WASH Assistant -Erbil

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary 

Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks, and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by the Middle East, since 1989 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development projects tailored to the specific needs of the region and of those communities where we work.

Mercy Corps has worked across Iraq’s 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development projects more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of refugees and displaced persons. Mercy Corps Iraq current goal is to work with new and existing civil society, public and private sector partners to meet immediate and long-term needs by strengthening communities’ ability to rebuild amidst increasing crisis. Mercy Corps Iraq focuses on (1) a relief-to-resilience pathway to meet the needs of conflict-affected communities leveraging agency expertise in conflict management and civil society development (2) a humanitarian response that empowers conflict-affected populations to meet their own needs (3) partnering with conflict-affected adolescents to address their diverse needs, promoting leadership and linkages with civil society.

Mercy Corps’ current WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Program supports displaced, conflict-affected populations by enabling access to urgently needed WASH services as part of a first-line response and supports host communities and families who have returned home and required improved WASH services. Mercy Corps’ WASH program is expanding into new areas where gaps exist while reinforcing operational presence in locations that continue to host vulnerable populations. Program interventions include camp based and out-of-camp settings, infrastructure installation and rehabilitation, and hygiene awareness-raising, alongside distribution of hygiene-related non-food items. The WASH Assistant will be essential to facilitating smooth implementation of all program activities by supporting the WASH Program senior officer through organization and documentation of essential procurement paperwork, official governmental authorizations, and supporting on-site implementation follow-up as needed, including field visits. The WASH Program Assistant will also work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Department to ensure proper documentation of monitoring activities, sufficient data collection, and ongoing tracking of program progress against indicators.

 

 

Essential Job Responsibilities: 

• Assist the Senior WASH officer in all tasks that facilitate achievement of program deliverables and to ensure that all activities are implemented smoothly, effectively, and make the best use of project resources for beneficiaries.
• Participate in the process of determining different aspects of information needs, in accordance with water, sanitation Hygiene promotion interventions,
• Actively participate in developing appropriate Hygiene promotion (training) tools and methods for data collection.
• Ensure that all hygiene promotion methods are properly followed by WASH staff (Peers and casuals)
• Travel to all areas of WASH in respective AOR work and carry out survey and conduct both training and distribute of hygiene kits in target areas of work.
• Be up to date on the Hygiene promotion methodologies used by Mercy Corps internally. Integrate these methodologies in work carried out for this program.
• Follow up with program hygiene activities to ensure that hygiene promotion data are collected on timely basis.
• Perform beneficiaries (students), data compilation, storing and updating on a regular basis.
• Conduct water, sanitation and hygiene assessments, develop BoQ, scope of work, work plans for all rehabilitation and hygiene promotion activities,
• Provide written and oral translation for technical documents, including Bills of Quantity, Completion of Service Notes, government facilitation letters and permission documents, etc.
• Initiate and track procurement processes for purchase requests, purchase orders, and payment requests for infrastructure projects, hygiene materials, and emergency WASH services, in coordination with the Procurement Department.
• Support the WASH Program Sr. officer to document daily monitoring of WASH infrastructure work and track progress towards program targets, keeping all team members apprised of achievements, delays, and issues.
• Coordinate with the MEL Department to collect beneficiary data and technical program output data (e.g., FRC test results), conduct program implementation data entry, and maintain program data bases.
• Manage the program filing system for all activities and ensure that information is organized accordingly to the reporting and auditing needs of the program. Ensure required levels of confidentiality.
• Work closely with the WASH Program Sr. officer to ensure internal weekly and monthly reports are submitted on time to the WASH Project Manager and are of an acceptable standard.
• Coordinate closely with the WASH officer, relevant to administration and finance to ensure proper logistics, administration, human resources of the program are conducted within MC policy and with the maximum benefit to the program.
• Maintain strong understanding of the security, political, cultural, and overall contextual situation in areas of program implementation and potential program expansion, specifically regarding movements of populations and areas of settlement in camps or outside of camps.
• Collect and share with the Senior WASH officer any and all relevant external reports regarding humanitarian needs in Iraq.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

 

Organizational Learning: As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient, and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries: Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A 

Reports Directly To: Senior WASH officer.

Works Directly With: Senior WASH officer, WASH Coordinator, Program Manager and local partners, (if any).

Knowledge and Experience 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Administration, Public health, social sciences or related degree
• Preferred at least one-year professional experience in implementing emergency response WASH. Programs in a humanitarian setting.
• Excellent organizations skills and knowledge of filing systems for hard copy and digital files Strong report writing skills in Arabic and English.
• Excellent spoken and written English and Arabic
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with ability to achieve cooperation and agreement amongst diverse groups with competing priorities
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and tasks efficiently and with a calm attitude.
• Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail.
• Physically able to spend the long periods of time in the field in harsh conditions.
• Ability to think independently and problem solve, able to suggest solutions and mitigations with minimal guidance.
• Honest and committed to compliance with all policies and procedures in all aspects of work.
• Good strategic thinking and planning skills with eagerness for innovation.

QUALIFICATIONS ANDEXPERIENCES:

Successful candidates should meet the education and experience requirements in the position descriptions for the vacant positions. S/he must be self- motivated, creative, tolerant, and able to work in difficult, stressful environments and follow Mercy Corps procedures. S/he must respect diversity and gender equality at the workplace.

Interested candidates should submit their CVs to the email address mcerbilhr@gmail.com before the deadline indicated below.

Please indicate on the subject of the email the title of the position you are applying for, for full position description for the noted posts, please visit websites NCCI and F-Job.

Female Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

 

ALL APPLICATIONS/ CVs SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY February 27, 2024

Potential candidates for the post will be contacted for an interview and processed according to Mercy Corps Human Resources policies and procedures. As soon as qualified candidates are identified the positions will be closed automatically. Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for potential interview. Any documents submitted will remain with Mercy Corps and will not be returned to candidates.

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer. Females are highly encouraged to apply. 

Female Candidates are encouraged to apply for This Position. Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global Impact.

Mercy Corps Iraq offers a variety of arrangements that enable women to excel in their careers. Mercy Corps Iraq ensures a safe and inclusive working environment for women and men through field security training and measures to provide secure working arrangements on-site and in the office.