Senior Advisor Health Job at WaterAid
Senior Advisor Health at WaterAid
About WaterAid
WaterAid is a global organization working to transform lives through sustainable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Vision
WaterAid’s vision is a world where everyone, everywhere has sustainable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Mission
WaterAid’s mission is to transform lives through sustainable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
WaterAid’s values
WaterAid’s values define its culture and guide how the organization works across the many countries in which it operates. These values are:
- Respect: Treating everyone with dignity and respect and championing the rights and contribution of all to achieve a fairer world.
- Collaboration: Working with others to maximize impact while respecting diversity and difference in the pursuit of common goals.
- Accountability: Being accountable to those whose lives WaterAid hopes to transform, to the people it works with, and to those who support the organization.
- Innovation: Being creative, agile, always learning, and prepared to take risks to accelerate change.
- Courage: Being bold and inspiring in actions and words, with determination to pursue the mission.
- Integrity: Acting with honesty and conviction, ensuring actions are consistent with openness, equality and human rights.
Job purpose
The Health Senior Advisor is a senior position within the WASH Technical Effectiveness team and reports to the Health Lead.
Together with the Health Lead, the Senior Advisor co-leads the delivery of core team responsibilities related to health and other closely associated thematic areas for high-quality WASH programming. Applying a people-centred, systems-strengthening approach to WASH, the role provides high-quality specialist technical analysis, advisory and support services for the design, inception, implementation, troubleshooting, monitoring and assessment of WaterAid’s programming worldwide, at both strategic and operational levels.
In collaboration with country, regional and global colleagues, the Senior Advisor co-leads effective learning and management of technical and programme knowledge across the organization. The role also co-leads the development of relevant standards and guidance, while providing strategic and technical input into fundraising, communications and external engagement.
The Senior Advisor has a high degree of independent and professional responsibility within their specialist areas. They are expected to agree with their line manager on how objectives are delivered. The role is regarded as a thematic authority and involves handling highly challenging technical assignments. With a strong understanding of organizational dynamics and ways of working, the Senior Advisor is expected to collaborate widely across WaterAid and support joined-up, comprehensive efforts to advance WaterAid’s programming globally.
Team description
WASH Technical Effectiveness is part of the Programme Support & Knowledge team, also known as PSK. PSK is a key unit of the WaterAid UK International Programmes Department, which operates in 17 African and Asian countries.
The PSK team is a diverse and motivated group of more than 20 technical specialists and advisors who are passionate about bringing sustainable WASH to the world’s poorest and most marginalized people.
The team leads and supports organization-wide programme learning and knowledge management by:
- Collating and disseminating programme knowledge.
- Facilitating knowledge exchange.
- Providing technical advisory expertise.
- Fostering and supporting internal and external programme and technical partnerships and networks.
- Developing normative programme documents and standards.
- Advising and supporting the delivery of a programme capacity enhancement strategy.
PSK works closely with many functions across WaterAid, including policy, advocacy, campaigns, fundraising and communications, as well as with WaterAid partners and collaborators.
Terms of appointment
Place of work
WaterAid is a global and equal opportunities employer. For practical and legal reasons, the successful candidate must be based in and legally able to work in one of the following WaterAid country programmes, subject to cost and communication with the majority of WaterAid countries being practical:
- Ghana
- Liberia
- Mali
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Rwanda
- Zambia
- Mozambique
- Malawi
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- United Kingdom
For UK-based applicants, WaterAid is located at 20 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5NN. This will be the location and contract base for UK-based staff.
WaterAid supports and enjoys a hybrid working environment. A minimum of 40% of working time is spent face to face, either in the London office for coordination, collaboration and connectivity across the team, or as a result of external engagement or travel for WaterAid.
Pay band
- Grade 3 for the United Kingdom.
- Grade F for other countries.
Salary
Salaries and benefits vary by country and are aligned with the location of the successful candidate and their experience.
For the UK location, the salary is £52,468 with excellent benefits.
Contract type
Fixed-term contract for 14 months.
Reporting line
The role reports to the Health Lead, Programme Support and Knowledge Team.
Management responsibility
The role may manage consultants, volunteers and interns, if any.
Budget responsibility
Not applicable.
Travel requirement
The role will involve significant collaboration with colleagues and team members based across the world. Up to 30% international travel may be required.
Key accountabilities
The Senior Advisor Health will be responsible for the following areas:
Provide and coordinate targeted technical support to WaterAid programming
This area will take approximately 50% of the role’s time.
The Senior Advisor Health will:
- Provide in-depth strategic and technical advisory support on WASH and health integration.
- Support work related to WASH in healthcare facilities, health systems and programming, public health, environmental health and other inter-related topics.
- Provide technical support on related areas such as:
- Nutrition
- Cholera
- Neglected tropical diseases
- Maternal and child health
- Infection prevention and control
- Support high-quality WASH programming in both urban and rural low-income settings, including:
- Households
- Schools
- Healthcare facilities
- Other relevant public places
- Incorporate WaterAid’s and the wider sector’s leading practices, innovations and methods into programme support.
- Coordinate with other PSK technical specialists to ensure coherent integration of WASH and health considerations into different thematic areas.
- Provide high-quality and detailed technical analysis and advisory support for:
- Project design
- Project inception
- Implementation
- Troubleshooting
- Monitoring
- Assessments
- Respond effectively and efficiently to ad hoc requests on health-related technical topics, including challenging technical tasks that may often have no precedent.
- Coordinate with other teams when responding to technical requests.
- Design and carry out capacity development strategies and initiatives in health-related technical topics.
- Develop and deliver bespoke training workshops and coaching using high-quality curriculum and facilitation.
- Co-lead thought leadership on health-related technical topics across the organization.
- Act as a subject-matter authority.
- Work closely with policy and advocacy teams to link policy and practice.
- Use country programme learning to inform global advocacy.
- Use policy research and analysis to support programme design.
- Work closely with other WaterAid colleagues to achieve greater programme impact.
Support programme learning and knowledge management
This area will take approximately 15% of the role’s time.
The Senior Advisor Health will:
- Co-lead the capture of organizational programme knowledge and experience on health-related topics.
- Co-lead effective learning and knowledge management on these topics across the organization.
- Guide and support country and regional colleagues to carry out learning and knowledge management work.
- Identify knowledge and implementation gaps on health-related topics.
- Coordinate with relevant teams to develop and carry out practical research plans.
- Support the PSK Knowledge Management & Learning team in maintaining and promoting information and knowledge management systems.
Support development of programme guidance and standards
This area will take approximately 5% of the role’s time.
The Senior Advisor Health will:
- Co-lead the development of health-related normative frameworks, standards and guidance materials.
- Develop guidance for both internal and external audiences.
- Collaborate with country, regional and global colleagues on programme standards and guidance.
- Support colleagues to develop a consistent understanding and application of health-related technical considerations in WaterAid’s core programme work.
- Support colleagues in applying relevant guidance, standards and technical considerations to their specific context.
Support fundraising, external engagement and communications
This area will take approximately 20% of the role’s time.
The Senior Advisor Health will:
- Support donor engagement.
- Support intelligence gathering.
- Contribute to the preparation of funding proposals.
- Provide strategic technical input into specific strategic initiatives and positioning, working alongside other advisors.
- Coordinate with other teams to jointly engage the WASH sector at all levels.
- Foster, promote and support global WASH-related networks.
- Strengthen WaterAid’s ability to share its experience and learn from others.
- Maintain and develop current collaborations and networks.
- Assist with or initiate new collaborative efforts that support the delivery of WaterAid’s organizational strategy.
- Support internal and external communications teams with strategic and knowledge communications.
- Help shape and populate external-facing knowledge systems.
Contribute to team processes
This area will take approximately 10% of the role’s time.
The Senior Advisor Health will:
- Be an integral member of the PSK team.
- Help ensure the integration of PSK support work.
- Contribute to joined-up articulation of the team’s core framing materials.
- Support PSK annual planning, budgeting and reporting processes.
Person specification
Essential skills and experience
Applicants should have:
- Strong technical experience in WASH and health integration, WASH in healthcare facilities, health systems and programming, public health, environmental health and/or related topics.
- Experience in inter-related areas such as nutrition, cholera, neglected tropical diseases, maternal and child health, and infection prevention and control across different settings.
- A progressive career record demonstrating relevant technical experience.
- A relevant postgraduate degree or equivalent work experience.
- Strong experience in offering technical assistance, consulting and/or advisory services to empower others and develop capacities.
- Ability to handle highly specialized, unusual and challenging technical assignments.
- Ability to resolve complex issues in practical and imaginative ways.
- Strong writing ability in English.
- Experience producing practical knowledge products for diverse audiences.
- Strong organizational and efficiency skills.
- Demonstrated ability to drive tasks forward to completion in a timely manner while maintaining high quality.
- Ability to work as a team player.
- Ability to work responsibly, under pressure and collaboratively across diverse groups and cultures.
- A working style that reflects WaterAid’s values of:
- Respect
- Accountability
- Courage
- Collaboration
- Integrity
- Innovation
- Solid IT skills, particularly with core Microsoft Office software.
- Ability to travel internationally up to 30%.
Desirable skills and experience
The following would be an advantage:
- Relevant technical experience in systems strengthening.
- Experience in sustainable development.
- Experience in water, sanitation, hygiene, behaviour change, gender, inclusion, environment and/or other WASH-related topics.
- Working knowledge of French, Portuguese, Spanish and/or any language widely spoken in countries where WaterAid has programming.
WaterAid’s commitments
Our People Promise
WaterAid works with passion and focus to ensure that everyone, everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose, where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact they create.
The organization is a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring and stimulating work. WaterAid is determined to be a place where people feel safe, are able to contribute their voice and can truly live the organization’s values.
Equal opportunities
WaterAid welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Caste
- Colour
- Gender
- Language
- Religion
- Political or other opinion
- National or social origin
- Property
- Birth
- Disability status
- Neurodiversity
- Age
- Marital and family status
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Health status
- Place of residence
- Economic and social situation
Safeguarding
WaterAid is committed to protecting everyone it comes into contact with. The organization has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across its global work.
WaterAid also has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of:
- Inappropriate behaviour
- Discrimination
- Abuse
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Exploitation
Safeguarding the people and communities WaterAid works with, staff, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of the organization is a top priority. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which may include:
- Counterterrorism checks
- Safeguarding checks
- Criminal records checks
Wherever you work in WaterAid and whatever job you do, you will be joining a global network determined to reach everyone, everywhere with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
For health, for life, forever.