Program Manager - Operational Research at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Job Ref Code: POR71519
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Band: 8
Department: Programs/Emergency
Reports To: Emergency Program Manager II

Context

• CRS seeks a full-time employee to support an innovative project seeking to identify and pilot market-based interventions to improve access to water among vulnerable populations of North East Nigeria. Now in its tenth year, the crisis in North East Nigeria shows no sign of abating.
• The economic system of the region has been severely disrupted, with serious impact on agricultural and income generating activities resulting in reduced purchasing power at the household level and in the ability of families to meet their basic needs. Despite continued scale up in humanitarian assistance, significant gaps remain, as thousands of people affected by the conflict have not been reached. In 2019, 3.6 million individuals are expected to need support on Water, Hygiene and Sanitation.
• While most humanitarian actors in Nigeria were, and are still today, involved in rehabilitation of nonfunctional boreholes as well as drilling and development of new boreholes, to date no humanitarian actors have engaged in mapping the private water sector in North East Nigeria in a systematic way nor have actors identified how this market can be potentially used to improve WASH outcomes.
• Therefore, CRS will be implementing a 10 month Operational Research funded by OFDA , that seeks to:
  • Map the private water market in selected areas of North East Nigeria,
  • Identify and pilot priority recommendations to use the private water market to meet water needs of affected populations,
  • Compare effectiveness of these interventions with more traditional humanitarian water supply response activities, and
  • Disseminate learning to other humanitarian WASH actors.
    

Job Summary
You will support on the ground the effective implementation of this market-based WASH operational research. The main objectives of the position will be to:

• Support the market mapping and analysis of the private water market in selected areas of North East Nigeria and together with the Maiduguri WASH team, the Humanitarian Response Department technical advisors and NE Nigeria Sr Managers identify appropriate and relevant pilot interventions
• Coordinate the implementation of selected pilot interventions that use the private water market system to improve water access among the affected population
• Ensure relevant data is gathered during implementation to enable comparison of traditional water supply interventions and market-based approaches
• Support the dissemination of findings of the pilot within Nigeria

Specific Job Responsibilities
You will be responsible for the following key activities:

Market mapping and analysis of the private water market:

• Liaise with other WASH actors in north east Nigeria to facilitate collaboration on the project’s activities, including coordinating an inter-agency assessment of the private water market system
• Support CRS’ humanitarian WASH Technical Advisor and Cash and Markets Technical Advisor to design an appropriate methodology for the market assessment and related tools for data collection

Pilot market-based water interventions:

• Support the development of detailed implementation plan for pilot activities, and associated budget, in close collaboration with CRS’ North East Nigeria Emergency Coordinator and WASH team

Comparison of market-based water interventions and traditional response:

• Facilitate the gathering of relevant information from CRS and other agency programmes to enable comparison of different water interventions
• Work with CRS humanitarian advisors to develop an appropriate comparative framework considering various aspects of cost effectiveness and efficiency

Dissemination of results:

• Support dissemination of the results of the market mapping, and outcomes of the operational research to other humanitarian and WASH stakeholders in Nigeria
• Other activities as requested

Qualifications and Skills
Required:

• A Master's degree is required. Master's in Anthropology, Social Work, Public Health, Water and Sanitation Engineering, Hydrogeology or Environmental Engineering or a related field is strongly preferred.
• At least 5 years previous experience managing humanitarian response activities in complex protracted crises
• Previous experience designing humanitarian response activities (preferably related to WASH and/or market-based interventions)
• Good understanding of humanitarian standards, including SPHERE, MERS and CHS
• Previous experience conducting market assessment and analysis in emergency contexts (preferably related to the WASH sector)
• Previous experience coordinating with other actors and building collaborative relationships
• Excellent communication skills, including report writing and presentation
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Desired:

• Previous experience designing market assessment tools and methodology to inform humanitarian response activities
• Previous experience managing humanitarian WASH programs
• Previous experience of research projects

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: MEAL Officers, Accountability Assistant, MEAL Coordinator, MEAL Assistant, Program Officers, ICT4E team, Program Managers, Emergency Coordinator, Operations Staff
• External: Local partners, Red Rose team, enumerators, external consultants and other key stakeholders
• Supervision: The MEAL Manager supervises the 2 FFP MEAL Officer based in Maiduguri and Damaturu.

Travel:

• Travel up to 20% of the time as needed.