Regional Coordinator, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The Regional Coordinator, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) contributes to the management and supervision of both multilateral and where appropriate, bilateral programmes and operations namely:

• Delivery of all regional activities covered by WASH programmes with equal emphasis on both emergency and development efforts inclusive both rural and urban with a public health focus. The Coordinator ensures sound and consistent coordination between Geneva Secretariat, the region and country offices, the National Societies membership and the wider international and humanitarian network and ensure linkages and integration through a resilience-based program approach
• Contribution to and backstop coordination of WASH support during emergencies and provides growth and quality assurance to developmental WASH efforts
• Supports on WASH and cholera resource mobilization efforts in close coordination with partners and other regional initiatives
• Supports the Global WASH Team as needed.The Regional WASH Coordinator actively supports the global WASH Strategic Direction and contributes to the rollout, implementation and adaptation to Africa’s context.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Enable RCRC to be a global leading player in the WASH sector

• Contribute to and support the coordination of the work of RCRC at relevant regional and on occasion international fora, in publications, conferences and meetings and ensure that relevant advocacy themes are well presented to position RCRC as a global leader in all WASH aspects.
• Contribute to National Societies’ input in the development and roll out of global policies, strategies, guidelines and tools as well as the integration of these standards into the work of RCRC to ensure sound and sustainable WASH programmes and effective public health outcomes.
• Contribute to the programmatic integration in other sectors, particularly health, nutrition, food security.
• Contribute to and support community-led WASH, both rural and urban health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Work closely, with other members of the WASH Team, with other departments and units in the Africa contributing to ensuring appropriate visibility, resource mobilization and public awareness of the work of IFRC/RCRC.
• The Regional WASH Coordinator will be the technical manager for any WASH Delegates and officers at regional level.
• The Regional WASH Coordinator will participate as a key player in the Regional WASH Working group e.g. Regional Cholera Platform.

Support National Societies to improve WASH performance

• Working closely with other Africa Technical units within a framework of building community resilience, the position will contribute to providing specific technical support to ensure National Societies are able to effectively incorporate WASH within each stage of the emergency cycle and along the resilience continuum: strengthening of WASH as part of prevention; WASH disaster preparedness; water quality monitoring as part of community disease detection and early warning; emergency WASH response including full spectrum of public health-related WASH capacities and WASH during recovery aimed at ‘building back better’.
• Lead the coordination of work plans across the four-cross organizational WASH-related work streams: WASH for development through expansion of One WASH; WASH in disasters; WASH during public health emergencies and WASH in Urban Settings.
• Lead the mapping of Regional WASH programming, progress and best practices and priority needs of National Societies, especially in the context of developmental and emergency WASH and contribute to the provision of strategy and policy advice to National Societies.
• Provide leadership in the scaling up of WASH programmes, especially in developmental and urban WASH, by National Societies in the region.
• Contributes to the Capacity building of National Societies in collaboration with the National Society Development (NSD) Teams.

Support coordination of WASH during emergencies

• Coordinate closely with the Africa Health, Disaster, Climate and Crises Teams, and particularly the Public Health in Emergency Coordinator, the Roving Operations Coordinator and the Regional WASH officer to ensure coherence, synergy and complementarity across the functions for enhanced support to Emergency response operations.
• Coordinate closely with colleagues at regional and global level covering thematic areas of cholera prevention and response and malaria control.
• With other Global WASH team members actively engage with and provide support to the Global WASH cluster.
• Contribute to and when required backstop the RCRC regional WASH surge mechanisms and ensure that the right people with the right skills and equipment are able to be deployed to the right places at the right time to support National Societies WASH needs in their region.

Contribute to delivering quality in programmmes and operations

• Ensure that tools, guidelines and projects are based on evidence, and applicable international standards and follow a resilience-based health approach.
• Ensure that operational questions and challenges are addressed by operational research in partnership with different research institutions and other partners in their region.
• Ensure that behavioural change components and training are following good standards and are aligned to global wide guidelines and approaches.
• Promote and support the NSs to roll out the Branch WASH Intervention team approach and other WASH activities as early actions in Early Action Protocols for, floods, epidemics, and cholera.
• As part of quality enhancement programme, contribute to supporting National Societies to develop systems that allow a ‘seamless’ transition from health development to emergency response to recovery, build back better, and accelerated development.
• Ensure integration of quality Water and Sanitation interventions into the global flagships; Cholera/One WASH and Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness, the Pan Africa Initiatives; Tree Planting and Care, Food Insecurity and Hunger Crisis, Red Ready.

Contribute to an effective, high quality IFRC team:

• Be accountable to the Regional Coordinator, Health and Care and the Global WASH Team Leader by providing regular progress reports on results against objectives and risk analysis as set out by established procedures in the Africa.
• Be flexible in their work definition according to needs and targets and improve efficiencies and effectiveness within available resources.
• Be a pro-active team member fostering a customer service-oriented culture that values proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation, high performance and cost effectiveness.
• Foster a co-creative environment with colleagues in the Region and with National Societies including actors in the relevant external environment.
• Manage the Regional WASH Budget while strengthening financial standards. Ensure regular reports on use of funds are provided, budget needs are met and reported upon in a timely and efficient manner.

Education

• Advanced university degree (master's or equivalent) in WASH, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience required
• Relevant post-graduate degree in public health preferred

Experience

• At least 7 years of working experience in the humanitarian or development sector, with a focus on WASH.
• Demonstrated professional credibility in the sector and experience working in an international or cross-cultural environment.
• 5 years of management and supervisory experience in a multicultural environment, with developing countries and/or with an international organisation at the management level
• Experience working in a RC/RC National Society and/or IFRC/ICRC preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

• Knowledge of WASH and public health and experience in practically applying this knowledge into policy, programmes and positioning
• Programme and project management
• Results oriented and demand driven individual, entrepreneurial, ability to lead in unprecedented and/or ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills, including the ability to lead within a matrix management structure and utilise talent and experience of team members in a productive way.
• Outstanding networking, representational, communication and negotiation skills. An ability to be proactive and persuasive.
• Demonstrated track record in innovating, contributing to a learning culture, sharing knowledge and new approaches to engaging partners.
• Professional credibility, able to work effectively at all levels across the organisation
• Proven good judgment and ability to work with complete integrity and confidentiality
• High degree of discretion, tact and sensitivity in dealing with internal and external clients and stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to work within a multi-cultural, multilingual, multidisciplinary environment.
• Fluently spoken and written French and English
• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic) preferred

How to apply

This is a regional national staff position to be based in Côté d'Ivoire or in Chad. Experienced and qualified candidates are requested to apply on the IFRC website on or before 21 May 2023 through the link below:

Regional Coordinator, WASH