Work Arrangement:

Job Description

Background:

International Rescue Committee (IRC) is an apolitical, non-profit, and non-religious humanitarian or-ganization that provides assistance to refugees around the world. IRC implements programs to pro-mote durable solutions for displaced persons, refugees and host communities through public health, sanitation, shelter, rehabilitation, and education projects. IRC has been serving refugees since 1933 and is present in 40 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, as well as through a resettlement support program in the United States.

IRC is an organization committed to freedom, human dignity, and self-reliance. This commitment translates into well-planned resettlement assistance, emergency global relief, rehabilitation, and advocacy for refugees.

The IRC started operations in Cameroon in 2016 to respond to the increasing concerns for people affected by violence linked to Boko Haram, in the Far North of the country. Assistance to displaced populations extends across the Far North, notably Mayo Sava, Mayo Tsanaga and Logone & Chari through two field offices in Kousseri and Maroua.

This includes delivering lifesaving pro-gramming to increase access to water and improving hygiene practices in vulnerable displaced and host communities, cash programming to enable economically disadvantaged families to meet basic needs and improve food security. This includes both education and child protection services to ad-dress children’s learning and safety needs and priorities. IRC also delivers protection programming to address gender-based violence for women and girls and support to victim of human right violation.

Following the increasing crisis in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon, the IRC ex-panded its operations into the South-West region in August 2018 and into the North-West in 2019.

The IRC is delivering lifesaving humanitarian assistance to internally displaced populations, with field bases in Buea, Bamenda, Kumba and Manyu.

IRC Cameroon country program is now implementing its ‘Strategy 100’ strategic plan, through which we aim to provide the best possible impact for some of the most vulnerable boys, girls, women, and men affected by the humanitarian crises. In all that we do, we strive to deliver through IRC’s core val-ues of Integrity, Accountability, Service and Equality.
Job Overview/Summary:

Under the supervision of the Deputy Director of Programs, the WASH Coordinator will be responsible for the vision, strategy, design, monitoring, and quality delivery of the Environmental Health program in Cameroon.

The WASH Coordinator will be based in Buea or Maroua with frequent visits to all field sites (in the Far North, the North West and the South West regions) and the capital Yaoundé.

The WASH Coordinator will support IRC Cameroon’s Environmental Health program, lead the design, development of new projects focused on Environmental Health, and will ensure capacity building of national staff and partners engaged in the implementation of the IRC Cameroon’s Environmental Health activities.

In accordance with IRC Cameroon’s focus on integrated programming, WASH Coordinator will lead on integration of environmental health/WASH activities and will also work closely with in-country Coordinators covering other sectors such as Economic Recovery and Devel-opment (ERD), Education and Child Protection (Edu/CP),Sexual and Reproductive Healht (SRH), Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE), and Protection and Rule of Law (PRoL).

The WASH Coordinator will be sup-ported by the WASH Technical Advisor (TAs) based at IRC HQ to ensure inte-grated, high-quality delivery of environmental health/WASH components.

Main responsibilities

Technical Monitoring and Program Quality

– Provide technical supervision of, and technical support to IRC Cameroon Environmental Healht programming activities
– Proactively identify ways to strengthen program quality, including integration of activities, in collaboration with team members and clients
– Conduct and lead project workplan review meetings on a monthly basis for all Environmental health projects
– Coordinate closely with technical advisors to implement technical support plans
– Participate in weekly technical meetings with the EH TAs to review technical priorities of program
– Support ongoing integration of Environmental health activities in consultation with the technical advisors,
– Conduct pre planned and spot check observation visits and spot checks to all IRC-supported localities as well as capacity strengthening sessions with key WASH stakeholders conducted by the IRC team
– Conduct rapid assessments as needed to determine the water, sanitation and hygiene needs of thetarget areas; this will also include evaluation of ongoing technical interventions and makerecommendations as needed.
– Hold technical responsibility/oversight for the installation of all water and sanitation infrastructurein supported medical facilities, included the requirements for the mobile health units, and hostcommunities including but not limited restoration of existing infrastructure, drainage, solid wastemanagement, latrine, hygiene campaigns, vector control and hygiene promotion activities;
– Ensure ongoing follow up with the Program and MEAL team related to research and learning activities in relation to Environmental health.

Coordinate with the TAs on progress and relevant support. Lead on documenting learning from innovative activities.
– Ensure monitoring and evaluation in all IRC-supported Environmental health programs in accordance with M&E processes and systems, including regular collection, analysis, and use of data (including participation and learning) to make decisions
– Follow up closely on the project budgetary implementation plans with program managers, finance and grants, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis
– Oversee and manage and maintain overall accountability for budgets related to projects on a monthly basis with weekly follow up on budget implementation plans, conduct budget versus actuals review meetings with managers and ensure best use of resources throughout oversight of budgets.
– Coach managers on budget management when handing over budget management, and contact monthly review meetings
Discuss budget review progress with DDP, grants coordinator and technical advisors when decisions need to be made
– Ensure that Environmental health programs and activities draw on and are consistent with relevant resources, such as SPHERE standard, IRC quality standards, WASH cluster standards and in alignment with policies and guidelines from MINEE etc.
– Ensure requests that come in from key stakeholders are addressed in a timely manner in close coordination with the DDP, Grants coordinator and EH TAs,
– Coordinate closely with grants to have a schedule set for the team on all internal and external reporting requirement and deadlines
– Assume full responsibility for drafting donor reports and communications in a timely manner, as well as guiding managers and officers on required inputs
– Review inputs shared by the teams to maintain a high standard of quality
– Participate in community of learning sessions conducted by Technical advisors
– Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

Strategic Planning

– Provide strategic direction, leadership and overall technical and management support to the Environmental Health programming, ensuring it is needs-based, context-appropriate, responsive, coherent, collaborative, and operationally feasible
– Monitor evolving needs of the target communities and adjust the programmatic priorities as necessary
– In collaboration with HQ-based Technical Advisors and in-country Senior Management Team, lead the overall development of IRC Environmental Health Program strategies, in line with IRC Cameroon Strategic Action Plan and IRC’s Outcomes and Evidence Framework;
– Provide technical input into IRC Cameroon’s emergency preparedness plans and protocols in relation environmental health/WASH activities.

Program Development, Communications and Advocacy

– Identify opportunities for program development and discuss with DDP, program managers, grants and TAs as appropriate
– Design and lead technical assessments as a basis for environmental health/WASH program development
– Coordinate and initiate project proposals and develop program proposals (development of logical frameworks, program design and implementation plans and appropriate, realistic and measurable indicators, budget) for the IRC Cameroon Environmental Health Program under the supervision of the Deputy Director of Programs and in consultation and collaboration with field based technical, field management staff and HQ based Environmental Health TAs;
– Together with regional and HQ teams, identify communication opportunities for internal and external audiences highlighting humanitarian needs related to environmental health/WASH and publicizing on-going projects and research
– Together with CD, DDP and relevant coordination mechanisms, identify opportunities for advocacy on issues related to environmental health/WASH.

Coordination and Representation

– In coordination with the supervisor, represent IRC to UN, WASH sector working groups, international and national NGOs, MINEE, and donors for environmental health/WASH;
– As Environmental Health focal point at country level, participate actively in external respective coordination and Cluster forums;
– Participate in internal coordination and management meetings to promote effective and efficient information sharing, problem-solving and decision making across teams and sectors
– Meet with M & E on a monthly basis to obtain and review client feedback of program activities and conduct field visits to ensure accountability to beneficiaries
– Reflect and take corrective action to ensure activities are gender sensitive and inclusive for IRC’s Environmental Health programs.
– With support from the programs team, ensure accountability to beneficiaries, gender sensitivity and inclusion are adequately addressed in IRC’s Environmental Health programs.

Partner Management

– In consultation with country leadership, support the implementation of the localization strategy.
– Ensure partner mapping across the response, foster positive relationships and identify areas for collaboration with local actors.
– Ensure collaborative program design processes that fully leverage the perspectives, experience and expertise of local actors, where possible based on collaborative needs assessment processes.
– Provide technical support, mentorship and supportive supporvision to implementing partners.
– Ensure regular performance monitoring of partners to achieve the set EH program objectives.
– Explore with partners potential capacity strengthening support, including system strengthening for government partners, and organizational development for civil society partners, and identify needed resources (in collaboration with the Partnership Lead).
– Promote and apply the IRC’s Partnership Excellence for Equality and Results system (PEERS).

– Contribute to building a strong understanding of PEERS throughout CRRD/RAI office, and to ensuring that IRC’s partnership principles, skills and approaches are applied by staff across programs and projects with partners.

Staff Management & Development

– Review individual team performance objectives set by the coordinator and support, coach and mentor team members to achieve their goals through weekly meetings where they are able to share challenges, successes and obtain support from the Acting Coordinator
– Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
– Supervise and mentor staff, including communicating clear expectations, and in partnership with the direct line supervisor, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and contribute to the annual and mid-year performance reviews.
– Provide constructive feedback and counsel on appropriate career paths and professional development.
– Promote and monitor staff care and well-being; approve and manage all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage.
– Offer leadership support for successful adherence by staff to IRC’s Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures.
– Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures and communicates through word and example a high standard of compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.

Qualifications

– Degree or equivalent in civil/environmental engineering or related field or other related degree or demonstrate strong comparable work experience in relevant sector
– At least 5 years of experience, including substantial management experience in EH/WASH programming.
– Excellent professional approach, strong building skills and proven ability to build staff capacity
– Prior experience and excellent understanding of working in emergency settings or insecure environments
– Strong leadership, management, project planning, monitoring and evaluation, analytical interpersonal and communication skills
– Strong budget management and reporting, skills; and an ability to oversee multiple awards from a variety of donors
– An initiator of initiatives, able to plan, prioritize and manage multiple tasks under pressure and deliver tangible benefits to a team
– Proven problem solving and results oriented
– Strong written and oral communication skills, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and effective in representation and liaison
– Flexible work attitude – the ability to work productively in a team environment and independently
– Able to respond rapidly to changing environments and work under pressure
– Fluency in French and basic English skills required
– Experience of working in West Africa or Cameroon a plus
– Excellent Computer skills: MS Word, Excel