Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager (Re – Advertised) at Water For People-: (Deadline 18 February 2024)

JOB advert: Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager (Re-advertised)

Job Title: Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager

Location: Rwanda

Reporting to: Country Director

Supervisory Duties: WASH Business Development Officer

Annual Gross Salary range: Rwf 19,295,994 to Rwf 30,707,028

Type of Contract: Full-time  

Background

Water For People is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with people and partners to develop innovative and long-lasting solutions to the water, sanitation, and hygiene problems in developing countries.  The organization strives to continually improve, experiment with promising new ideas, and leverage resources to multiply its impact.

Water For People is currently operating in 9 countries including Rwanda where the organization is supporting WASH in the districts of Rulindo, Kicukiro, Gicumbi, Karongi and Gisagara. Ten more districts are supported under the USAID-funded Isoko y’Ubuzima Project.

Job Summary

Water For People in Rwanda is looking to employ a Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager, who is driven to succeed and detail-oriented.

Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will provide leadership for national advocacy, influence and learning programs, in building local, national, and regional capacity to establish and sustain universal WASH services. Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will have a thorough understanding of the strength of the national sector system from the perspective of a building blocks analysis/assessment. Using this analysis, Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will develop a strategy proposing how Water For People can most effectively support, and address identified weaknesses in that assessment, in consultation with the national government and other sector players.

Water For People is committed to strengthening the finance building block, through the implementation Sector Financing Strategy, which has already identified significant gaps in resources needed. This will form a central part of her/his role. Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will work with government and other sector partners to understand the financing needs of the sector to achieve, SDG and Vision 2050 targets, for WASH and then to identify potential opportunities and develop strategies to increase funding for the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector.

Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will support the development of strategic financing approach which will both increase resource mobilization as well as defining a strategy for leveraging and blending the three sources for WASH sector financing: Taxes (government expenditure), Tariffs (public investment) and Transfers. Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will also support the sector to come up with innovative financing mechanisms.

The successful candidate will support the mobilization of required investments to implement the recommendations of sustainable WASH Financing Strategy, sector performance analysis recommendations, elaborated WASH investment plans and national integrated water and sanitation master plans that set out how the WASH sector will finance its overall programmatic and operations to meet the sector’s objectives in the short, medium-term, and long-term. Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will work closely with Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Finance, WASAC and development partners to gather required data to show case WASH sector financing status and needs to achieve SDGs and strategy to mobilize required investment.

Senior WASH Advocacy and Financing Manager will be the primary point of contact in the Rwanda program for both the global headquarters office located in Denver and regional office, in relation to the issues of Influence, advocacy and strategic alliances and will work closely with the Senior Global Advisor for National Impact and the regional WASH Financing Advisor. 

KEY PROFESSIONAL QUALITIES:

• Highly accountable with the ability to deliver results in a fast-paced, collaborative team culture.
• Must have well-developed written, oral, interpersonal, and negotiation communication skills with a high degree of sensitivity for confidentiality.
• Must be task-oriented with an excellent sense of priority, logic, and objectivity, highly organized and capable of handling several sensitive and important issues simultaneously while responding to unanticipated developments.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS & DUTIES:

Strategy

• Support Country Program and WASH partners to develop a clear strategy to mobilize required investments to achieve SDG 6 by 2030.
• To develop WASH financing mobilization strategies and approaches and required strategic alliances for sector financing support, both at the national but also at regional level.
• Actively participate in national and regional sector activities (reviews, working groups, and planning sessions), and provide leadership support as necessary to ensure the momentum of these activities.

Programmatic Activities

Sector Influence

• Actively participate in national sector activities (reviews, working groups, and planning sessions), and any Agenda For Change collaboration, providing leadership support as necessary to ensure momentum in these activities.
• Develop and lead management and coordination responsibilities on issues of advocacy for the Scale and Destination 2030 as well as for the Strategic Alliances and Fundraising
• Support the national annual WASH sector performance analysis and national dialogue on WASH policies and financing.
• Build a clear evidence-based by supporting the annual sector performance review based on WASH sector building blocks.
• Coordinate national influence agenda with national, regional and global programmatic experts in areas of development of market systems, finance and planning, national impact, water resource management, climate change, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Participate in roundtables or national platforms organized at national level in collaboration with other development partners.
• Ensure that technical support is provided to program teams on activities with national impact and program design while seeking and implementing funding opportunities in the country, as requested.

Sector Finance

• Support to develop the WASH sector strategic financing plan to serve as a roadmap to leverage more resources for the sector priorities, including Taxes, Transfers and Tariffs.
• Support WASH sector to identify other innovative financing options, including public private partnerships (PPP), blended financing, guarantees and climate financing to increase the fiscal space and other financing mechanisms for WASH services and capital investments.
• Review and analysis of WASH funding opportunities for financing water and sanitation.
• Undertake consultations with WASH partners and other multi-lateral organizations to evaluate financing mechanisms to elevate the WASH investments.
• Conduct a thorough analysis of challenges faced by WASH sector to attract attention of private investor and development partners with reference to the current strategic documents and report related to water and sanitation sector in Rwanda.
• Develop actions and advice that promote Climate finance (carbon credits) articulated with WASH, SDG6 and WRM

Partnership Management

• Create and strengthen relationships with WASH partner organizations, NGOs, government agencies, donors, bilateral and multilateral agencies, as part of the sector strengthening strategy.
• Map and build relationships with international NGOs; United Nations agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UNHCR, etc.), regional WASH organizations; multilateral development banks (AfDB, World Bank); bilateral development agencies (USAID, SWISS Cooperation Agency, Embassies, etc.); centers of research and academic institutions, and
• Identify synergy opportunities with other Country teams in Africa.
• Actively collaborate with Water For people strategic partners and other key WASH sector players to promote a culture of joint proposal development and co-financing for Sustainable Water and sanitation services.

Learning and Reporting

• Promote internal and external learning environment among WASH sector partners;
• Coordinate and develop the capacity of Water For People staff and partners to document their experience for learning and advocacy purposes;
• Participate and represent Water For People in conferences, workshops and meetings and present Water For People approaches and models through written articles and storytelling (videos).
• Document successes, failures, and lessons learned, and share knowledge both internally and externally.
• Develop a capacity-building plan for partners on the analysis made to their performance and support its implementation for a continuous improvement of their strategies.
• Undertake any other duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the supervisor.

Behaviors and Competencies:

• Connects to Mission – Understands and embraces the mission of Water For People; works to connect day-to-day tasks to mission; can explain Water For People’s purpose
• Manages through Ambiguity – Can recognize problems or opportunities when they arise and act to resolve them; readily formulates multiple solutions through a problem or issue analysis; is comfortable making and defending recommendations.
• Demonstrates Cultural Awareness – Demonstrates a global mindset; values cultural differences and takes into consideration in any given situation; moves easily between people from different backgrounds and cultures; can work outside the comfort zone and is ready to deliver at high expectations with minimum supervision.
• Action-oriented – Recognizes additional actions that will improve quality or facilitate achievement of outcomes; does not hesitate to do more than expected but may overextend; sees opportunities beyond the job description and recognizes those that can be seized immediately and those that require higher level input; thinks outside the box, anticipates how actions affect the team.
• Sense of Team – Builds effective working relationships at all levels of the organization; aligns own behavior with the needs or priorities of the team; promotes teamwork among groups; discourages “us versus them” thinking; knows and considers the capabilities of coworkers.

QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, & SKILLS REQUIRED: 

• Advanced degree/Post graduation (master’s level minimum) qualification in one of the following areas: economics, environmental economics, environmental finance, environmental finance and policies, Environmental economics and management, Environmental economics and Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability, and economic and international development
• Additional qualifications related to water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental economic and carbon credits will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in environment and WASH Finance activities for an international organization in a low- or middle-income country in Africa.
• Expertise in climate finance is a MUST, Candidate must have international experience with a good understanding of how country governments can access climate finance.
• Experience in the same field and experience working with national governments, Private sector, blended finance, Equity Funds, Private Financing, Loan Financing, Climate Financing etc.
• Demonstrated Technical skills in research, analysis, processing, collection, and software programs are required.
• Well-rounded understanding of WASH program design and understanding of best practices for WASH Finance.
• Experience in staff development and training on WASH costing, business planning
• Exceptional communications and presentation skills, both written and oral.
• Working Knowledge of English is required, and knowledge of Kinyarwanda and any other regional language is added advantage.
• Cultural sensitivity and ability to get on with a wide range of people.
• Proactive and self-motivated individual capable of engaging persuasively with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to organize and facilitate meetings and workshops. Experience of giving presentations and delivering lectures to large audiences.
• Ability to work in a focused manner, on many different subjects at the same time.
• Long term budget projections, budget management and analysis.
• Excellent writing and verbal skills.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and management skills.
• Strong organization skills with the ability to implement systems and follow-up processes.
• Excellent report writing, documentation, and presentation skills.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, networking, and negotiation skills.
• Good analytical skills and the ability to extrapolate lessons to other situations.
• Experience with running or investing in a business, would be an added advantage. 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORKING CONDITIONS:

• This position is based at Water For People in Rwanda office
• Trips within and outside Rwanda will be required from time to time.
• Flexibility to work outside regular business hours to meet with team members/partners located in other time zones.

Note: This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with the job.

Salary Range:

Rwanda’s expected annual gross salary range is Rwf 19,295,994 to Rwf 30,707,028

The actual salary will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors.

Benefits:

Benefits are one of the ways we encourage healthy living for you and your family. Our generous package includes medical and life insurance, annual leave allocation equal to one month of salary, and other benefits in accordance with the Rwanda labor law.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Water For People is committed to protecting children encountered during our work and by our employees, preventing sexual abuse and exploitation of all individuals with a particular focus on women and children and other marginalized communities in the performance of our work, preventing human trafficking in the performance of our work and in our supply chain and to having a drug-free workplace.  During the recruitment processes, additional documentation will be requested to comply with our policies and by the legal requirements in your country of residency, this includes a background check. If you apply for employment, we want you to be aware of our recruitment, selection, and hiring processes including important policies regarding employee conduct.

Water For People is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to creating a culture of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. Water For People strives to create and maintain a level of diversity that reflects the communities we serve. Achieving this—regardless of race, ethnicity, ancestry, tribal affiliation, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, veteran status, disability, socioeconomic class, educational attainment, Parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, or other social identities is critical to our ability to have a world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services.

 Our commitment ensures that we:  

• Have a different array of thinking that comes from diverse backgrounds and cultures, enabling us to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.
• Strive for a culture of inclusion and belonging by treating each other with dignity, respect, and appreciation enabling us to feel welcome, supported, and valued.
• Effectively connect, communicate, and build long-lasting relationships with stakeholders within our diverse communities.
• Have a diversity of thoughts, perspectives, backgrounds, identities, and talents that will support our mission to develop sustainable high-quality drinking water and sanitation services that are available to Everyone, Forever.

HOW TO APPLY: 

If you are both qualified and Water For People interests you, please visit our Career Center and apply with a cover letter along with detailed curriculum vitae (resume),  educational certificates/degrees required, and other relevant academic/work experience documents. Please also attach your Identification Card (ID).

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis; for the earliest consideration submit your application by February 18, 2024.

Women are encouraged to apply!

Eugene DUSINGIZUMUREMYI

Country Director