Position: WASH Core Competency Specialist
Grade: 9
Reports to: Head of Programme
Supervision of: N/A
Duty station: Maiduguri
Travel: 40%
Project number: NGFP0000
Duration and type of contract: 12 months (extendable)
All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and believes shall guide our actions and relationships.
- Role and responsibilities
The WASH Specialist will provide technical oversight and strategic direction to Country and Area offices to further the development of the WASH Core Competency (CC). The Specialist will provide quality assurance for all projects, develop a collaborative country strategy, capacity build staff through mentoring and training to increase the technical capacity of the staff, and develop a donor strategy to further grow the program.
The following is a brief description of the role.
Generic responsibilities (max 10)
- Develop WASH CC strategy, technical guidance and Macro LFAs
- Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
- Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposal, budgets and donor reports
- Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities
- Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within CC, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation
- Provide technical direction and project implementation support to the implementation team
- Ensure that key learnings are extracted from CC implementation, and incorporate them in CC and staff development processes
- Provide systematic training and build capacity of WASH staff
- Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors
- Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy
Specific responsibilities
- Responsible for technical innovative development and quality of CC in country, holistic programming (with other CCs) and to ensure harmonisation and consistency across CC projects in line with NRC Programme Policy
- Lead the process on proposals, budgets, modifications, project reviews and reporting and ensure high technical quality
- Take the lead on quality project deliverables to ensure high technical outputs
- Provide strategic leadership on the development of programming that recognizes the challenges faced by conflict-affected youth
- Support programmatic M&E and indicator tracking in conjunction with project teams and M&E department
- Ensure workplans and spending plans in line with donor budgets are developed and maintained by supporting Project Coordinators, Managers and Area Managers
- Develop and lead on conducting needs assessments (in collaboration with Area Program teams, Protection team and M&E team), baseline, mid-and end-evaluations
- Represent NRC with relevant donors, government ministries, and in relevant humanitarian coordination meetings in country
- Actively promote and operationalize synergies between WASH and other NRC programmes to move toward integrated programming (focus on Shelter and ICLA)
- Provide support and input to the recruitment processes for all WASH staff
- Accountable for organisational learning from programme implementation, sharing of best practice and capacity building
Critical interfaces
By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:
- Programme development: Core Competencies section (HO Oslo, Region, in-country), Country Program Department, Area Programme teams
- Proposal development: Area Managers, Project Managers and Coordinators, Program Department
- Quality control/ support: Area Managers, Project Managers and Coordinators
- Capacity development: WASH staff
Scale and scope of position
Staff:
No direct management of staff however close technical support and capacity building of WASH team
Stakeholders:
UN agencies (focus on UNICEF), Protection Sector and Working Groups, INGOs, local NGOs, civil society, governmental bodies
Budgets:
Not budget holder, however support and oversight of WASH team financial management and budgeting within new grants development
Information:
Information resources the postholder is responsible for include GORS, Agresso, Intranet
Legal or compliance:
Legal or compliance responsibility for donors’ contractual obligations, beneficiary personal data, GDPR, SSD
- Competencies
Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following three categories:
- Professional competencies
These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.
Generic professional competencies for this position:
- Minimum 4 years of experience within a humanitarian/recovery context
- Experience working in complex and volatile contexts
- Minimum 2 years of WASH expertise (as Specialist/TA or Project Manager)
- Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
- Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
- Fluency in English, both written and verbal
Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:
- Knowledge of the Lake Chad Basin region and north-eastern Nigeria context specifically
- Experience with start-up or expansion of new programmes
- Experience in team capacity building
- Advanced computer skills, especially in Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook
- Experience with youth/adolescent programming, particularly vocational training is desired
- Experience with alternative WASH in a humanitarian context an asset
- Understanding of SPHERE and INEE Minimum Standards is required
- Candidates with an advanced degree preferred; significant experience in the field of WASH, PSS or Child Protection considered in lieu
- FEMALE CANDIDATES ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY
- Behavioural competencies (max 6)
These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, the following are essential for this position:
- Handling insecure environments
- Strategic thinking
- Empowering and building trust
- Influencing
- Initiate action and change
- Analysing
- Performance Management
The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:
- The Job Description
- The Work and Development Plan
- The Mid-term/End-of-trial Period Performance Review Template
- The End-term Performance Review Template
- The NRC Competency Framework
