WASH field advisor West and Central Africa

About CARE Australia

CARE is an international humanitarian aid organisation fighting global poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. As a non-religious and non-political organisation, CARE works with communities to help overcome poverty by supporting development projects and providing emergency relief. They believe supporting women and girls is one of the most effective ways to create sustainable outcomes in poor communities. They are primarily dependant on support from the Australian public to carry out their work.

CARE Australia is a member of the CARE International confederation. They strive for a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.

For almost 25 years, CARE Australia has earned an international reputation for their ability to respond quickly to emergency situations in countries as diverse as Haiti, Pakistan and East Africa. The organisation is also renowned for their innovative, sustainable and effective long-term development projects. All their projects are designed to equip the people they  support with skills and resources so they can take charge of their lives and work towards a better future.

CARE Australia is directly responsible for program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, as well as management and contractual control of all projects. As a consequence, they have a high degree of accountability and transparency. CARE Australia is committed to protecting the rights of children in all areas they work around the world.

About the Department

Consistent with its 2007-2012 Strategic Plan, CARE International (CI) is building specialised capacity in four core sectors of humanitarian response: Emergency Shelter, Emergency Food Security, Emergency Sexual and Reproductive Health and Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), as well as in Logistics. CARE Australia hosts the WASH Senior Sector Specialist (SSS) who provides the technical and strategic underpinnings for the development of the sector and represents CARE at the inter-agency level.

CARE Australia has been actively delivering against this responsibility since mid-2008 with positive results in terms of improved response and enlarged support for CARE’s 70 County Offices. CARE plays a prominent role within the global WASH cluster. The WASH SSS is a member of the Global WASH Cluster Strategic Advisory Group and CARE supports the Global WASH cluster strategy by leading the Regional Emergency Cluster Advisor and Rapid Assessment Team projects as well as hosting two WASH Cluster Rapid Response Team members.

CARE has recently enhanced its capacity to support WASH programming through the appointment of Regional WASH Advisors in the Horn of Africa and Asia Pacific, and maintains a roster of experts within and outside CARE. Nevertheless, deployable WASH capacity to support Country Offices during the early phases of major crises is insufficient. This position will make a major contribution towards filling this gap.

About the Role

The WASH Field Advisor for West and Central Africa will provide support, assistance and advice to CARE International Country Offices, national members and the CARE International Emergency Group (CEG) in the WASH programming aspects of emergency response with a particular focus on links to WASH, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and analysis of gender issues. S/he will be available to respond at short notice to emergencies and Country Office requirements. Between emergencies s/he will support selected Country Offices (CO) to develop their preparedness capacities.

The position forms part of the Emergency WASH Team, which is hosted by CARE Australia on behalf of CARE International. The team is housed within the Humanitarian and Emergency Response Unit (HERu) which is part of the International Programs Department. The team maintain close coordination and consultation with the CARE International Emergency Group (CEG), other CI members and Country Offices (COs), while overall leadership of the team is provided by the WASH Senior Sector Specialist.

Key Responsibilities

Support for emergency response:

• ensure that COs are supported and prepared to respond where WASH is a significant humanitarian need with good quality WASH programming in a consistent and timely manner,
• deploy as required to COs as a member of a CI assessment and/or emergency response start-up team following CARE protocols,
• undertake WASH assessments and gender analysis to determine CO requirements to establish WASH programs,
• consider and support the transition from relief to development WASH programs,
• support COs to participate in coordination processes such as the Inter Agency Steering Committee (IASC) WASH Cluster and ensure that the CO respects guidelines established by the cluster or other coordination mechanisms,
• support COs and field staff with capacity building, strategic planning, proposal development (incl. budgets),implementation and management of WASH programs, ensuring adherence to policies and procedures, implementation of donor requirements and reporting and ensuring contractual responsibilities.

Support for monitoring, evaluation and learning:

• deploy as required to COs to provide support and to monitor quality of recovery phase activities,
• following each deployment, undertake a “lesson learnt” analysis and liaise with the WASH Sector Specialist/CI head of emergency operations on all issues faced during deployment.

 Support for capacity building and planning:

• support Emergency Preparedness Planning (EPP) workshops and reviews in CO,
• support development and refinement of CI WASH standards/ protocols/ guidelines for assessments, as well as emergency start-up operations,
• assist in staff capacity building, contingency planning and emergency preparedness planning by working with CO staff, reviewing CO preparedness levels and supporting the institutionalisation of contingency planning processes,
• build network of Regional/CO technical WASH support from non-traditional sources (consultants, private companies, contractors etc.),
• ensure CARE USA’s WASH Team activities and strategies are considered in emergency activities and coordinate with the team where necessary.

 Cross-cutting issues:

• promote accountability to both beneficiaries and donors,
• ensure that overall responses conform to good practice standards in mainstreaming gender including conducting assessments in a gender-sensitive manner,
• promote and guide quality in WASH programming and integrate Disaster Risk Reduction into the emergency WASH components of Country Office strategic planning.

Travel:

The position entails significant travel (up to 60% time) often at short notice to emergency locations. There will be a requirement to attend CARE Australia Headquarters in Canberra, Australia from time to time. All travel costs will be reimbursed per CARE Australia Travel Expense Policy. Costs of travel to/from home and CARE Australia will be met by CARE Australia.

Selection Criteria

• Educated to Postgraduate level, or relevant combination of qualifications and experience in the WASH field. Engineering or Public Health qualifications are desirable.
• Ability to design and manage appropriate emergency WASH programmes with at least five years’ overseas experience in the emergency WASH sector including preparedness.
• Experience of line management (of consultants and contractors) including programme and budget management.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building and proven ability to lead, coach and motivate staff.
• Demonstrated flexible approach and ability to balance competing priorities within demanding deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage complex and diverse stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to respond effectively to challenges, work effectively in a cross functional, diverse and busy team environment with minimal supervision.
• Willingness to spend a high proportion of time travelling and working in often difficult conditions.
• Fluent in English and French.