Liberia /Sierra Leone: Programme Manager - Engineering

Feb 9, 2017 | Concern Worldwide
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Concern Worldwide are a global community of humanitarians, partners, community members, supporters, donors, and volunteers who share a common vision of a world where no one lives in poverty, fear, or oppression, and all can exercise their rights to a decent standard of living, can have access to the opportunities and choices essential to a long, healthy, and creative life, and can be treated with dignity and respect.

About the role: This is a 12 month, replacement role with unaccompanied terms based in Buchanan, Grand Basa (Liberia 60%) and Freetown (Sierra Leone 40%) with a salary of Grade B €32,490 - €39,723

You will report to the Programme Director in Liberia and dotted line to the WASH Project Manager in Sierra Leone. You will line manage site engineers in Liberia. You will liaise closely with Systems Directors, Programme Managers, Programme Coordinators, Concern WASH Technical Advisors, General Systems Manager (Liberia), Country Financial Controllers and Country Directors

We would like you to start in March 2017.

Your purpose: You will ensure that all of Concern’s WASH construction interventions are being implemented at a sufficiently high standard to make a lasting impact on the lives of programme participants. You will provide quality technical support to Concern’s programmes through the delivery of specific WASH construction projects, eg water points, sanitation facilities, and rain water drainage. You will directly line manage teams in Liberia, and provide technical support in Sierra Leone in planning, implementing and monitoring of WASH interventions as well as other construction activities. You will also supervise and manage all construction contracts within the country programmes and coordinate with logistics to support WASH construction work as necessary.

You will be responsible for:

Technical programme management

  • Provide technical and management oversight and supervision of assigned WASH/Civil infrastructure activities to include: borehole drilling, construction of hand pump wells, up-grading of existing boreholes and wells, construction of water towers/kiosks, solar pumping system installation, installation of emergency water tanks and distribution system associated, design and construction of rain water drainage system, design of public latrines
  • Conduct assessments of sites for the implementation of planned engineering works as per agreed proposals, including geotechnical and risk management assessments
  • Design engineering works, following best international and humanitarian best practice and in line with Concern, donor and local authority policies and guidelines
  • Prepare technical documents such as tenders, BOQs, technical specifications and drawings that are in compliance with government, SPHERE and Concern standards, guidelines and policies
  • Develop Quality Control check lists and ensure they are properly used by the WASH/construction teams while supervising the work on site
  • Train teams on specific quality control mechanisms (e.g. concrete tests) and ensure their application
  • Ensure that project work sites meet legal and health and safety requirements, and follow environmental directives
  • Ensure the preparation and updating of detailed implementation work plans and provide the necessary guidance and support to the team to achieve timely and quality implementation of engineering activities
  • Liaise closely with the Programme Managers and team on all aspects of programme Planning, implementation and monitoring/evaluation that require construction technical inputs
  • Conduct monthly expenditure tracking by reviewing the monthly management accounts for those budget line specifically allocated to engineering contracts
  • Provide senior management with regular updates of the Concern WASH projects and status report of all construction projects
  • Ensure that appropriate process monitoring data is collected for use in donor reporting by the appropriate program manager
  • Ensure technical quality, policy and procedural compliance of all construction contracts under the FIDIC system undertaken by Concern
  • Provide technical leadership of all construction contract management from contractor appraisal, tendering procedure, contract issuance, contractor management, payment certification of measured contracts according to the work plan and donor deadlines
  • Ensure that working calculations are provided for all construction related budget lines to program managers – for donor budgets and periodic internal budget revision exercises.

Procurement and Contracts management:

  • Work with the procurement teams; providing technical documents for initiating tendering, management of tendering and selection of competent contractors for all Concern construction contracts
  • Ensure that the tendering procedure under the FIDIC system is followed in line with Concern’s logistics & procurement policies and the preparation of a cost estimate
  • Liaise closely with the Systems Director on all contracts, logistics, and procurement matters
  • Prepare and verify all construction contracts for signature by the CD / Programme Director
  • Prepare measurements and valuations of all payments in line with Concern’s procedures
  • Carry out frequent visits to the programme/construction sites to verify progress and ensure quality standards are being met
  • Oversee the work of selected contractors ensuring implementation of construction projects are of the highest quality and are in accordance to agreed designs, policies and procedures and timelines
  • Ensure the evaluation of contractors’ performance is formally documented
  • Ensure works certification and payment preparation processes for contractors and other service providers engaged to execute construction works
  • Prepare and issue Variation Orders, Terminations and Final Inspections as required

Staff management

  • Manage construction teams in delivery of project activities, establishing and monitoring monthly targets in line with the project implementation plan
  • Participate in the recruitment of Construction programme staff to ensure that staff have the required skill sets and competencies
  • Ensure Concern health and safety procedures as well as environmental impacts of construction work are adhered to at all times
  • Provide technical support and on-going on-the-job training and coaching to staff
  • Ensure efficient team deployment through a system of up-to-date job descriptions developed in line with Concern organizational structure
  • Ensure that all staff is aware of and comply with Concern’s policies and procedures
  • Monitor and review performance of direct reports through Concern’s Performance Development Reviews (PDR) system and hold staff accountable for meeting the success criteria, including compliance with Concern’s Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4)
  • Identify staff training needs and recommend on-job or other capacity building measures in close consultation with the Programmes Director, the Programme Managers and the HR department
  • Ensure proper planning of staff leaves and absences

Capacity building:

  • Provide technical capacity building support and coaching to national WASH construction supervisors/site engineers and technicians to deliver quality programme intervention
  • Ensure that National technical staff are properly supported with the technical knowledge and skills necessary to deliver programme intervention
  • Ensure our teams have strong community facilitation and coaching skills for monitoring of construction programme

Coordination and liaison with sector programs & external agencies:

  • Meet and engage with national and regional level officials of Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Health
  • Ensure National and County level water point maps are regularly updated
  • Follow up on use of DDG (with FLOW software) for regular updating for the national database
  • Participate in stakeholder coordination meetings
  • Liaise with key Dublin based technical advisors on hardware and software technical matters Ensure that all necessary permits and permission from local authorities and other stakeholders are in place in advance and through the engineering works

Monitoring and Evaluation

  • Implement an effective technical monitoring and evaluation plan for all construction work
  • Establish and monitor construction targets in line with the project implementation plan
  • Work with Programme Managers to develop TORs for baseline (to include KAP) and end line surveys and for consultants as needed
  • Monitor the systems and controls for construction site checks and documentation including production of installation and progress reports in collaboration with contractor’s representative

Other:

  • Actively participate in collective exercises such as preparation or updates of Preparing for Effective Emergency Response (PEER) plan, Security Management Plan (SMP) and other Concern initiatives
  • Take active measures to address equality issues, particularly relating to gender, in programme as well as operational (eg HR) activities
  • Ensure the highest stands of accountability through ensuring good communication and information sharing within and outside the programme and enabling staff, beneficiary and other stakeholder participation at all stages of the project cycle
  • Be aware of, understand, promote and comply with all of Concern’s policies and procedures (P4, finance, logistics, HR, security management etc)
  • Contribute to ongoing security management and planning as necessary
  • Actively participate in any emergency response if called upon to do so (within the existing programme area or in a new one)
  • Undertake other related duties as may reasonably be assigned by the Country Director or the line manager

Your skills and experience will include:

  • A recognised tertiary degree in Water & Sanitation engineering or in civil engineering (with specialization in water, sewage)
  • At least 6 years’ experience in rural and urban water and waste water networks, and civil sub-surface plumbing, designing and implementing complex maintenance systems, and/or construction and reinforced concrete laying and general building construction, at least 2 years in the INGO sector.
  • Experience of working in developing countries
  • Technical experience of water testing and sewage treatment and the design & construction
  • Practical experience in design & construction of water points: hand dug wells/ boreholes/ communal tap stands/ communal latrines/ household latrines;
  • Experience in managing tender processes
  • Experience in managing and training technical construction staff and contractors
  • Strong FIDIC contract management experience.
  • Strong staff management skills
  • Ability to lead and work as part of a team
  • Flexibility, willingness to learn and enthusiasm for humanitarian work are essential.
  • Excellent assessment, analytical and planning skills.
  • Excellent negotiation, diplomacy & representation skills
  • Ability to work well under pressure to multiple demands, responding to changing needs, without losing sight of the strategic objective
  • Sound IT skills, including Word, Excel and AutoCAD
  • Excellent command of oral and written English

We would also like:

  • Additional qualifications in Public Health related subjects
  • Practical experience in design of culverts & bridges; supervision and management of community led road improvements and community-led school construction.
  • Previous experience in Concern.
  • Previous experience working in West Africa.
  • Experience in preparing budgets and reports for international donors.
  • Experience in staff capacity development and management.
  • The ability to quickly develop fluency in Concern Worldwide’s policies and procedures,
  • including policies such as equality and systems policies in logistics and transport.
  • Excellent organisational skills.
  • Cross cultural awareness and sensitivity.
  • Knowledge of development issues and concepts.
  • Methodical and thorough
  • Awareness of gender issues
  • Empathy with organisational goals

All applications should be submitted through our website at https://jobs.concern.net by closing date. CV’s should be no more than 4 pages in length. 

Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer posts before the closing date.

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.