Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment, educational details, behavioural and technical/ professional skills questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only with all the required details and the shortlisting is not basis CV/ cover letter. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy Kathmandu (BEK) seeks a Local Infrastructure Adviser to support the delivery of its flagship £98.1-million Local Infrastructure Support Programme (LISP). 

You will contribute to the implementation of integrated strategic programming within the British Embassy’s Governance and Social Development Group (GSD), as a core advisory member of the Services & Systems Team (SST) providing external-facing support to the Government of Nepal (GoN) and key implementing partners. 

You will understand the Nepal infrastructure context and specifically the governance and policy challenges of local infrastructure, including those introduced by the transition to new federal structures. Applying political economy analysis and leveraging on your experience, you will bring technical expertise in social sectors and networks to benefit infrastructure investments in Nepal. You will work and think politically to strengthen Nepal’s infrastructure systems, and you will influence the infrastructure governance and policy landscape by representing the BEK within the relevant sectoral forums, including through development partners’ and intergovernmental coordination mechanisms. You will focus especially on influencing policy work that benefits inclusive infrastructure provision in Nepal, with a specific attention to women’s rights and marginalised groups and benefiting broader social sectors. Your work and advice will support the delivery of LISP’s ‘governance’ objectives,  in a way that reinforces deliberative, inclusive, evidence-based decision making in local infrastructure. 

As part of this outward-facing influencing role, you will support the Team Leader and other advisers in bringing together social infrastructure and social sectors’ programming in ways integrate broader governance and socio-economic development dimensions, with the key aim of supporting evidence based decision making by public sector providers. You will have a direct role in providing technical support to the implementation of LISP, with a focus on systems change, inclusion & community engagement, and innovation, evidence and learning (IEL). You will also contribute to the technical and strategic conversation around SST’s other incoming flagship, called Samartha, which focuses on social sectors’ governance programme, so that synergies and opportunities for additive effects can be found across areas of governance, social impact and locally-led development.

You will support relevant infrastructure-related central programmes and initiatives targeting Nepal, including by providing facilitation and outward-facing sectoral policy advice to the Government of Nepal, in particular the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Water Supply, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and the National Planning Commission, as well as subnational counterparts as relevant. You will help BEK deliver on FCDO’s green growth and stability agendas, as part of the core integrated teams delivering BEK Campaign Goals. 

In addition to the core outward-facing policy and delivery roles described above, you will also provide expertise on infrastructure governance, policy and technical work across BEK. You will be flexible and pragmatic in providing support as required to the Systems and Services Team Leader, and provide technical and strategic insights to other teams, the Development Director, and the Ambassador on broader areas of infrastructure governance, innovation and analysis. 

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve:

Provide infrastructure advisory and advocacy support to LISP (80%)

• You will provide deep expertise support to the GoN, BEK and LISP implementing partners in terms of promoting evidence-based engineering standards, tailored infrastructure-relevant policies and guidance and strategic advice on best practices in infrastructure governance and delivery.
• You will provide insights on international and local best practices to ensure policy work and investments related to local infrastructure work in Nepal are strategic, sustainable and aligned with principles of green and resilient infrastructure.
• You will represent the British Embassy in relevant local infrastructure coordination and governance mechanisms, engaging with government stakeholders and proactively consulting and networking with other key development partners, including (but not limited to) the World Bank, USAID, ADB, private sector and local civil society platforms, with the goal of ensuring co-ordination and coherence of programming and policy influencing.

Provide technical input to ensure that UK’s infrastructure sector support and the broader growth agenda is coherent with the wider UK portfolio, CMPs, and programming of other DPs, and contextualised to the needs of Nepal (20%). 

• You will engage with complementary programmes on local infrastructure, governance, security & justice, and climate resilience, providing technical input and policy insights to the broader BEK portfolio as required.
• You will provide technical and policy input both externally and internally to influence and deliver the UK’s strategic priorities in Nepal, for example on the potential for improving data governance, spearheading innovations in infrastructure (including around green and GESDI-sensitive infrastructure, etc).
• You will engage with centrally managed programmes either currently being implemented in Nepal or in the pipeline, sharing your Nepal experience and knowledge widely across the FCDO technical networks and within the British Embassy Kathmandu, as required. This will include engaging with CARA and other climate-related initiatives.
• You will promote and engage in collaboration and coherence across BEK’s portfolio, working alongside evidence partners within the Evidence & Knowledge Hub (Portfolio Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning – PMEL; Provincial Engagement Facility – PEF; academic evidence partners such as Yale University, SOAS).

Resources managed (staff and expenditure): 

Part of a team delivering up to £140 million over 7 years.

• Post-graduate degree in Engineering or Infrastructure Planning, or similar;
• Ideally specialisation or academic exposure to governance and public resources management.
• At least seven years of experience overseeing and supporting programmes focused on the delivery and systems strengthening of public infrastructure, ideally within an international donor.

Language requirements: 

Language: English and Nepali (knowledge of other local languages such as Maithili and/or Tharu a plus)

Level of language required: Fluent (both English & Nepali), including good writing and briefing skills.