within budget.
Contribute to the development of high-quality workplans, quarterly and annual reports, financial reports; and other technical reports as required by Concern and the donor.
Represent the activity on public-private sector issues at technical, policy, and strategic planning meetings, including meetings with collaborators and donors.
Your skills and experience will include:
Basic Qualifications:
A Master’s degree (equivalent) or higher in international development, WASH, public health, business, governance, environmental or civil engineering, or another relevant field.
A minimum of 7 years’ work experience in relevant field-based project management position, with at least 3 years of experience in market-based solutions in the WASH sector, with an emphasis on sanitation marketing, private sector engagement and capacity building, financing, local governance, gender and women’s empowerment, and/or social and behavior change communication.
Demonstrated experience in successfully engaging sanitation-focused host country stakeholders and facilitating long-term relationships with financing institutions and the private sector (particularly in sanitation).
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with and build consensus among private and public sector stakeholders.
Experience working on donor-funded international development projects of similar scope, complexity, and size.
Demonstrated ability to lead a diverse technical team for activities of similar scale.
Deep knowledge of the political, social, and economic context of DRC required, and experience working in conflict-affected or insecure areas, with DRC experience preferred.
Fluency in written and spoken English and French.
Preferred Qualifications:
Prior experience as a Market-Led Sanitation Lead/Advisor or comparable senior leadership position on similar, international, donor-funded programs in complex countries, preferably with USAID funding.
Familiarity with USAID’s approaches to WASH, the state of the WASH sector in DRC, and small/medium enterprise development and/or social marketing approaches in support of such development.
Knowledge of Core Humanitarian Standards, Sphere and HAP Standards and other international humanitarian guidelines and protocols
Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 30%. The position will be located in Goma or other city depending on final geographic coverage of the program.
To Apply:
All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length.
Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short-listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.
Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.