Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager (WASH PM)

In emergency situations or where rehabilitation is needed, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager is responsible for activities relating to water, sanitation and hygien.

Responsibilities

The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager has a range of responsibilities:
– He/she ensures that people have access to drinking water and in sufficient quantities.
– He/she develops and promotes access to sanitation infrastructures at household and/or community level.
– He/she coordinates the hygiene promotion, and activities to help fight sanitary and water-borne diseases, and ensures that a water management system is set up.

To fulfil these missions, he/she should possess a variety of abilities and technical knowledge, not just for assessing water resources, population needs and sanitary conditions but also in order to develop and implement WASH activities. He/she must ensure that their analyses incorporate the relevant anthropological, cultural, social, economic and legal aspects, as well as issues such as disability, nutrition and gender. Operating with a large degree of autonomy, he/she is also responsible for general activities that are indispensable when it comes to project implementation, such as diagnoses, planning, activity management, team supervision, and financial and logistical management of activities.
His/her activities as WASH project manager of an international solidarity organization also require specific behavioural and relational aptitudes.

To qualify for this position, you will need professional experience in one of the technical areas (water, civil engineering, environment, geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, sanitary engineering/sanitation, public health, etc.) and an approved qualification linked to this role. International experience is an added advantage for this position.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager

Core skills

Skills common to all positions :

These generally relate to Project Cycle Management:

Is able to analyse the specific situation where WASH activities are being carried out, taking into account the geopolitical situation of the country and area of intervention, as well as the humanitarian situation faced by local communities. This is even more important because access to water is often a political issue. To do this, we need to identify those involved locally (NGOs, associations, international organizations/UN) and the bodies linked to water and sanitation management, operating within the area of intervention.

Is able to identify and assess the area’s hydrogeological, hydrological and sanitary conditions.
As with all positions, you will require an ability to design and bring to fruition civil engineering projects in the water and sanitation fields, as well as promote hygiene and community-based participation.

Is able to plan, lead and assess water-related actions, by identifying and formalizing intervention objectives in conjunction with other trades and professions / studying the possibilities for initiatives, forming assumptions and identifying risks / establishing an activity timeframe and ensuring that all operational expenditure is properly managed / overseeing risk management / coordinating the activities from the various WASH trades/professions and ensuring that any actions are properly reported internally to the relevant bodies. Capitalizing on actions is also an important point of each program.

Lastly, depending on a project’s particular context and degree of technical sophistication, the WASH programme manager may specialize in water planning and management or in sanitation, as well as the fight to combat sanitary and waterborne diseases.

Specific technical skills, depending on the project :

– Is able to make technical choices relating to the SCOPE, CONSTRUCTION or REHABILITATION OF WATER COLLECTION, STORAGE or DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURES: fountain points, wells, spring water and rain water catchment systems, reservoirs, setting up or rehabilitating water pump systems / setting up gravity-fed drinking water networks (mass processing treatment or specific initiatives such as cholera treatment centres, nutrition centres, health centres, etc.)

– Is able to design and implement SANITATION MEASURES
This involves overseeing the management of human waste (latrines, open defecation areas, septic tanks, etc.) / determining the scale of constructions / delivering waste water and run-off water management
Determining and scaling water collection systems
Determining / scaling waste water treatment depending on the context (degreasing tank, air infiltration, reed bed treatment system, etc.)

Cross-disciplinary skills

As no one in a field role works in isolation, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager will be working in conjunction with logistics and finance.
He/she will help to draw up the budgets for WASH activities: project inputs, storage, project human resources, secondary transport, etc.
When devising monthly cash flow forecasts, he/she will apply the organization’s own administrative and financial procedures: purchasing procedures, contractual management of partners and service providers, etc.
In conjunction with the logistics specialist, he/she must identify the logistical and technical resources required to carry out WASH-related activities.
He/she is also involved in relations with donors and in drawing up reports and updates destined for funders (report writing).

-The WASH PM must be able to lead, supervise and train their team, incorporating an intercultural focus. He/she must ensure that the country’s laws, regulations and customs are respected.

-He/she also needs to be able to address the local context, taking into account the specific geopolitical situation of the country and the area in which he/she will be working.

-Lastly, he/she must be able to incorporate into their work various security aspects, helping to maintain safety when implementing their WASH-related activities, as well as feeding back any relevant information from their area of intervention.

Additional skills

ENGLISH (DEPENDING ON THE COUNTRY)

– Can be easily and unambiguously understood, both orally and in writing.
– Easily understands the people he/she is speaking to.

IT

Proficient in construction design software.
For example, Autocad, SketchUp, Epanet, WaterCad, etc. Also able to use basic geographic and cartography information systems (GIS) software functions, (QGIS, Google Earth, GPS Utility, etc.) as well as basic data collection software functions (Kobo, Sphinx, ODK).

FrENCH

– Has excellent writing skills in French.
– Speaks fluently in public and with his/her contacts.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLs

– They are the same as required for any field position:
– He/she must demonstrate adaptability and flexibility, reliability and firmness, as well as discernment and initiative.
– Common sense is however your key tool, along with empathy, listening skills and persuasiveness.

Possible career paths

ON THE  GROUND

After several missions, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Manager can apply for a WASH Coordinator position. This role involves helping to draw up the SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL strategy in the country of intervention, by putting forward a sectorial strategy.
He/she will have particular responsibility for the quality and relevance of technical strategies put forward and ensures that the association’s WASH activities are suitable for the needs of the populations. He/she will coordinate the project cycle and, more particularly, operational follow-up for programs implemented in the country of intervention.
He/she will play a part in the strategy to capitalize on and improve WASH activity methods and techniques for SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL.

AT HEAD OFFICE

As we offer the option to swap between working on the ground and working at head office, or should your personal circumstances require you to return to France, we can offer roles at head office that are a logical extension of our field staff positions:
– WASH Technical Advisor for the Program Technical and Quality Department
– Programs Manager on one of our operational desks

 

Photos : © Constance Decorde / SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL – Vincent Tremeau / SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL