Senior Urban Water Specialist

UNOPS helps its partners in the United Nations system meet the world’s needs for building peace, recovering from disaster, and creating sustainable development. UNOPS is known for its ability to implement complex projects in all types of environments around the globe. In an effort to promote organizational excellence, UNOPS seeks highly qualified individuals for the following position:

Vacancy Details

Vacancy Code
UNOPS/2011/SDOC/CSS/VA046 Post Title
Senior Urban Water Specialist

Post Level IICA - Level 3 (International Individual Contractor Agreement) Position Status Non-rotational Project Title Darfur Water Supply Project Org Unit AFO – SDOC

Duty Station Home based with more than 70% travel to Darfur/Khartoum, SUDAN (non-family)

Duration
12 – 15 weeks over 12 months period

Closing Date
August 05th, 2011

Background

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) - Sudan Operations Center (SDOC) is engaged in the implementation of physical infrastructure projects in Sudan, under various donor & Government programs.

The SDOC is engaged by the Department of International Development (DFID) of the UK of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, for the implementation of Darfur urban water supply improvement project. The purpose of the project is to increase the availability and reliability of water sources and supply in the four main urban centres of Darfur: El Fasher, Nyala, El Geneina and Zalingei. The project activities include provision of three-phase power supply to bore fields, drilling and equipping of new bore holes, replacement of under-performing pumps, design and construction of water transfer pipelines and distribution networks, implementation of bulk meters and other operational improvement measures. The project design and implementation commenced in January 2011, with target completion in December 2012.

The Darfur urban water supply improvement project includes a component for an Institutional Strengthening and Performance Benchmarking Study of the four principal Urban Water Administrations (UWAs) in El Fasher, Nyala, El Geneina and Zalingei. The primary activities of this Study are:

a) An operational review and Gap Analysis of the 4 urban water administrations with the view to developing a plan for institutional strengthening of the urban water administrations in order to maximize the operational impacts of the schemes improvement works implemented under DFID funded project and others. b) A Vision Building workshop with local stakeholders to identify the practicalities and difficulties of achieving environmentally and financially sustainable urban water supply in the Darfur towns, the desirable long term outcomes for the UWAs, and the means to reach these objectives. The outputs from this Workshop would provide a focus for the Final Assessment Mission and Final Report. c) A performance indicator assessment of the 4 urban water supply schemes to quantify the effectiveness of the improvement works carried out and the development of appropriate practical performance benchmarking indicators so that the four UWAs can compare relative efficiencies and effectiveness across future years.

UNOPS is soliciting applications from qualified water supply consultants with urban water supply institutional capacity strengthening experience. The proposed consultancy engagement would involve a minimum of 4-5 weeks of field work based in Darfur and approximately 1-2 weeks at the base location (Khartoum or Consultants home country).

Duties and Responsibilities

The incumbent of the post will be responsible for undertaking the following tasks and deliverables, and report to the Project Manager:

2.1 Operational Review of Urban Water Administrations There are significant investments being made at 3 Darfur State urban water supply infrastructures by the Government and various donor funded programs, and the operational coverage is progressively expanding. The current level of operational and technical capacity available at each of the Urban Water Administrations is largely inadequate to ensure long term sustainability of the on-going investments.

Unless measures are taken to effectively improve the Urban Water Administrations capacity, the impacts of the ongoing infrastructure investments will be short lived. The proposed operational review of Urban Water Administrations aims to review the current status and to develop a plan for institutional strengthening. The tasks to be carried out shall include (but not be limited to) the following: • In consultation with the Public Water Corporation of the Government of Sudan, individual States Governments institutions responsible for urban water supply management, and other relevant stakeholders, identify the technical & operational capacity gaps of El Fasher, Nyala, El Geneina & Zaliengi Urban Water Administration institutions. • Carry out field visits to each of the 4 locations and assess the Urban Water Administration’s capacity gaps, constraints, capacity development needs and opportunities. The assessment shall cover both technical and operational aspects including (but not limited to): o Level of water resource monitoring & reporting systems o Competency levels of Urban Water Administration staff o Adequacy of operational assets and systems o Effectiveness of operation & maintenance plans o Safety & environmental protection plans o Tariff collection efficiency and options for increased ‘willingness to pay’ using data and recommendations from other studies o Financial sustainability of the schemes, and any other areas contributing to the development of institutional capacity. • As part of a Baseline Review Report, summarise the principal gaps and needs identified above, and also identify ongoing capacity building initiatives of Urban Water Administrations (by others), and assess the expected outcome impacts on the needs identified. • The Baseline Review Report shall be used as the framework for a 2 day workshop organized and hosted by the Consultant to discuss and resolve key issues identified and will therefore require to be circulated in advance. • As part of the Final Report, develop a comprehensive capacity strengthening plan for the 4 Urban Water Administration Institutions, identifying different levels of priority areas for staged implementation. The plan shall provide the implementation timelines and the funding requirements.
• As part of the Final Report, prepare a recommended action plan for each water administration, draft logical framework and budgets for proposed interventions. 2.2 Stakeholder Workshop The stakeholder workshop will be a forum to discuss the principal gaps and needs identified by the Consultant from the initial (Baseline) Mission. The Consultant shall prepare all necessary material, hand-outs and visual aids required for the workshop. UNOPS shall provide a venue that is logistically convenient at the appropriate time. The conclusions and recommendations of the Workshop shall be formally recorded, and will provide a focus for the direction and recommendations of the Final Report which should follow at the culmination of the second Mission. 2.3 Performance Indicator Assessment and Benchmarking Recommendations

The verification of the effectiveness of the works implemented under DFID funded UNOPS project will require assessment of the corresponding Performance Indicators (PI). There is very limited ‘baseline’ information available on the existing schemes operations or provision for such data collections.

Second, it is necessary to further develop these same indicators (and possibly recommend additional indicators) so that the urban water administrations can themselves compare water resource demand and consumption and operational efficiencies in order to achieve ‘best practice’. The assessment shall include (but is not limited to) the followings: • Review of the available ‘baseline’ data. • The identification of ‘baseline’ values for the proposed performance indicators. • Develop an action plan for the collection of performance indicator data at different stages of the works completion. • Submit a review plan of the performance indicators in order to verify the effectiveness of the rehabilitation works completed. • Make recommendations for future transparent benchmarking data and reporting systems in order that the urban water administrations may effectively monitor their own progress.

2.4 Logistics It is expected that the study shall be conducted across at least two, but possibly three Missions. The first Baseline Assessment Mission is envisaged to occupy some 4 weeks in the field, culminating in a Baseline Review Report that shall be submitted within 4 weeks of completion of the field visits. The Baseline Review Report shall form the basis of the agenda for the Stakeholder Workshop.

The Stakeholder Workshop shall take place within 3 months of the commencement of the study. Depending on external circumstances such as travel logistics, staff availability etc, the Stakeholder Workshop (+ preparation and debriefing) may be a standalone Mission of 1 week, OR may be coupled with the start of the second Final Assessment Mission.

The Final Assessment Mission is envisaged to occupy some 2 weeks in the field and a further 2 weeks of Final Report delivery. The focus of the Mission will be to address the outcomes of the Stakeholder Workshop, dealing with each water administration separately, but establishing common ground and objectives wherever possible. Long-term operational performance benchmarking recommendations across all four water administrations will be a key feature of the Final Report.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

Required Selection Criteria

Competencies

• Ability to travel and work in remote areas of Sudan with limited facilities and difficult working conditions.

Education/Experience/Language

• A Master’s degree in Water Engineering or related discipline, or a relevant Bachelor’s degree plus 2 additional years of relevant work experience is required.
• Additional post graduate qualification in Business Administration and/or Management or relevant fields is desirable. • Minimum 11 years of relevant experience in the water industries. • Good knowledge of urban water supply schemes operations and management is essential. • Experience in carrying out water industry institutional performances reviews and/or capacity development studies is essential. • Ability to conduct stakeholder workshops / presentation skills and report writing skills are highly desirable. • Understanding of urban water administration issues in Darfur is highly desirable. • Knowledge of UNOPS/UN regulations, rules, policies, procedures & practices is desirable. • Fluency in written and oral English required. Knowledge of second UN working language desirable. Submission of Applications

Qualified candidates may submit their application, including a letter of interest, complete Curriculum Vitae and an updated United Nations Personal History Form (P.11) (available on our website), via e-mail to vacanciesSDOCInt@unops.org. Kindly indicate the vacancy number and the post title in the subject line when applying by email.

Additional Considerations

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised level of the post.

For more information on UNOPS, please visit the UNOPS website at www.unops.org.