Company Profile

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. CRS Ghana was established in 1958, a year after Ghana gained independence. In Ghana, CRS works with local partners to tackle poverty on several fronts including improving health and nutrition; increasing access to safe water and improved sanitation; promoting agriculture to enhance food security; and increasing financial assets through Savings and Internal Lending Communities. 

Job Description

• Job Title: WASH Specialist
• Department: Programming (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion)
• Band: D
• Reports To: Project Coordinator
• Country/Location: Ghana/Tamale
• Start Date: November, 2017
• End Date:         June, 2020

CRS Background
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

CRS/Ghana Background
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been working in Ghana since 1958 in Health, Agriculture, Peace Building, Water and Sanitation, Microfinance and Education programs and has long-standing relationships with Church and non-Church partners and communities throughout the country.  CRS/Ghana currently has 61 staff with project offices in Tamale and Accra.

Job Summary
As a member of the Integrated Community Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement (ICOWASH) project team, you will be expected to give specialized technical support, conduct situational analyses of WASH infrastructure provision in the field and take sectorial leadership to facilitate the achievement of project objectives. You will be coordinating and reporting on all project activities and providing technical guidance and advice to staff and implementing partner(s) advancing Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) work in serving the poor and vulnerable. Your technical leadership and relationship management skills will ensure that the project for which you are responsible applies best practices and constantly works towards improving the impact of its benefits to those we serve.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead the field team and support project partners in water and sanitation infrastructure development, including design, technical specifications, construction or rehabilitation, testing, operation and maintenance.
• Provide technical guidance and support to the field team and implementing partners on all water, sanitation and hygiene promotion related issues, to ensure quality, cost-effectiveness, sustainability and environmental soundness in the project implementation.
• Contribute to the budgeting process and give inputs to the financial management of the programme on technical areas.
• Develop/approve workplans for construction quality field officers and monitor compliance to ensure objectives and targets are achieved.
• Lead the development of BCC materials and strategies to support advocacy and community participation, and manage the use of BCC tools and materials across project.
• Develop training programs and facilitate training of staff and partner organizations and project committees.
• Develop and review manuals guiding the implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene activities; and undertake regular community and partner visits to offer technical support in the implementation of approved WASH programs.
• Assist in reviewing the work, records, and reports of consulting engineers, construction managers in the construction/rehabilitation/installation of water and sanitation infrastructure (boreholes with hand pumps, latrines construction/repairs, hand washing stations, water quality testing, etc.) and other technical services hired to perform work under the projects.
• Provide coaching, tailor individual development plans, and complete performance management for direct reports. Monitor and assess performance to ensure capacity for successful support of high quality programming.
• Collect information on staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and monitor capacity building and technical support activities to ensure effective impact.
• Complete project documentation for assigned activities. Assist with identifying information for case studies and reports on promising practices.

Scope: You will be supervising 2 Construction Quality Field Officers directly

Travel Required: 50% of time (day trips)

Key Working Relationships:

• Supervisory:      Construction Quality Field officers
• Internal:     Regional/HQ technical advisors, Head of Programs, WASH and other line managers, Project Coordinator, WASH Specialist, SILC Specialists, M&E Specialist, and other WASH Officers
• External:      Government partners and Service providers (Contractors)

Required Skills or Experience

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:
Education and Experience:

• University degree in Civil Engineering, Hydrogeology, Sanitation Engineering, Water Resources Management or WASH related discipline.  Master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the field of sanitation and hygiene promotion for an NGO. Additional training in Health Education would be a plus.
• Experience in participatory action planning and community engagement, including CLTS.
• Experience in WASH infrastructure development, operation and maintenance
• Experience monitoring projects and collecting relevant data preferred.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of local language (Mapruli, Frafra and Talen) would be an advantage.

Personal Skills:

• Observation, active listening and analysis skills with ability to make sound judgment.
• Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners and community members.
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities.
• Proactive, results-oriented and service-oriented.
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of local level issues.

Required/Desired Foreign Language:

• Not applicable

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

• These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
  • Serves with Integrity
  • Models Stewardship
  • Cultivates Constructive Relationships
  • Promotes Learning

MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Competencies:

• Accountability: Improving our accountability to a range of stakeholders through increased participation, transparent communication, responsive feedback mechanisms, and adherence to internal and external quality standards and requirements.
• Analysis and Critical Thinking: Engaging with data, challenging biases and assumptions, posing thoughtful questions, pursuing deeper understanding of evidence through reflection and perspective-taking, and making informed programming decisions.
• Monitoring: Implementing monitoring activities, including timely collection of quality data, set up and maintenance of databases, facilitation of participatory reflection on monitoring results, and submission of timely progress reports.