National Advocacy Support Lead at WaterAid
Job description
National Advocacy Support Lead
Contract: Full-time, 3-years fixed term contract
Location: The role can be based in the UK or one of the following WaterAid Country Programme – Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia- subject to right to work eligibility in the respective countries.
Salary & Benefits
Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the
location of the successful candidate and depending on experience.
See below some example salary ranges:
Recommended:
Ghana: Grade G: 229,023 – 316,778 GHS per annum with excellent benefits
Zambia: Grade G: 636,371 – 890,919 ZMW per annum with excellent benefits
Rwanda: Grade G: 32,412,352 – 53,871,621 RWF per annum with excellent benefits
About WaterAid:
Want to use your skills in advocacy to play a vital role in making clean
water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere?
We need passionate, creative and dedicated people. In return, you will be encouraged and empowered to be yourself at your very best. Together, we will make a bigger difference.
Join WaterAid as National Advocacy Support Lead to change normal for millions of people so they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good. On top of that you’ll be joining a 2020 Great Place to Work® award-winning organisation.
About the Team:
The WaterAid Campaigns Team plays a leadership role across the WaterAid
Federation on delivering impact against an ambitious advocacy agenda set
by our global strategy, grounded in national level change, and
community realities. It works closely with colleagues across WaterAid
countries, regions and members.
About the Role:
The National Advocacy Support Lead is a pivotal role, reporting to the
Global Campaigns Director, that will provide advocacy thought leadership
and expertise to WaterAid teams across the organisation to scale up the
impact of our influencing and achieve our ambition. It will work
closely with country teams and experts within and outside WaterAid to
provide bespoke influencing advice and support to successful advocacy
within country programmes. It will also provide advocacy thought
leadership and expertise to WaterAid teams across the federation.
You will also:
Provide sustained expert advocacy advice and support to an identified
set of countries to embed and strengthen influencing as part of
reorienting programmes in line with country 5-year strategies.
Design and deliver influencing trainings and workshops for country programme teams.
Support national influencing strategy planning and review processes.
Provide quality-control thought leadership to WaterAid’s advocacy work,
identifying trends in areas of improvements or weaknesses, and
developing and implementing initiatives to address this.
Lead programmes of advocacy skill-building and peer learning for the organisation
About You:
Extensive experience of delivering impactful advocacy, particularly in African countries
Political savviness and experience on applying this to advocacy work in order to achieve scale of impact
Experience in leading advocacy learning programmes
Willingness to travel extensively – with a significant amount of time spent visiting different WaterAid programme countries
Ability to navigate complex organisational dynamics, bringing diplomacy
and negotiation skills, in order to achieve progress on projects and
priorities
Closing date: Applications will close at 23:59 on 12th November 2023.
Availability for interview is required from week commencing 20th
November 2023. Interviews will be via video-link.
How to Apply: To see the full job pack, please click ‘Apply’.
Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter into one document in either Word Document or PDF format.
Please indicate your location and the right to work eligibility in your Cover letter.
Pre-employment screening: In order to apply for this post, you must be
able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country.
All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to the
applicable laws in the respective country.
Our Commitment
Read Also:
An inclusive workplace:
We are committed to being an organisation where everyone is included, respected, and empowered to be their best. We represent and celebrate our staff, partners and everyone we work with, and create a culture where everyone can reach their full potential.
Equal opportunities:
We are an equal opportunity, disability-confident employer and are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions and ways of life. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, national or social origin, health status, and economic or social situation.
Safeguarding:
We are also committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.
Regional Climate Resilient WASH Advisor at WaterAid
The purpose of this role is to lead the delivery of the Climate Change Aim. The incumbent will provide technical support and oversight and lead in achieving its influencing outcomes. The position-holder will lead and/or facilitate the development of quality, impactful, inclusive and innovative strategy and programmes on WASH and Climate Change and provide technical guidance and advice in their delivery. The incumbent will achieve this through a programmatic approach combining field-based programmes with learning, research and advocacy initiatives and work in collaborative partnerships with various stakeholders in the public and private spheres, including civil society organizations, National and Local Governments in East Africa and the private sector.
The East African Regional Climate Resilient WASH Advisor will play a crucial role in advancing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives in the East African region, with a focus on building climate resilience. The Advisor will work collaboratively with regional partners, governments, and local communities to develop and implement strategies that ensure access to safe and sustainable WASH services while mitigating the impacts of climate change. This position requires a deep understanding of WASH systems, climate adaptation, and regional context. The Climate Resilient WASH Advisor will contribute to defining clear narratives for climate resilience WASH policies. The person will be a recognised WaterAid East Africa spokesperson and expert advisor on climate change and climate-resilient WASH. In addition, Incumbent will play a major part in realising WaterAid’s ambition to strengthen the resilience of WASH to climate change and achieve regional change through its research, policy work, global advocacy priorities and campaigns.
The role will be instrumental in achieving WaterAid’s aims and mission and provide key support to Senior Programme and Technical Staff in Country Programmes in the East Africa Region while partnering with other colleagues outside the region, including Programme Support Unit (PSU) and Global Policy and Campaigns (GPAC).
Ensure technical support is provided to CPs on Climate-resilient WASH services and serve as the technical Advisor on climate within the Regional Team.
Responsibilities:
Read Also:
WASH and Climate Programme development
- Provide contextualised support in climate proofing of the ongoing WaterAid East Africa (WAEA) programmes.
- Analyse the evolving political economy of climate-resilient WASH to guide WAEA for adaptive programming and planning.
- Support WAEA in developing the capacity of the relevant staff and partners on Climate change, water security and its links with WASH.
- Develop, implement, and oversee a comprehensive climate-resilient WASH five-year strategy for the East African region, considering local climate challenges, vulnerabilities, and available resources.
- Lead and manage regional WASH projects, ensuring that they are delivered on time, within budget, and in accordance with project objectives and quality standards.
- Design the WASH and Climate Change inputs for the situation analysis. Provide timely, comprehensive and current data to inform WASH and Climate Change policy and programme development, planning, management and implementation.
- Participate in strategic WASH and Climate Change programme planning and implementation discussions. Support/lead WASH – Climate donor proposals (for climate financing), ensuring alignment with WaterAid Global strategy (specifically WaterAid’s Strategic Aim 3 – Climate resilient WASH services) and CPs’ strategies and all Aim three programmes.
- Ensure the Climate programmes (under WaterAid’s Strategic Aim 3) are aligned with government plans and priorities on climate change, such as Climate change policies, NAPs and NDCs
- Assist in formulating WASH and Climate Change outcome and output results, related indicators, baselines, targets and means of verification. Prepare required documentation for programme reviews.
- Work with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies for achieving WASH and Climate Change output results in the country programmes (CPs).
- Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and ensure integration, coherence and harmonisation of WASH with other WaterAid commitment, to the achievement of the WASH and Climate Change output results.
- Coordinate WASH and Climate works and initiatives in the East Africa region.
Technical and operational support for programme implementation
- Provide technical and operational support to CPs, NGO partners and other relevant actors to implement WASH and Climate programmes
- Identify technical gaps and use WaterAid ”Build-Borrow-Buy” approach to increase capacities of CPs on WASH and Climate
- Participate on behalf of the Regional Team in WASH and Climate Change programme meetings to review progress, share WaterAid’s good practices and models, and provide expert advice and guidance.
- Develop policy papers, briefs and other strategic materials for use by CPs and the Regional Team for advocacy and policy influencing purposes.
- Prepare protocols and procedures to be able to respond effectively and timely to any case of climate disaster/emergency.
Innovation, Programme Learning for sustainability and Influencing
Ensure the capture and documentation of Climate Change and WASH models and practices for influencing WASH and Climate Change policy and practice.
- Support the development and delivery of robust advocacy strategies necessary for integrating WASH in Climate Change process, plans and strategies at different levels (using analysis of published documents, research, public debates and WaterAid’s own country programme experience).
- Advocate for policies and practices that promote climate-resilient WASH at the regional, national, and local levels and provide technical input to relevant policies and guidelines.
- Commission research and analysis on the region’s climate trends, water availability, and sanitation issues to inform evidence-based decision-making.
- With support from the MEAL teams, document the qualitative and quantitative outcomes and impacts of WaterAid and partners’ work on Climate Change and WASH, to ensure successful implementation and adaptation in line with our theory of change.
- Develop policy papers and technical guides to support resilient WASH programming and policy influencing in the CPs.
- Support documentation of best practices and innovations in CPs to contribute to cross-learning in the region.
- Identify critical areas where capacity gaps exist in WaterAid country offices and among partners and provide support to address these gaps in coordination with the Regional Team and PSU/GPAC.
- Provide training and capacity-building support to regional WASH professionals, government officials, partners and community leaders on climate-resilient WASH practices and technologies.
- Identify and promote good practices in the region that enable us to achieve high levels of technical excellence.
- Undertake systematic documentation of our experiences for sharing
- Write papers with other relevant staff in Country Programmes, region, and PSU/GPAC to disseminate our experience more widely, especially at key regional and global events
- Lead the development, implementation, monitoring and documentation of WASH and Climate Change action research and innovation (technical or systems).
- Prepare learning/knowledge products covering innovative approaches and good practices to support overall WASH and Climate Change sector development.
- Create and deliver learning opportunities for WaterAid East Africa staff to ensure our sector capacity remains up-to-date wit latest developments.
- Contribute to the systematic assessment of WASH and Climate Change sector capacity gap analysis in collaboration with government and other stakeholders and support the design of initiatives to strengthen capacities systematically.
- Participate as a resource person in capacity-building initiatives to enhance the competencies of partners and other relevant stakeholders.
Read Also:
Sector engagement and networking
- As delegated by the Region, represent WaterAid in relevant national CSO, donor, and government forums related to Climate Change and WASH to influence the thinking of other stakeholders, persuasively advocate for WaterAid’s WASH and Climate Change agenda and build WaterAid’s reputation as a sector leader.
- Represent WaterAid in regional and global processes and debates on climate change especially on Climate Change and WASH.
- Encourage and actively promote cross sectoral linkages and learning, especially with health, education, disaster mitigation and risk reduction.
- Build regional stakeholders, international organisations, NGOs, and government agencies to leverage resources and expertise for climate-resilient WASH initiatives.
- Establishing and maintaining a strong network of key players – within the WASH sector and in broader water resource communities – to increase influence and position WaterAid as a leading organisation in addressing the threats to sustainable WASH services.
- Identify key opportunities for the region to be represented to promote and enhance our understanding and experience of technical issues on WASH and Climate.
- Lead in developing joint proposals for fundraising and technical research and participate in advocacy actions promoting our work, knowledge, and experience.
- Influence other stakeholders through focused advocacy in promoting practices that, based on our experience and that of our partners, are effective in ensuring sustainable access to and use of water and sanitation services.
- Be the key spokesperson in the region on technical matters related to WASH and climate delivery practices.
- Be a member of the Regional Leadership Team and contribute to the region’s effectiveness in promoting WaterAid’s mission.
- Work closely with the Programme Support Unit as well as with the Country Programmes
- Participate in regional fora to ensure WaterAid’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in national and regional policies and mechanisms on WASH and climate agenda.
Essential skills
- At least a master’s Degree in Climate Change, Environmental Studies, water resource management or Climate Financing from a recognised university; Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree are a strong asset.
- Minimum 10 years of demonstrated practical experience in climate-related programming, working at a senior management level in the International development sector.
- Proven experience in WASH and/or water resources management (governance/ management).
- Proven experience in policy and advocacy and leading campaigns’ design and delivery.
- Proven experience in building the networks and coalitions required to drive an effective change agenda – especially with major international agencies, governments and NGOs.
- Should have competency in WaterAid common approaches to work, including partnerships, convening, inclusion, systems strengthening, creating behavioural change, and mainstreaming gender and inclusion of youth.
- Proven experience in developing diverse donors’ successful funding proposals
- Thorough understanding and linkages with stakeholders/institutions involved in Climate Change research, development and implementation of programmes (preferably with a potential interface with WASH/water resources).
- Excellent knowledge of potential funding agencies/ institutions related to Climate Change and understanding of processes and priorities of these entities.
- Understanding of issues of gender and inclusion in the East Africa context and proven experience of using inclusion/transformation frameworks or approaches.
- Technical WASH experience: water security, climate change, well-updated on innovative technologies, systems, and approaches
- Experience in developing, designing, and implementing WASH and climate programmes
- Strong experience in at least one of WaterAid’s key thematic areas – Water security, Water resource management, Urban, Sanitation, WASH & Health, sector strengthening (sustainable services).
- Ability to develop organisational strategies and translate them into plans and budgets
- Ability to plan own work, setting priorities and completing them when faced with competing demands
- Experience in operational planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation
- Ability to prepare and write high-quality reports
- Fluency in English and good communication skills, including proposal preparation and presentation.
Read Also:
Desirable skills
- Proven ability to innovate and develop a successful change agenda on climate change for external influencing purposes.
- Demonstrated ability to build collaborative partnerships and alliances for influencing government policy and programme delivery on Climate Change issues.
- Willingness and ability to travel throughout East Africa, with some overseas travel.
- Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills.
- Team player and ability to work across geographies.
- A team player, able to work responsibly, under pressure, and collaboratively across diverse groups and cultures.
- Innovative
- Delivery focused, holding self and others to account
- Committed to continuous personal development
- Ability to work in different environments and with diverse stakeholders
- Commitment to WaterAid’s values and a working style that reflects these.
How to Apply
If you are interested in the position and have the right skills and attributes, send your application, consisting of a letter of interest and a CV to EArecruitments@wateraid.org using ‘Application for WAER RCRWA’ as the subject of the email.
Please note: to apply for this role you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in WaterAid East Africa countries (Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda).
Application Deadline: 13th November 2023.
