WASH Officer

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organization's core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity, and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships. 

1. Role and responsibilities

The Water and Sanitation Officer is responsible for implementing the delegated WASH project portfolio within Bekaa area and managing the day to day activities of water and sanitation technicians to ensure proper delivery, high quality results and compliance to applicable laws, standards, practices, policies and procedures in coordination with the WASH Project Coordinator.

Generic responsibilities

1. Adhere to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
2. Suggest new methods and approaches to improve the quality of the activities 
3. Provide regular reports to the Project Coordinator on project implementation
4. Prepare and file relevant documents according to procedures
5. Supervise the WatSan technicians, ensure their capacity building and transfer key skills 
6. Investigate and facilitate the introduction of new technologies, methods, and approaches to improve the quality of the WatSan technicians activities and services
7. Liaise and collaborate with relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders
8. Ensure that projects target beneficiaries most in need of protection, explore and asses new and better ways to assist
9. Ensure that NRC’s related activities are implemented within NRC’s Protection mainstreaming guidelines and report any breaches/concerns to the line manager and/or focal point for proper action
10. Ensure that all protection related detected cases are referred to the concerned referral focal point and to the related Protection Coordinator.

Specific responsibilities

1. Design tailored solutions for the different intervention areas, taking into account the national WASH strategy standards, SPHERE standards, and people with specific needs.
2. Ensure that procurement, delivery, and distribution of materials and equipment are timely and according to procedures
3. Develop and improve procedures for the implementation of the WASH programme in accordance with NRC principles (drafting MoUs, SoPs and ToRs).
4. Develop detailed and accurate tender documentation including technical designs, drawings, Bill of Quantities, the scope of work, quality assurance, and other technical documentation necessary for project realization, focusing on cost-effective and evidence-based programming with high-quality outputs
5. Monitor the construction of latrines, hand washing stations, septic tank installations, carrying out plumbing works on water and sanitation facilities as directed by the Water and Sanitation Coordinator
6. Deliver WASH technical training to WASH committees and closely involve communities and community leaders when working in informal settlements, including beneficiary satisfaction monitoring
7. Supervise, train and develop the WatSan team spirit and technical capacity both on the team and individual level
8. Manage the performance of relevant WatSan technicians, set objectives, monitor work plans, and provide constructive feedback on a regular basis

Critical interfaces

Other departments/units within NRC:

• Shelter: Coordinate on activities linked to shelter condition (site improvement, drainage, vector control) in ITSs and in Small shelter units.
• ERU: ERU and WASH will work in the same areas where possible, provision of the WASH technical support as requested.
• Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistance: ensure that the WatSan team can deal with referral cases and follow up communication
• Education: support the education team with WatSan-related activities in education centers in common areas if requested
• Security and Logistics: Coordinate with Logistics and Security department on the access of new areas of intervention and security incidents faced by the WatSan technicians
• Protection: Ensure protection mainstreaming in WASH activities, designs, and facilities.Proactively engage with program participants and protection colleagues to formulate and implement measures to reduce vulnerability to site-level protection and safety risks

Outside NRC:

• Landowners: close collaboration for identifying opportunities for sustainable WASH infrastructure in informal settlements
• Local authorities: close collaboration across the whole project phase for information, approval & follow up purposes
• Interagency coordination: international and national NGOs working in WASH or other sectors, UN bodies, Bekaa Water Establishment as requested

2. Competencies

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Master/Bachelor degree or equivalent in Civil, Mechanical, Environmental and Public Health
• Minimum 2 years of relevant experience working as a Water and Sanitation Project Officer in a humanitarian/recovery context
• Experience in plumbing, water networks, and sewage network connections
• Experience in WASH projects implemented in informal settlements and urban settlements 
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Experience with Mobile Data Collection (KoboCollect)
• Proficiency in English & Arabic, both written and spoken

Context related skills, knowledge, and experience:

• Very good communication, persuasion, and representation skills
• Strong ability to self-manage time, staff, and activities to reach targets
• Knowledge of the context of refugees in informal settlements and urban settlements
• Experience with the start-up of projects
• Strong capacity building knowledge

Behavioral competencies

• Managing resources to optimize results
• Handling insecure environments
• Empowering and building trust
• Managing performance and development
• Analysing
• Initiating action and change