DRC: Water Systems Infrastrucure and Performance Manager - USAID’S Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity

Apr 14, 2024 | Mercy Corps
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Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, Mercy Corps knows its teams do their best work when they are diverse and every team member feels that they belong. It welcomes diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that it can be stronger and have long term impact.

 

The Program/Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 400 people working in Eastern DRC, with the overall country goal being to support vulnerable communities through crises, while fostering programs that build resilience and promote long-term change. Mercy Corps’ national office is in Goma with sub-field offices in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. Mercy Corps DRC’s key programming areas include a combination of longer-term development and immediate humanitarian response programs in order to 1) Improve water service delivery and ensuring equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services, in urban and rural areas; 2) Improve food security and nutrition; 3) Promote diversified livelihoods, economic recovery and development; 4) Support peacebuilding and local governance. Mercy Corps DRC’s humanitarian programs aim specifically to assist populations affected by the conflict and crisis in Eastern Congo. 

In October 2020, Mercy Corps started the five-year USAID’s Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity, with a budget of $32 million to be implemented in 4 locations across North and South Kivu. Building on the successes of Mercy Corps’ IMAGINE program, and those of other WASH actors in Eastern DRC, USAID’s Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity (SWASSA) has brought together a consortium of 3 international partners (Mercy Corps, TetraTech and Sanergy) to focus on water and sanitation. In partnership with USAID and in line with Development Objective 2 of USAID’s DRC Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), SWASSA aims to show that it is possible to achieve genuinely sustainable increases in access to clean water by implementing contextually relevant, performance-based contractual models for water service delivery in collaboration with state and local entities including Territorial (ETDs) and Provincial Administrations. The consortium of international partners works interconnectedly, leveraging their expertise in different areas to ensure the success of the

Activity managed by Mercy Corps, Tetra Tech will focus on the infrastructure and market system delivery plan; and Sanergy provides the technical expertise in sanitation.

 

The Position

The role of the Water Systems Infrastructure and Performance (WSIP) Manager is to provide key delivery support to enable the SWASSA Activity to deliver sustainable water services. Mercy Corps is seeking a talented (international) professional with extensive experience in the governance of the development of water supply infrastructure and service delivery. The WSIP-Manager will lead activities to assess water system infrastructure and operational reliability of utilities and water service providers. The WSIP-Manager will mainly engage in a wide variety of technical and management activities aimed at expanding and improving the water service delivery, including the development of drinking water service delivery systems, the development of new contractual models with the Regies Provincials, Decentralized Territorial Entities (DTEs) and Water Users Associations (ASUREPs), and capacity building and training for private water service providers.

Mercy Corps is looking for (international) candidates with experience in the management of peri-urban water supply systems and a good understanding of performance management. Applicants should have knowledge of Public-Private Partnership contractual models for water services and water sector governance and be able to articulate trade-offs between design options and operational costs at short and long term of different service delivery models.

The Manager will be responsible for setting strategy, ensuring quality implementation and overseeing all activities. They will be responsible for ensuring compliance with USAID's regulations, working closely with relevant partners (Sanergy and Tetratech) and supervising a team of approximately 20 people. In addition, they will work closely with the Chief of Party to identify potential delays and resolve key risks, ensuring that the program is delivered on time. The Manager is expected to manage his/her team in an empowering and collaborative manner, with a focus on capacity building. He/she will be responsible for risk mitigation, crisis management, health and safety, with an emphasis on adherence to gender and safeguard best practices.

Responsibilities

  • Support multi-criteria analysis for site selection in coordination with SWASSA consortium members and program stakeholders, support field information and data collection.
  • Oversee water network assessments which should cover the following components: technical management, operation and maintenance, financial management, organizational structures, customer service and energy efficiency.
  • Perform various types of analysis including actual infrastructure condition and cost, cost recovery and financial models, and basic performance indicators such as unremunerated water and other key performance indicators (KPIs). 
  • Provide advice for planned infrastructure investments, including analysis of trade-offs between design options and short- and long-term operating costs and commercial viability.
  • Work on infrastructure planning and supervision, including design and build tenders, procurement support, and QA/QC.
  • Implement tasks related to improving the financial performance, business practices and customer service of water service providers.
  • Serve as the key point of contact between SWASSA and target water service providers related to business- and operational performance.
  • Liaise with international/local short-term technical assistance providing advice on specific improvement activity areas.

Qualifications

  • Possess a bachelor's degree (Bac+3) in business administration, economics, public policy, urban planning, engineering, or any other relevant field; Masters level is preferred.
  • Must have at least 10 years of relevant working experience in the water and sanitation sector and a thorough understanding with water utilities/operating service providers.
  • Knowledge of the governance of water supply infrastructure development and finance (public and private). Specific knowledge of structuring and implementing Public-Private Partnerships is an advantage.
  • Demonstrated experience in technical interventions such as contracting for water services, unremunerated water, metering, and local actor ownership of water and sanitation services.
  • Experience in one or more of the following: development and management of small and medium enterprises; development and implementation of business plans; design and implementation of capacity building programs; technical management and financial management; and improving business efficiency.
  • Good communication and analytical skills with the ability to write well-structured technical reports and perform critical business plan reviews.
  • Must have computer proficiency in Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, MS-Project, etc.
  • Experience working with donor funded projects and with different partners.
  • Fluency in French and English is required; fluency in Swahili is appreciated.
  • Work experience in East Africa and DRC ideally.

Supervisory Responsibility

North Kivu Infrastructure Lead, South Kivu Infrastructure Lead, Sanitation Manager, GIS & CAD Engineer. Dotted line supervision to Tetratech Project Engineer. 

Accountability 

Reports Directly To: Chief of Party

Works Directly With: DCOP – Governance, Director of Program Controls, MSD manager, Director of MERL, GESI manager, Consortium partners (Sanergy, Tetratech)

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to its program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. Mercy Corps  is committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of its field projects.

Success Factors

The successful Water Systems Infrastructure and Performance Manager will combine a strong collaborative working style with relevant technical expertise and a deep understanding of the challenges of implementing infrastructure projects in this kind of context. S/he should be an adept project manager, with the ability to implement quickly and accurately, troubleshooting and problem solving before issues arise, meet deadlines and process information to support the evolution of the program.

S/he will demonstrate adaptability, flexibility in approach, and a strong sense of equity. The successful candidate will be expected to develop and strengthen the capacity of his/her team to grow with the program, ensuring a team who are not only technically brilliant but who have an understanding of the USAID regulations and Mercy Corps minimum standards. S/he will have strong coaching and mentoring skills and be able to apply them in difficult situations with a cross-cultural team.

Due to the nature of this program, and the operating environment, the successful candidate must have a high level of internal resilience. In this program, patience, diplomacy, tenacity, compassion, determination and a sense of humor are all important factors for success. 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

This position is a non-accompanied position in Goma (DRC). Individual accommodation will be provided according to Mercy Corps DRC housing policy. Goma is a provincial capital of over 900,000 inhabitants. Living in Goma is mostly comfortable, although water and electricity can be unstable. Outside Goma, travel can be dangerous and unpredictable due to armed forces and rebel activity.

Mercy Corps' sub-offices experience variable levels of insecurity, with the situation closely monitored by UN peacekeepers. Air travel is necessary to get from one end of the country to the other. Mobile phones and cellular service are widely available. Internet is available in all Mercy Corps offices. Travel to field sites will be required where living conditions are clean and secure, but basic. There are a number of health services available with evacuation options for serious illnesses. There’s reasonable access to most consumer goods, although they can be expensive. 

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. Mercy Corps is committed to creating an inclusive environment.

Ongoing Learning

In support of its belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities it serves, Mercy Corps empowers all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving its mission begins with how Mercy Corps builds its team and work together. Through its commitment to enriching its organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, Mercy Corps is better able to leverage the collective power of its teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. Mercy Corps strives for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. 

Mercy Corps recognizes that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and Mercy Corps is committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than it is today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. It actively seeks out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that it can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. 

Mercy Corps is committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. Mercy Corps does not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where it works.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals it comes into contact with through its work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. Mercy Corps is committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. Mercy Corps will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of its team members. As part of its commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.