South Sudan: WASH Specialist (South Sudan nationals)

Jul 6, 2023 | Save the Children
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Save the Children employs approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. It also campaigns and advocates at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. Save the Children is working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

Save the Children knows that great people make a great organization, and that its employees play a crucial role in helping it achieve its ambitions for children. Save the Children values its people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: 

The role holder will have contact with children and/or young people, or access to personal data about children or young people, as part of their work; therefore a police check will be mandatory unless the content or location of the role changes, in which case the Child Safeguarding level will be reviewed.

South Sudan lags behind the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa in access to drinking water supply and sanitation services. Low levels of access to water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) severely undermine health and nutrition outcomes in South Sudan. WASH-related neglected tropical diseases are widespread across the country, and the persistence of the underlying factors that intensified successive cholera outbreaks in South Sudan between 2014 and 2017 puts the country at high risk for a resurgence of the disease. In addition, lower respiratory tract infections and diarrheal disease are the second- and third-largest causes of death in South Sudan, with poor WASH being the second leading risk factor for all death and disability combined. Conflict dynamics, population movement, and climate change all influence the emergence and dispersal of many infectious disease pathogens, and the risks are exacerbated by lack of access to water supply and sanitation services, and poor-quality health services

The key drivers of need for clean water in South Sudan are: limited access to functional WASH infrastructure; increased displacements due to conflicts; and recurring flooding, canal, Ulang/Unkuel/Lony swamps area. In addition to being sources of unclean water, these areas have also been known to be places where abduction of children and women and killing of people have occurred in the past.  In dry seasons, households relying on surface water sources such as swamps for their domestic water are usually affected due to drying up of open swamps. Women and girls are forced to trek long distances in search of water. This further exposes the women and girls to GBV and abduction risks. 

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to: Deputy Director PDQ

Number of direct reports: WASH Coordinator

Work with: Construction officer, WASH Engineer and WASH Officers

Under the general direction and guidance of the Deputy Director of Program Development and Quality, work to establish Country office WASH interventions, ways of working to be integrated within other sectors, provides thematic Leadership and ensure all WASH programming is well monitored and is of excellent technical quality, attracts significant donor funding and contributes significantly to national/global learning, advocacy and programme development. 

The WASH Specialist is responsible for providing technical and strategic guidance and oversight to the country office (CO) program in areas of WASH. The post holder is expected to provide (1) technical advice and (2) support to project staff to ensure programming objectives are successfully achieved. The post-holder shall also contribute to the development and/review of the country strategic direction and actively lead in the development of WASH policy and programme formulation.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

The National WASH Specialist will undertake the following tasks:

1. Provide technical guidance and support for integration of Health, Nutrition, FSL and WASH issues into other sectors/departments at national, zone and district level, including government campaigns and international events. 
2. Support new business development to secure funding to increase resourcing for WASH programming and human resources within the South Sudan SCI Country office
3. Provide technical support to ongoing WASH programmes (e.g., content and tool development, review of relevant monitoring and evaluation data and reports, review and contribution to relevant donor reports). 
4. Liaise with Programs Managers and Infrastructure Engineer and support the field teams on Quality WASH programme implementation and review if KPI;s 
5. Ensure the development Quarterly Stakeholder engagement Plan that includes donors, members, and Line ministries for the Technical Unit in the PDQ. 
6. Ensure that lessons learning and research around program quality is carried out and used for program quality improvement in country programs and program partners; and ensure effective and efficient program monitoring and reporting processes are in place and implemented for all program activities.
7. Conduct field visit to the project locations to provide technical support and monitor technical quality of programmes, 
8. Providing trainings, workshops, supervision, coaching to SC and Partner programme teams, as needed and possible.
9. Guide and supervise WASH Coordinator and CLTS Coordinator and ensure that capacity training needs are met. 
10. With the support of MEAL team, be the lead for WASH assessments on the health risks in the overall WASH situation, and design and implement systems to improve the situation in collaboration with relevant actors. 
11. Foster innovation and research in WASH service delivery models and develop mutually accountable partnerships with Local partners, Local Authorities, county-level institutions and communities.
12. Coordinate with Education and Health Technical Advisors to support the WASH Implementation in Education Cant wait ECW), Global Education programme (GPE), UNICEF health, 
13. Maintain strategic links with key duty bearers and stakeholders line ministries, UN agencies, INGOs and other local NGOs and CBOs, etc. 
14. Represent and advocate for Save the Children with UN agencies, donors, government, NGOs and others at the highest levels in both verbal and written communications to ensure that Save the Children is seen as the lead international agency in South Sudan in terms of innovation and quality of implementation that focus on child survival 
15. Maintain an SCI active participation in WASH cluster coordination and Strategic and Technical working groups.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Must be a South Sudanese national
• Previous experience with NGO;s in the field of wash, project management, or construction
• Educational Qualification Diploma, BSC) in WASH related field, Public Health, Civil engineering, Programme Management.
• Previous experience in WASH infrastructure construction, BH drilling, hand pump repairs, solar pumping station, Surface water treatment, water Quality Assurance (desirable)
• High level and ability and understanding of key concepts of Water Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion 
• Good knowledge of WASH Minimum standards, Sphere and WHO standards
• Knowledge in Cluster coordination and representation 
• Previous experience in emergency response (flooding, public health diseases outbreak, displacement, conflict)
• Enthusiastic, willing to work for community and has or can easily gain support of community. 
• Ability to understand the cultural and traditional practices of the communities in the area
• Ability to assess and understand community WASH needs
• Able to engage communities in finding problems and, with the support of PHO and supervisor to help the community find solutions to their health problems
• Carry out any other responsibility as may be requested by his or her immediate supervisor

Desirable

•  Previous experience within a humanitarian aid organisation is a plus
• Previous experience working within the regions of focus in Southern Sudan
• Knowledge of locally spoken languages will be an added advantage
• Ability to remain calm and to be diplomatic, both with the local health authorities and with the community as well as fellow staff

Application Information:

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. Please also include details of current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/jobs. Save the Children needs to keep children safe so its selection process reflects its commitment to the protection of children from abuse.