Utility Technical Specialist (Baseline Survey Consultant) at RTI International

Description
RTI International in collaboration with Plan International and other partners is implementing a 4-year USAID funded Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) project. E-WASH will provide technical assistance to state governments to improve urban water service delivery by strengthening the governance, financial, and technical viability of six (6) State Water Boards (SWBs) in Nigeria.

This is part of the United States Government’s (USG) efforts working with the Federal Government to address the heart of the challenges faced by the urban water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. The overall goal is improvement of urban water and sanitation service delivery.

The Effective Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (E-WASH) project, is seeking to identify 9 dynamic and technically strong Consultants to support the undertaking of baseline studies to identify the gaps for water service delivery in the urban areas of Abia, Delta and Taraba States. The Consultants must be willing to spend up to 3 weeks (15 working days) during the first part of November i.e. from Monday November 5, 2018. Women candidates that meet the criteria below are strongly encouraged to apply.

Objectives of the Baseline Survey
The overall objective of the baseline study is to establish a benchmark against which the E-WASH will design interventions to bring the urban water service providers to the level of being professionally managed and commercially viable. The baselines will for a start be conducted in 3 states of Abia, Delta and Taraba States.

Further baselines will be conducted in 3 additional states early in 2019. There will be three baseline study teams with each team comprising of about 5 professionals. E-WASH is now looking for Consultants with experience in the field of Utility Techniques.

The main objective of this position is to undertake baseline studies related to the technical operations of the SWB, identify gaps and develop action plans for filling the gaps in line with the objectives of the E-WASH program. In this respect the consultant will be part of a team that will finally develop a baseline report and program of action based on the administering of an organizational capacity assessment tool (OCAT) and also working on technical KPIs.

The baseline information to be collected will include but not limited to the current state of the technical operations of the SWB -production, treatment, distribution and Non-Revenue Water. Also develop a baseline on urban sanitation in the main city of the state - fecal sludge management.

Qualifications and Experience

• At least a Master's Degree in Engineering, Utility Management, Water Supply and Sanitation, Executive Management of Water and Sanitation Programs
• At least 12 years of experience in utility operations management
• Experience in designing performance improvement plans for utilities water or electricity.
• Proven experience in developing non-revenue water control strategies, customer management etc
• Knowledge and understanding of utility asset management practices, water utility operations from source to tap including basic understanding of treatment methods
• Understanding different solutions for fecal sludge management, development of urban sanitation city plans.