County WSP Capacity Strengthening Officer – Integrated WASH and Water Services

Purpose of the Position

The Officer will provide hands-on technical assistance, capacity strengthening, coordination and performance monitoring to county governments, WSPs and other water and sanitation service providers.

The Officer will work across urban, peri-urban and rural WASH systems, supporting improvements in institutional performance, infrastructure and operations, customer and revenue systems, investment planning, climate resilience and service sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

WSP capacity strengthening

Conduct WSP and service-provider capacity assessments

Support preparation and implementation of performance-improvement plans.

Strengthen governance and management systems.

Support establishment and monitoring of WSP KPIs.

Coach WSP management and technical teams.

Track implementation of agreed improvement actions.

Technical and operational performance

Support providers to improve:

Water production and distribution;

Network operations;

NRW management;

Water-quality management;

Metering and connections;

Preventive maintenance;

Asset management;

Infrastructure rehabilitation;

Energy efficiency; and

Service reliability and continuity.

Customer and commercial performance

Support improvement of:

Customer databases;

Billing systems;

Revenue collection;

Meter management;

Complaints management;

Customer communication;

Payment systems; and

Commercial-performance monitoring.

Investment planning

Support county and WSP investment planning.

Identify priority infrastructure and service gaps.

Develop technical inputs for investment cases.

Link investment priorities to WSP business plans.

Support preparation of investment-ready project concepts.

Facilitate engagement with financing and private-sector partners.

Rural and small water providers

Support rural and small providers to improve:

Governance;

O&M;

Financial sustainability;

Tariff and revenue systems;

Operator capacity;

Customer management;

Asset management;

Delegated management arrangements; and

Service-level agreements.

County coordination

The Officer will maintain regular engagement with:

County Departments responsible for water/WASH;

WSPs;

Rural water providers;

Community institutions;

Private operators;

Sanitation/FSM actors;

Regulators; and

Other relevant sector stakeholders.

The Officer will maintain a county action tracker and follow up agreed actions to completion.

Sanitation and FSM integration

Working with the relevant sanitation/FSM specialists, the Officer will:

Support county-level coordination of water and sanitation interventions;

Identify service-delivery gaps;

Facilitate linkages with sanitation/FSM providers;

Support integration of sanitation priorities into relevant county/WSP plans; and

Monitor agreed county-level actions.

Climate resilience and sustainability

Integrate:

drought resilience;

climate-risk assessment;

source and infrastructure protection;

water-resource considerations;

energy efficiency;

solarisation where appropriate;

resilient O&M systems; and

long-term financial sustainability

Into county and WSP planning.

Capacity building and knowledge transfer

Deliver and facilitate practical training.

Coach county and WSP staff.

Develop and adapt SOPs, tools and management templates.

Facilitate peer learning.

Document lessons and innovations.

Promote institutional ownership of systems introduced through the programme.

Monitoring and reporting

Maintain county implementation and performance trackers.

Monitor agreed WSP KPIs.

Document technical assistance and capacity-building activities.

Track progress against county action plans.

Identify risks and recommend corrective actions.

Prepare periodic county progress reports.

Provide data and evidence for Pathway 2 reporting.

Key Deliverables

The Officer will be responsible for:

County WSP/Service-Provider Capacity Assessment

County WSP Performance-Improvement Plans

County WSP Action and KPI Tracker

Customer Management and Revenue-System Improvement Actions

Infrastructure and Asset-Management Improvement Actions

DMM/PPCP Development and Operationalisation Actions

County/WSP Investment-Planning and Investment-Readiness Inputs

Capacity-Building and Coaching Records

County Stakeholder Coordination Records

Climate-Resilience and Sustainability Actions

Sanitation and FSM Coordination Actions

Quarterly County Progress Reports

County Institutionalisation and Handover Plan

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Civil/Water Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Natural Resources, Public Health, Development Studies, Social Sciences or any other relevant course with a bearing on water and sanitation;

Postgraduate qualification is an advantage.

Professional registration/membership where applicable is an advantage.

Experience

At least 7 years of relevant professional experience, including:

WASH service delivery in Kenya;

Water sector reforms in Kenya

Demonstrated experience in both urban/peri-urban and rural settings;

WSP or water-service-provider strengthening;

County government engagement;

Water infrastructure, operations or service management;

Institutional capacity strengthening;

Stakeholder/community engagement; and

Implementation of government or donor-supported WASH programmes.

Regional experience

Demonstrated practical experience in Northern Kenya and/or ASAL counties shall be strongly preferred.

Minimum qualifications

BA/BSc/HND , Postgraduate Diploma , Professional Certificate

How to apply

If your career aspirations match this exciting opportunity, please send your curriculum Vitae, motivation letter and contact details of three professional referees to: hr@ruralwater.co.ke

The email subject line will be: Application – County WSP Capacity Strengthening Specialist / Northern Kenya WASH Lead.

The email subject line will be: Application – County WSP Capacity Strengthening Officer – Integrated WASH and Water Services

Interested and qualified? Go to Rural Water Managament Solutions on ruralwater.co.ke to apply

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