Watsan Officer at Mercy Corps

Location: Adamawa
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Reports Directly to: Program Coordinator under the technical guidance of the Watsan Consultant
Works Directly with: Finance, Program and Operation Teams.

Program/Department Summary

• Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on women’s empowerment, economic development and conflict mitigation. With the insurgency spilling over from the north east of Nigeria and causing displacement of over a million individual, Mercy Corps is addressing the rising humanitarian needs among displaced households and vulnerable host communities through program interventions in the Northeast. With current funding from OFDA, FFP, CERF and ECHO and ongoing opportunities from other donors, all Mercy Corps interventions in the Northeast are implemented with plans for scale-up.
• The current funding opportunity’s goal in Gombe is to support economic opportunities, food security and protection among conflict-affected populations, and to strengthen the capacity of humanitarian agencies and the quality of information gathering in Nigeria. The current funding opportunity’s goal in Adamawa is to provide a package of relief interventions designed to help conflict affected communities in central Adamawa meet their basic needs in livelihoods restoration, water and sanitation and protection. Expansion into other affected states is also planned for the humanitarian response team.

General Position Summary

• The Watsan Officer is responsible for both the soft and hardware components of the water and sanitation infrastructure activities of the ECHO program in targeted implementation area.
• The Watsan officer will assist in supervision of the all works related to implementing infrastructure improvement; and provide input on monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Essential Job Functions

• Under the guidance of Watsan consultant, provide input into design and conduct water and sanitation infrastructure improvement in targeted areas.
• Supervise the planning and performance of monitoring of water and sanitation projects.
• Ensure and promote appropriate health messages related to water, sanitation and hygiene behaviors in targeted communities
• Promote community involvement and ownership in all water and sanitation activities and infrastructure projects and assist with hand-over activities
• Perform final inspection of completed water and sanitation infrastructure projects, and ensure that technical, safety and environmental standards have been met.
• Conduct regular monitoring to the water and sanitation infrastructure project conducted by contractor.
• Conduct regular quality control visit to monitor the quality of water and sanitation infrastructure project.
• Provide regular capacity building to Community Water Groups on water and sanitation issues
• Prepare project designs, estimates and drawings as required, including a list of materials & labor, technical specifications needed, contract documents and project implementation plans.
• Based on the complexity of design or magnitude of the project, decide if the project should be managed by a qualified contractor or through a community managed process.
• Provide training to the program teams for the preparation of construction supervision check list or each engineering design.
• Review and finalize each construction supervision check list prepared by the program teams.
• Assist the procurement manager by providing all technical specifications needed for preparing tenders, in addition to assisting the procurement team by reviewing the technical profiles from contractors.
• Provide advice on the official handing over of projects to communities/beneficiaries.
• Adherence to all MC policies and procedures as outlined in MC policies and procedure manuals;
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission in country of operation;
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/BS or Higher in Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering or other relevant background and/or relevant experience in water and sanitation that related to slum upgrading program
• 3-4+ years in community based water and sanitation project preferably in urban context
• Fluency in both verbal and written English highly preferred.
• Multi-tasking, coordination, organization, prioritization skills essential.
• Highly-developed computers skills, with strong familiarity with MS Office, Power point, Outlook, Excel, Word, and infrastructure design software
• Ability to work independently and cooperatively with team members required.
• Ability to work under pressure
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors

• The successful candidate will combine strong technical skills, experience in watsan programs, and a can-do attitude.
• Ideally s/he will have previous experience in working in large-scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict-affected contexts, including remote management and capacity development.

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Location: Adamawa
Supervisory Responsibility: None
Reports Directly to: Program Coordinator under the technical guidance of the Watsan Consultant
Works Directly with: Finance, Program and Operation Teams.

Program/Department Summary

• Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on women’s empowerment, economic development and conflict mitigation. With the insurgency spilling over from the north east of Nigeria and causing displacement of over a million individual, Mercy Corps is addressing the rising humanitarian needs among displaced households and vulnerable host communities through program interventions in the Northeast. With current funding from OFDA, FFP, CERF and ECHO and ongoing opportunities from other donors, all Mercy Corps interventions in the Northeast are implemented with plans for scale-up.
• The current funding opportunity’s goal in Gombe is to support economic opportunities, food security and protection among conflict-affected populations, and to strengthen the capacity of humanitarian agencies and the quality of information gathering in Nigeria. The current funding opportunity’s goal in Adamawa is to provide a package of relief interventions designed to help conflict affected communities in central Adamawa meet their basic needs in livelihoods restoration, water and sanitation and protection. Expansion into other affected states is also planned for the humanitarian response team.

General Position Summary

• The Watsan Officer is responsible for both the soft and hardware components of the water and sanitation infrastructure activities of the ECHO program in targeted implementation area.
• The Watsan officer will assist in supervision of the all works related to implementing infrastructure improvement; and provide input on monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Essential Job Functions

• Under the guidance of Watsan consultant, provide input into design and conduct water and sanitation infrastructure improvement in targeted areas.
• Supervise the planning and performance of monitoring of water and sanitation projects.
• Ensure and promote appropriate health messages related to water, sanitation and hygiene behaviors in targeted communities
• Promote community involvement and ownership in all water and sanitation activities and infrastructure projects and assist with hand-over activities
• Perform final inspection of completed water and sanitation infrastructure projects, and ensure that technical, safety and environmental standards have been met.
• Conduct regular monitoring to the water and sanitation infrastructure project conducted by contractor.
• Conduct regular quality control visit to monitor the quality of water and sanitation infrastructure project.
• Provide regular capacity building to Community Water Groups on water and sanitation issues
• Prepare project designs, estimates and drawings as required, including a list of materials & labor, technical specifications needed, contract documents and project implementation plans.
• Based on the complexity of design or magnitude of the project, decide if the project should be managed by a qualified contractor or through a community managed process.
• Provide training to the program teams for the preparation of construction supervision check list or each engineering design.
• Review and finalize each construction supervision check list prepared by the program teams.
• Assist the procurement manager by providing all technical specifications needed for preparing tenders, in addition to assisting the procurement team by reviewing the technical profiles from contractors.
• Provide advice on the official handing over of projects to communities/beneficiaries.
• Adherence to all MC policies and procedures as outlined in MC policies and procedure manuals;
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission in country of operation;
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA/BS or Higher in Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering or other relevant background and/or relevant experience in water and sanitation that related to slum upgrading program
• 3-4+ years in community based water and sanitation project preferably in urban context
• Fluency in both verbal and written English highly preferred.
• Multi-tasking, coordination, organization, prioritization skills essential.
• Highly-developed computers skills, with strong familiarity with MS Office, Power point, Outlook, Excel, Word, and infrastructure design software
• Ability to work independently and cooperatively with team members required.
• Ability to work under pressure
• Demonstrated strengths in analytical skills, monitoring and evaluation, and report writing
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills
• Excellent oral and written skills and computer skills
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is required.

Success Factors

• The successful candidate will combine strong technical skills, experience in watsan programs, and a can-do attitude.
• Ideally s/he will have previous experience in working in large-scale emergency programs in insecure and conflict-affected contexts, including remote management and capacity development.