WASH Advisor

AT OXFAM, WE WON’T LIVE WITH POVERTY.

Together we can end extreme poverty for good. Will you join us?

 

 

 

 

 

WASH advisor

Programmes Team

 

 

Closing date:               - xxxxxx

Interview date:            - xxxxxx

Vacancy reference:    - < TBC by the HR/Recruitment Team>

 

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

 

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and may be subject to appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

 

 

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

 

aBOUT oXFAM

Oxfam is a global movement of people who won’t live with the injustice of poverty. Together we save and rebuild lives in disasters. We help people build better lives for themselves. We speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality, discrimination against women and climate change. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can live without poverty.

 

OUR TEAMThe Oxfam team in Lebanon implements integrated humanitarian, development and policy interventions in line with Oxfam’s country strategy for Lebanon as relevant to the Bekaa and north Lebanon areas, including protection & governance; cash safety net/social protection and economic development/livelihoods; WASH/water governance, with a focus on partnerships. The humanitarian pillar, in particular, ensures that marginalised women and men, particularly refugees from Syria, are able to have safe access to WASH, attain their rights to life, security, protection and assistance, and that they are enabled to support their own basic needs, develop their livelihoods, all in a manner that respects and maintains their dignity. JoB Purpose The WASH Advisor provides timely and high-quality WASH (public health promotion and public health engineering) and water governance technical support to Oxfam and partner teams in Lebanon (area of operation is north Bekaa). S/he promotes programme learning and continuous improvement of programme quality and effectiveness, strengthened accountability, and supports the policy team in ensuring that evidence from programmes underpin effective advocacy and campaigns.      WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are seeking to recruit a dynamic professional with experience in WASH (humanitarian and resilience) programming and/or in providing technical WASH advice to programming teams. Prior experience in WASH and/or water governance, and programme design, and representation are a must. Knowledge of Arabic and the Lebanese context are a must.  

 

 

Core Details

Location:

Zahle (with travel to Beirut).

 

Internal Grade:

C2

Contract type:

Fixed Term, 1 year, renewable

This role reports to:

Humanitarian Coordinator

Staff reporting to this post:

No direct line reports however matrix management of Senior Wash Officers.

Annual budget for the post:

Technical sign-off but no budget responsibility

Key relationships/interactions:

Humanitarian Coordinator, DCD programmes, Funding and Business Development Coordinator, Policy Lead, Protection Advisor, and WASH/protection/cash Project Managers, WASH Senior Officers/Officers/Assistants, Protection Senior Officers/Officers/Assistants, Protection Research and Policy Advisor, EJ Coordinator, as well as other project managers from other pillars of our work.

Screening checks:

Screening via Refinitiv

 

key Responsibilities

Technical Advice and Support

• Provide specialist WASH (public health engineering and public health promotion) advice to support the implementation of Oxfam’s humanitarian and resilience program (in Bekaa) which is in WASH, protection and livelihoods. This includes providing WASH advice on coherence, standardizing approaches, good partnerships, and programme quality;
• Lead and guide research conducted by external consultancies under Oxfam’s WASH programmes;
• Support the evaluation of public health risks related to water, sanitation and hygiene practices and assess emergency needs, as requested, especially taking in the broader perspective of WASH;
• Support the design of water, sanitation and hygiene activities that are appropriate to the context, in consultation with the affected population and the WaSH team;
• Facilitate the enhancement of Oxfam’s community engagement model and support its further contextualization;
• Support detailed, timely and quality technical specifications for contracts and tenders, and liaise with logistics on technical issues, as necessary;
• Support the humanitarian and resilience team and partners (in Bekaa) in developing and applying appropriate monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) tools in relation to Oxfam’s humanitarian and resilience work in Lebanon;
• Support the analysis of community feedback with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and WASH teams, adapting techniques to formulate more community appropriate solutions;
• Ensure that WASH staff are aware of and integrate relevant Oxfam, sector, national and international WASH related standards, e.g. Sphere;
• Lead on the delivery of the technical content of the Lebanon Water Forum — an annual national conference on water governance issues and challenges;
• Support the Humanitarian Coordinator in partner risk analysis related to programme activities before and during implementation, and advise on amending activities and approaches where necessary;
• Support in the preparation and implementation of contingency plans;
• Support the programme team in ensuring quality donor reporting on WASH activities;
• Support the development and implementation of national programme evaluations, learning events and specific programme-related research activities;
• Support the humanitarian programme team and partners in mainstreaming accountability to affected people, gender and protection throughout Oxfam Lebanon’s humanitarian and governance WASH work;
• Lead in identifying capacity building needs and opportunities for Oxfam staff and local partner organisations (in WASH), and lead on mentoring, training partners and staff on WASH;
• Leverage evidence from ongoing protection analysis for the Lebanon programme, including aspects of conflict analysis, gender, and risk management to improve the quality of the WASH program;
• Maintain an up to date understanding of the WASH sector and main WASH issues in Lebanon and ensure that programme teams have access to relevant, up to date information, including identifying overlaps and collaboration with other sectors.

Programme Design and Strategy

• Support the Humanitarian Coordinator on humanitarian programme design and proposal development for WASH programming in line with Lebanon, regional and global strategies;
• Lead the development of a transition from humanitarian programming towards longer-term programmes (including a comprehensive water governance approach for Oxfam in Lebanon), which includes elements of safe programming, advocacy and policy efforts (in collaboration with the policy team), with a strong partnership approach;
• Support the Humanitarian Coordinator in identifying new WASH partners for Oxfam in Lebanon;
• Participate in country planning, strategy development and reviews.

 

 

Representation & Influencing

• Represent Oxfam externally (in Beirut/Bekaa) in WASH-related UN/INGO fora, with a view to enhancing coordination, and adopting complementary approaches including active participation in relevant coordination and planning mechanisms and supporting field staff in field-level WASH coordination;
• Lead on or join field visits by donors, Oxfam staff and other visitors;
• Support the policy team in advocacy and campaigning on WASH and water governance issues including analysis, surveys, assessments and support to the development of policy products as required;
• Support the Humanitarian Coordinator and the policy team in integrating programmes and policy, working towards the same aims, and leveraging impact in line with Oxfam’s country strategy for Lebanon.

 

 

Other

• Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights

• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles

 

skills, experience and knowledge

Essential

 

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in relevant discipline (public health engineering, or environmental/water resource management or relevant to water, sanitation and hygiene);
• Experience working in Lebanon or the Middle East;
• At least 3 years of involvement in WASH and/or water governance programming and/or in providing technical advice to WASH programmes;
• Understanding of community mobilisation in relation to water, sanitation and hygiene activities;
• Understanding of gender justice and protection, and how they can be mainstreamed within WASH programming;
• Proven experience in carrying out analysis and providing strategic advice to WASH staff and/or partner teams;
• Strong conceptual and practical understanding of WASH, key sectoral issues and processes;
• Proven practical experience in humanitarian responses in appropriate water supplies (including groundwater development) sanitation (particularly community-led design of excreta disposal) and hygiene promotion;
• Good understanding of the WASH needs of poor rural and urban communities and of appropriate ways of tackling them and sensitive to different gender needs in this context;
• Experience and ability to represent Oxfam in-country in sector meetings and with other NGOs/INGOs, donors, local and national authorities;
• Understanding of the UN response and coordination mechanisms;
• Well developed interpersonal and team skills and proven ability to work well under pressure;
• Familiar with Sphere Standards, NGO/Red Cross Code of Conduct;
• Demonstrable understanding of the protection and gender dynamics of WASH work and ability to advise on WASH activities with a strong emphasis on the protection and gendered aspects of conflict, violence and abuse;
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including ability to fluently articulate key WASH issues in English, verbally and in writing,
• Fluency in English and Arabic;
• Ability to travel to program areas in north Bekaa, and to Beirut for meetings.

 

 

 

Desirable

 

• Master’s degree in relevant discipline (public health engineering, environmental/water resource management or relevant to water, sanitation and hygiene);
• International experience in managing water, sanitation and hygiene programmes in humanitarian contexts;
• Experience in carrying out water, sanitation and hygiene assessments and identification of actions to cover;
• Experience in capacity building of staff and partners, and the professional development of WASH staff;
• Strong conceptual understanding of water governance issues and challenges in Lebanon;
• Experience working with partners;
• Experience of working with different approaches to humanitarian WASH programming using cash, vouchers or market based approaches;
• Creative and innovative approach - ability to lead thinking on technology choices and development approaches
• Experience in assessing and responding to new emergencies;
• Experience in training staff and partners;
• Understanding of livelihoods programming;
• Understanding of advocacy and campaigning work;
• Experience in participatory research;
• Knowledge of conflict sensitivity and how to integrate it into WASH programming.

 

 

Key Attributes

• Commitment and determination to strive for quality programming that meets the real needs of affected populations;
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as lead where necessary;
• Commitment to gender equity, diversity and equal opportunities;
• Diplomacy and tact;
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as commitment to equal opportunities;
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of humanitarian, resilience and development work;
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible;
• Behavioural competencies: Influencing, relationship-building, strategic thinking and judgment, vision setting, self-awareness.

 

Organisational Values

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences

 

 

 

 

At Oxfam, our job descriptions provide a guide to what might be expected in the role. Along with our strategy the job profile is used to help to shape specific objectives for employees. Employees are supported to deliver these objectives and they are annually assessed against them as part of the Oxfam performance review process. This job profile is not incorporated into the employment contract.