WaterAid is an international non-government organisation; determined to make clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene a normal part of everyday life for everyone, everywhere.

To know more, please visit: www.wateraid.org/bd.

We are looking for a dynamic, passionate, and self-driven individual for the position of Technical Specialist for our country office in Bangladesh.

Job purpose

As a key member of the Technical team, this position is responsible for enhancing sectoral and internal capacity in line with organisational strategy, and amplify the reach of assessment/research results along with collaborators/partners. S/he is expected to manage project(s) or specific body of work independently. The position requires high proactiveness to manage a project cycle, including work priorities, tasks, people, project budget, administration, and reporting.

Moreover, this position is responsible for expanding organisational portfolio through dissemination of knowledge, and good practices on attaining water crisis and practice of sustainable technologies in Bangladesh. S/he is expected to understand one’s role and will be responsible for seeking inputs from colleagues of internal and external networks to meet objectives and project deliverables within a specialist area and deadline by maintaining active coordination with Programmes, Business Development and Quality Assurance (BDQA); Policy and Advocacy (PA); Communications, Media, and Campaign (CMC) teams.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct assessments like situation analysis for safely managed water/ sanitation services, technical feasibility studies, detailed technical and environmental impact, and sustainability study
• Contribute to the review and formulation/localisation of organisational and/or national policy/guideline
• Conceptualise different research/action-research aligning country programme strategy and programmes (climate change and universality), SDGs and facilitate conduction of the same by utilising external or internal capacity
• Initiate joint studies/research and contribute to evaluation of practiced; alongside promote WASH technologies and practice through journal/popular articles
• Visit programme/project intervention areas as necessary to assess performance of different pilot and research initiatives and suggest ways forward for necessary improvement of technology/infrastructure, approach/ methodology and facilitate technical documentation etc.
• Strengthen interdepartmental collaboration by coordinating with other teams to ensure necessary support following their need
• Plan and facilitate different capacity enhancement events (eg meeting, training, workshop) and roll out relevant organisational technical policies
• Support technical personnel to build/enhance capacity in designing contextual solutions and assess the performance of different water and sanitation technologies/ interventions, climate resilient interventions etc. implemented under programmes/projects
• Lead biannual/annual/ need based capacity building initiatives for relevant technical personnel at country programme level and its partner
• Organise periodic meeting with relevant technical personnel of country programme
• Provide necessary support to youth focused capacity building engagement/activities to build strong network of advocates for the organisation
• Build/enhance partnership with academia and research organisation to influence WASH & climate agenda be a part of their research work
• Initiate/manage partnership with relevant national and international organisations including academia/institutes to carry forward action research in line with country programme strategy
• Document learnings and publish and/or present significant work/papers in international forum/conference and peer reviewed journals
• Participate in various workshop, seminar, and meeting and represent WaterAid
• Build rapport or maintain liaison with a wide range of development partners and stakeholders to facilitate dialogues on strategic WASH issue
• Support Technical Lead in liaison with WA UK and south Asia region to work collaboratively for learning-sharing of good practices and support relevant study or research as appropriate

Requisite qualifications and experience

Education, knowledge, and experience:

• BSc in Civil, Environmental, Water Resources Engineering or relevant field (with a Master’s in Engineering, Environment, or Development field will be preferred) from reputed university/institute
• 06 (six) years’ of demonstrated working experience in engineering and/or development sector and/or WASH and/or climate change
• Understanding of the issues relating to water, sanitation, and hygiene as well as climate change aspects in national and global context is essential
• Proven experience of designing/implementing (climate resilient) WASH infrastructures and/or research and/or facilitating capacity development initiatives are expected

Skills:

• Excellent computer operating skill, and hands on experience in software/ platform for data collection, analysis, programming, and modelling etc
• Strong analytical skill along with proficient facilitation and presentation skills
• Admirable leadership, interpersonal, facilitation, and presentation skills
• Written and verbal communication skills both in Bangla and English

Competencies: 

• Must be a team player with admirable leadership upholding mutual trust and understanding in a mixed team
• Self-driven, problem solver, and effective communicator
• Capable to work under extreme pressure, and to work independently meeting tight deadlines prioritising works
• Demonstrates gender and cultural awareness
• Ready to undertake extensive field visits as required

How to apply?

If you are passionate to improve lives of the people in the transforming climate context, courageous to bring positive impact through your proficiencies, confident to meet organisation’s expectations and fulfil the above-mentioned requirements please visit the following link and apply:
Technical Specialist

Application deadline: 22 July 2023

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Candidates will have to be ready to go through an extensive selection process. Any lobbying will be considered as disqualification.