Survey and Design Specialist

Organizational Setting

FAO Afghanistan is investing across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in resilience reinforcing actions that focus on protecting agriculture livelihoods and local ecosystems, boosting local production of nutritious foods and cash-incomes, and safeguarding critical agriculture sectoral development gains achieved over the past couple of decades through revitalizing rural markets and economy. In particular, FAO provides a combination of humanitarian and basic needs/non-humanitarian assistance to female and male farmers and herders across Afghanistan in the agriculture, livestock, irrigation and natural resources sub-sectors through its projects and programs, as described in the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) and the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) 2023-2025, specifically under UNSFA Priority 2 Economic Opportunities and Resilient Livelihoods.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative (FAOR) in Afghanistan. S/he will work under the direct administrative supervision of the Head of the Regional Office and under the technical guidance of WRI Team Leader, who will be responsible for all day-to-day supervision as and where appropriate, the performance evaluation will be done by the WRI Team Leader in close consultation of direct supervisor and Regional Team leader/ Senior Survey and Design Specialist.

Technical Focus

The Survey & Design Specialist will provide relevant technical assistance for efficient implementation of the Water and Resilience Services within their Regional Office.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Assist the Head of Water and Irrigation Team, International Chief Technical Advisor and Team Leader/Senior Survey and Design Specialist in implementing water resource and irrigation activities in the region of their assignment.
• Help prepare technical proposal of the schemes under irrigation rehabilitation works and riverbank protection works after conducting the technical survey and design and cost estimates for the submission to the Team Leader regional office for review.
• Support the Regional Team Leader to monitor the work progress of the contractor or water user groups.
• Coordinate with the implementing partners (IPs) to validate the quantification of work for cleaning of drainage canal system, soil and water conservation measures, and improving watershed management and minor repairs to upper catchment of Karez.
• Contribute towards the monitoring of the beneficiary selection for cash for work (CfW) and the work progress in the field.
• Support the Regional Team Leader to coordinate with the other agencies and institutions at the regional level for smooth implementation of the water resource and irrigation-related activities.
• Coordinate with the IPs to validate the quantification of work for cleaning of drainage canal system, soil and water conservation measures/ rain and flood water harvesting and improving watershed management to recharge groundwater and minor repairs of Karez.
• Support the Regional Team Leader to liaise with the main office (in Kabul) for timely availability of all inputs for implementation of the rehabilitation works carried out by the construction companies and the ones carried out by the implementing partners.
• Conduct training courses and on-the-job training of staff, and water user groups.
• Support the Regional Team Leader to report periodically on the progress of work in the regional Offices, and signal in advance problems that may hamper such progress and help solve them.
• Perform any other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Advanced degree (Masters) or University degree (Bachelor) in Civil Engineering, Water Resources engineering, Irrigation engineering or agricultural engineering or other related areas.
• For advanced degree a minimum of four (4) years of professional experience in water resource and irrigation engineering.
• For university degree minimum of six (6) years professional experience in water resource and irrigation engineering.
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and the local languages (Pashto and/or Dari);
• National of Afghanistan.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Proven skill of technical survey and other data collection (maps, benchmark levels, etc.) for the design and preparation of drawings of irrigation works and riverbank protection works.
• Have skill to ensure all technical inputs and cost estimates related to the construction components are accurate, timely provided and included in the project proposals and budgets.
• Have knowledge of finalizing the scope of works with the timeline needed for the implementation.
• Have experience of design of irrigation, riverbank protection works, watershed management works, karezez and the conservation ponds etc.
• Proven skill to coordinate with the implementing partner NGO to get the desired outputs.
• Have skill to develop technical documents based on national and international standards and codes of practice and based on the mandatory safety and health requirements.
• Proven skill to coordinate with the relevant institutions and the communities.
• Having skill to contribute towards the preparation of various reports on the status of implementation/progress with irrigation works.
• Good knowledge of the AutoCAD, MS Office package, Internet etc.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION