Water and Sanitation Advisor

Chemonics seeks a Water and Sanitation Advisor for the anticipated, five-year $30-$35 million USAID-funded Resilient Cities Limpopo Activity. The purpose of this activity is to increase access to safely managed and reliable critical services—namely water, sanitation, and solid waste management— for urban residents in the Limpopo River Basin. The activity will achieve this by partnering with municipalities and entities that are responsible for service delivery, as well as with national governments, to:

• Improve operations and management of water, sanitation, and solid waste services, including natural resource and infrastructure asset management;
• Build institutional capacity for cost-effective service delivery, including a national capacity for policy implementation and municipal support, as well as ensuring a focus on gender, equity and social inclusion;
• Increase and optimize private sector participation in provision or investment in service delivery and associated infrastructure; and
• Improve public financial management for sustainability of service delivery improvements.

The Sanitation Advisor will be involved in several technical activities to work towards meeting USAID’s objectives and will play a critical role in addressing the challenges faced by water and sanitation service providers—formal and informal— in the region. The Sanitation Advisor is anticipated to be based in South Africa. This position is contingent upon Chemonics receiving the award and funding. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world. Permanent Residents of South Africa and Citizens of Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa are strongly encouraged to apply.

Key Responsibilities:

Assess the condition of sanitation service delivery, including wastewater treatment plants, non-sewered sanitation solutions, and fecal sludge management.

• Strengthen the capacity of national and subnational institutions to deliver critical water, sanitation, and solid waste management services to urban and peri-urban residents.
• Analyze current financial practices and identify areas for improvement in revenue collection, budget allocation, and asset management.
• Develop strategies to enhance revenue generation, including tariff structuring, billing system improvements, and debt management.
• Collaborate with municipal and utility staff to develop operational and maintenance protocols for sanitation facilities to ensure sustainability and compliance with health and environmental standards.
• Support the implementation of integrated solid waste management plans, including waste collection, recycling initiatives, and landfill management.
• Assist in the policy and regulation creation and implementation related to sanitation services and waste management
• Advocate for the adoption of best practices, policies and innovative solutions to improve sanitation service delivery and environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on gender equality, and social inclusion.
• Collaborate with national and local government agencies, NGOs, and private sector stakeholders to leverage local resources and expertise to improve capacity for and good governance of municipal financial and revenue management to improve service delivery
• Conduct regular assessments to evaluate the impact of interventions and identify areas for future improvements.
• Prepare reports and presentations to communicate findings and recommendations to stakeholders and donors.
• Supervise and mentor staff and consultants as assigned

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Public Administration, Urban Planning, Economics, or another related field, and at least 7 years of related experience.
• Proven experience (5+ years) in sanitation infrastructure management, financial management, or related fields, preferably in a development context.
• Strong understanding of urban water and sanitation sector challenges, particularly in revenue collection, infrastructure maintenance, and policy implementation.
• Proven experience in financial management within the context of water and sanitation service delivery, including revenue collection, budget allocation, and asset management.
• Experience working in multicultural environments and willingness to travel to project sites as required.
• Experience working with counterparts at various governmental levels (national and municipal), the private sector (multinational and local), civil society and community-based organizations, informal sector organizations
• Demonstrated skills to ensure coherence and consistency in a fast-paced environment under tight deadlines, including quality control and timeliness of all deliverables.
• Demonstrated experience managing similar programs in Africa; experience in Southern Africa preferred.
• Demonstrated experience incorporating inclusive practices to boost municipal water and sanitation service delivery.
• Experience with USAID- or other donor-funded programs preferred
• Strong interpersonal and oral/written communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity.
• Fluency in English (written and verbal) required. Local language skills a plus.