Public Health Engineer Lead

DEPARTMENT PURPOSE:

The department aims to contribute to the reduction of the severity of humanitarian crises in Kenya. It seeks to provide immediate lifesaving, life-sustaining, and dignity-upholding assistance in response to food and water insecurity, disease outbreak, communal conflict and protection risks driven by climate induced disasters and exacerbated by inequalities. And it contributes to addressing the structural drivers of vulnerability and encourage equitable investments in recovery and resilience, linking together Oxfam’s work on sustainable access to water, social protection and sustainable livelihoods, gender justice, tax justice and accountable governance, and natural resource management.

It does this by supporting local organisations lead programmes that adapt, anticipate and respond to shocks, by working with partners to strengthen communities’ resilience, and by encouraging duty bearers’ commitment to people’s rights by preparing for, and responding to, disasters in a timely, efficient and effective manner.

TEAM PURPOSE:

The WASH team’s focus is to improve Public Health outcomes in emergencies through increased access to safe, adequate water and inclusive Public Health related information for the prevention of diseases. The team supports partners in the design and implementation of WASH interventions, pilots innovative and scalable programme approaches, strengthens partnerships, coalitions and networks, and supports partners to develop technical capacities to deliver high quality WASH programmes.

JOB PURPOSE:

The Public Health Engineer Lead (PHE-L) contributes to the overall delivery of both the Oxfam Country Strategy and the Humanitarian Strategy. The PHE-L heads the PHE team in providing technical support to partners in the design and delivery of WASH programmes, in both urban and rural areas, in lockstep with the public health promotion team, and in coordination with other thematic leads for effective programme integration. The PHE-L is responsible for: working with partners in programme design and ensuring quality implementation of civil works on time and within budget; the strategic development of innovative approaches to ensuring quality, sustainable water, such as through operations and maintenance, or water outcome financing; the development of WASH related proposals to grow income; the development of knowledge and learning to influence the technical sector; and the strengthening of partner capacities in WASH.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource management)

Strategic Development – 20%

• Identifying gaps and opportunities in the WASH sector
• Developing concept notes and proposals aligned with the country and Rights Resilience and Response approach, as related to improving water security – and in particular in close coordination with Oxfam experts on good governance and gender justice.
• Building and maintaining strategic relationships with partners and authorities at national and county levels.
• Contributing to strategic and operational planning.

Technical Leadership – 40%

• Supporting partners in assessment, design (including BoQs), planning and implementation of civil works infrastructure including improving water quality, water storage, distribution, and sanitation
• Providing technical guidance to partners in accordance with relevant national and international standards
• Ensuring that all WASH activities incorporate gender and safe-programming best practice
• Ensuring coordination with the public health promotion team, and other thematic/sectoral leads for effective programme integration and impact
• Participating in multi-sectoral and multi-partner assessments and specific technical assessment/survey of a water/sanitation schemes where appropriate
• Contributing to the development of an O&M market-based approach model by supporting with the reviews of technical details, costings, and contracting of appropriate service providers.
• Contributing to the development of outcome-based financing models to improve alignment, accountability and impact.

Partnership Management and capacity building – 30%

• Working closely with the partners to ensure that WASH projects/interventions are implemented in a quality, cost effective and efficient manner.
• Providing technical support to partners to strengthen WASH programming capacities, including trainings on national and international WASH standards, and preparedness planning
• Supporting networked approaches that bring together local partners with WASH capacity as a rapid response team in liaison with County steering groups and County water departments.
• Monitor progress of project activities along the entire project management cycle and submit timely financial and narrative progress reports.

Knowledge Management and M&E – 10%

• Liaise with the Oxfam Programme Quality on Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) staff to ensure effective and efficient program monitoring and reporting processes are in place and implemented to achieve programme activities, and financial expenditures. Undertake periodic site visits to monitor the project progress and provide technical guidance and support; and monitor compliance with technical standards.
• Contribute to building evidence of best/good practices and results of operational research for relevant local, regional and global platforms.
• Attend delegated co-ordination meetings at national and county levels, to enhance collaboration and networking with other agencies and line ministries.
• Ensuring programme learning feeds into planning processes at all levels, with specific focus on documenting technical innovations and piloted technologies.

Others

• Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values;
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to safeguarding, equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles.

Person specification

Most importantly, every individual at Oxfam needs to be able to:

• Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY, EMPOWERMENT, COURAGE, SOLIDARITY and EQUALITY (read more about these here)

• Ensure you commit to our ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct).

• Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity.”

• Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.

  Experience, Knowledge and Competencies

  ESSENTIAL

• Self-Awareness: Ability to develop a high degree of self-awareness around own strengths and weaknesses and impact on others.

• Agility, complexity and ambiguity: Ability to scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with a large number of elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.

• Mutual accountability: Ability to explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organizational values.

  Essential competencies (Knowledge /experience)

• Degree in Engineering fields (Civil, Water, Environmental or other relevant fields)

• At least 7 years’ experience in design and construction of a variety of Water and Sanitation facilities (urban and rural water solutions, latrines, sewage systems etc).

• Experience in managing emergency WASH response programmes.

• Experience working with public health teams and partners in designing and implementing comprehensive health and hygiene promotion programmes

• A proven record of mentoring teams and partners on design, construction and operations and maintenance of Water & Sanitation interventions, assessment, and development of technical standards in WaSH and Water Quality Testing.

• Experience in preparing project related reports/documents.

• Sound IT skills, including Word, Excel and AutoCAD;

• Excellent command of oral and written English

  Desirable

• Experience of working in Arid and Semi-Arid areas (ASALs) and urban informal settlements.

• Flexible, adaptable, sense of humour, patience and most importantly, initiative.

• Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills

• Analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work under pressure often to strict deadlines.

• Methodical and thorough.

• Cross cultural awareness and sensitive.