South Africa: Programme Officer, Water and Sanitation

Apr 5, 2021 | Stockholm International Water Institute
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The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is looking for an experienced Programme Officer to work on different water and sanitation programs at the global level, in different regions.

SIWI is a policy institute that generates knowledge and informs decision-making towards a water wise world. SIWI conducts research, builds institutional capacity, and provides advisory services to water decision-makers and practitioners in emerging and developing economies. Our expertise relates to multi-level governance of shared water resources and sustainable delivery of water and services. We work on the linkages of water with sectors such as climate, food and energy and at multiple scales in countries, cities, rural communities and along river basins.

SIWI organises the World Water Week in Stockholm - the leading annual global meeting place on water and development issues – and hosts the Stockholm Water Prize and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

About the Department and related programs:

The Water and Sanitation Department implements a number of major programs in the areas of water and sanitation service delivery, and also conducts several activities in coordination with the water resources department, with the aim to contribute to achieve sustainable and resilient water and sanitation services. Accountability for Sustainability  is a partnership with UNICEF and UNDP aimed to improve governance as a means to increase sustainability of water supply and sanitation services. The partnership includes a global program and two dedicated regional programs for Latin America and Middle East and North Africa. These programs provide on demand support to regional and country offices, including in water and sanitation enabling environment analyses and related action planning (e.g., WASH Bottleneck Analysis) and for the integration of water scarcity and climate resilience into water and sanitation programming. Another program, the City Water Resilience Approach, is working to better understand and plan for water resilience at city level. GO-WATER (Building Governance Capacity for Improved Water Security) is a capacity development programme that aims to make policy impact at systemic level through more effective water sector institutions, with a focus on six countries: Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru from Latin America, Iraq and Sudan from MENA, and Afghanistan. The Department is also implementing a number of research and capacity building oriented initiatives.

Description of the position:

The assignment is a full-time position. The Officer will contribute to implementation and development of water governance related projects in relation to resilient water supply and sanitation. This includes supporting management aspects, as well as contributing to capacity building, technical support and advice on water governance, and support to research; development of methodologies, tools and knowledge products and promote exchanges of best practices. 

The main duties of the Programme Officer will include the following:

  • The Officer will support UNICEF to deliver sustainable, climate resilient WASH programs, through support on climate risk analysis and related action planning, integration of WASH into key national climate priorities (NAP, NDCs), and contribute to the implementation of innovative approaches to tackle water scarcity and take preventive action to avert water crisis.
  • The Officer will contribute to the implementation of other programs in the water and sanitation department, with a focus on climate resilience.

Within the assignment, the Programme Officer will:

  • Contribute to the thematic development of SIWI’s portfolio in the areas of resilient water supply and sanitation
  • Contribute to the development of knowledge products, training materials, methodologies, tools, and research
  • Support the organization of workshops / trainings as needed, including facilitation.
  • Provide technical support and advisory services to support water governance processes to countries and to SIWI partners as per demand, in collaboration with the rest of the team.
  • Contribute to the identification, and development of project proposals and strategic partnerships
  • Contribute to financial and administrative oversight and results reporting of the programs in charge.
  • Represent SIWI in international fora, as appropriate.
  • Contribute to internal knowledge management and collaboration with other SIWI departments.

The Officer will work within the Water and Sanitation Department and collaborate with other departments at SIWI, as necessary for the different assignments. The Programme Officer will be supervised by the Water and Sanitation Department Director.

Required skills and competencies:

  • Experience of working with water governance in relation to water supply and sanitation at local, national, and international level.
  • Experience of working with global climate change and disaster risk reduction processes. Good understanding of environmental and climate policies, strategies, institutions, and regulations. Experience in applying knowledge to climate policy-related decisions and advice.
  • Experience of integrating water scarcity into water and sanitation programming. Good understanding of water resource management, including drought management.
  • Experience of working with particular policy and governance aspects, such as IWRM, decentralization, multi-stakeholder participation, inter-sectoral coordination, accountability, water integrity and/or human rights based approaches
  • Experience of program/project development and implementation.
  • Familiarity with the global and national water related policies and processes
  • Experience of working with capacity development, stakeholder facilitation, institutional strengthening and policy development.
  • Strong managerial skills, including: planning, budgeting and risk management; managing external and internal relations; coordinating a number of programme partners;
  • Experience in applied research will be an asset.
  • Good drafting, communication and interpersonal skills are basic requirements
  • Ability to function effectively as part of a team
  • Commitment to, and agreement with SIWI´s core values and vision.

Education and work experience:

  • Bachelor or Master’s degree in relevant Social or Natural / Engineering Sciences.
  • At least 3-5 years of experience working with policy development and implementation of water services in emerging and developing economies contexts.
  • Experience in water scarcity and climate change issues as they relate to water supply and sanitation
  • Experience of water supply and sanitation service provision and management approaches for fragile and emergency contexts is desirable

Language skills:

  • Proficiency in English is required
  • Good level of French or Spanish will be a strong asset.
  • Good level of Arabic, Portuguese, and Swahili will be desirable.

Availability to travel

  • Ability and willingness to travel and be part of short-term missions is required (up to 40% of the time, depending on the current COVID-19 context). This initial estimate of 40% is based on a travel free restriction situation.

Duty Station

  • The full-time position will be based at the Stockholm International Water Institute headquarters office in Stockholm or SIWI Africa Regional Centre in Pretoria, South Africa.

Duration of contract

  • The position is a 15 months contract, subject to renewal upon good performance and availability of funds.

Starting date

  • June 2021

How to apply for the position

  • Please submit your CV and a cover letter by using the link below.
  • APPLICATIONS SHALL BE SENT IN ENGLISH by 20th April 2021.

Alejandro Jiménez, Director, Water and Sanitation Department, alejandro.jimenez@siwi.org
Ricard Gine, Advisor ,ricard.gine@siwi.org