Conseiller(ère) Technique I – WASH Infrastructures

Job Posting Organization:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Established to save, protect, and transform lives in need, CRS operates in more than 100 countries, providing assistance without regard to race, religion, or nationality. The organization focuses on various areas including emergency response, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding. CRS is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation, and it welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds who share its values and commitment to serving those in need. The agency's processes and policies reflect its dedication to maintaining the rights and dignity of all individuals, particularly those who are most vulnerable. CRS prioritizes hiring local candidates from the regions in which it operates, ensuring that its workforce is representative of the communities it serves. The organization also emphasizes the importance of integrity, collaboration, and personal responsibility among its staff, fostering an environment of continuous learning and improvement.

Job Overview:
As a Technical Advisor I – WASH Infrastructures, you will provide technical support and guidance to country program teams and partners in the design and implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure interventions. Your role will be crucial in ensuring that these interventions adhere to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles, donor requirements, and recognized sector best practices. You will contribute to the application and adaptation of WASH standards, tools, and approaches in humanitarian, nexus, and development contexts. Your work will enhance the quality of program design, implementation, learning, and capacity strengthening, ensuring that WASH interventions are effective, safe, contextually appropriate, and compliant with CRS and humanitarian standards. This position requires a proactive approach to problem-solving and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams to achieve programmatic goals.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Your key responsibilities will include supporting the development and implementation of WASH strategies, standards, tools, and best practices to ensure effective interventions involving partners, donors, and government authorities. You will contribute to a multisectoral approach that integrates cross-cutting protection and disaster risk reduction principles. Providing technical support to project teams (including WASH SPOs and field teams) both remotely and on-site will be essential to ensure the quality of WASH interventions. You will assist in the technical design of WASH infrastructures (water, sanitation, drainage, etc.), including validating designs, BOQs, and technical specifications. Collaborating with field teams, you will contribute to or validate technical assessments (feasibility studies, hydrogeological surveys, site analyses) to ensure compliance with SPHERE standards, CRS norms, and local regulations while adapting to operational constraints. Advising on implementation modalities (construction, rehabilitation, temporary solutions, water trucking, etc.) based on emergency contexts will be part of your role. You will also support technical supervision of works by identifying risks, quality gaps, and recommending corrective actions. Close collaboration with the Health and Hygiene Promotion SPO will be necessary to ensure coherence between infrastructures and community behaviors. You will contribute to integrating gender, protection, and inclusion aspects into the design and localization of infrastructures. Additionally, you will provide technical support for procurement processes by validating technical specifications and advising on supplier/contractor selection. You will assist in developing or adapting technical tools, guides, SOPs, and standards for WASH activities, analyze programmatic and technical data to improve decision-making, and support teams in identifying innovative and context-appropriate technical solutions. Your contributions will extend to drafting or revising technical sections of concept notes and project proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and technical requirements. Participation in technical coordination mechanisms (clusters, WASH working groups) and representing CRS when necessary will also be part of your responsibilities. You will support the technical capacity strengthening of CRS teams (including WASH SPOs and field engineers) and partners, develop and facilitate technical training on WASH engineering standards, quality control, and infrastructure management, and provide ongoing technical coaching and support to field teams. Collecting, reviewing, and analyzing programmatic and technical data, documenting lessons learned and best practices, and contributing to internal learning and knowledge-sharing efforts will be essential. You will also support the analysis of project technical performance and propose improvements, contributing to technical and programmatic reports related to WASH activities. Collaboration with other technical teams to promote integrated and multisectoral programmatic approaches will be expected.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a strong command of MS Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and excellent knowledge of WASH engineering principles and international technical standards. A good understanding of WASH technical principles and concepts, as well as a general understanding of related disciplines, is necessary to ensure an appropriate multisectoral approach. Familiarity with capacity strengthening approaches and best practices is also important. You should possess solid analytical skills and the ability to propose contextually appropriate technical solutions. The ability to influence, advise, and support teams without direct hierarchical links is crucial, along with excellent communication, training, and coaching skills. Strong technical writing abilities and the capacity to work collaboratively and develop effective working relationships with colleagues and partners from diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds are essential. You should demonstrate good analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage priorities effectively. The capacity to work in complex and high-pressure contexts, along with a proactive, results-oriented approach capable of identifying innovative, practical, context-appropriate, and economically viable solutions, is required. Strong presentation, facilitation, and technical writing skills are also necessary.

Educational Background:
A Master's degree in a technical field related to WASH is required. Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, hydrogeology, environmental engineering, or a related field. A minimum of 5 to 8 years of relevant experience is necessary, including significant experience in WASH engineering in humanitarian contexts. Candidates should have at least 5 years of relevant professional experience with progressive responsibilities in water and sanitation-related fields. Experience with AutoCAD or other engineering, hydraulic, or hydrogeological modeling software is also required, along with experience in programmatic monitoring and evaluation and data analysis.

Experience:
Candidates should have a minimum of 5 to 8 years of relevant experience, with significant experience in WASH engineering in humanitarian contexts. A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience with progressive responsibilities in water and sanitation-related fields is required. Experience working with an international NGO or in humanitarian or fragile contexts is preferred. Familiarity with CRS programming contexts or similar faith-based/international organizations is a plus. Knowledge of SPHERE standards, WHO guidelines, and WASH cluster guidelines is also desirable.

Languages:
Fluency in French is required, with strong proficiency in English highly desired. Knowledge of Swahili and relevant local languages is strongly preferred. The position may require travel up to 60% in project intervention areas and other areas as necessary.

Additional Notes:
The position is full-time and may involve significant travel to project intervention areas. The successful candidate is expected to adhere to CRS' Code of Conduct and safeguarding policies. CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prioritizes candidates who are citizens or permanent residents of the countries where CRS offices are located. The anticipated duration of the assignment for expatriate candidates will be informed by a term limit based on the job type and level, as well as the agency's needs. All offers are contingent on the selected candidate's ability to legally work in the location where the position is to be performed.