Business Improvement Advisor – Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity, Bukavu, Congo (Kinshasa)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – funded Sustainable Water and Sanitation Systems Activity (SWASSA) in Democratic Republic of Congo, implemented by Tetra Tech International Development (www.tetratech.com/intdev) is currently accepting expressions of interest for a Business Improvement Advisor (Advisor). This position will be located in the secondary office in Bukavu, South Kivu, and s/he will report to the Business Improvement Manager who is based in Goma.

The Business Improvement Advisor will be part of a team implementing specific activities that result in increased financial sustainability and operational reliability of water and sanitation utilities/ service providers. S/he will join the Market Systems Development (MSD) team and work towards improving the capacity of supply chain actors to respond to demand for water and sanitation service delivery. The Advisor will also be engaged in a wide variety of technical activities designed to expand and improve water service delivery, including, but not limited to development of drinking water service delivery systems and capacity building/ training for water service providers.

Responsibilities:

* Support organizational capacity assessments of water and sanitation service providers to understand their technical, administrative, financial, and commercial capabilities.

* Design capacity building plans to improve core business functions such as human resources; financial management and accounting; costs management; sales; customer service; technical management; and system maintenance for water service providers.

* Implement capacity building plans and facilitate trainings and workshops to address key areas of weakness for water services providers.

* Support development of financial models and assessment of financial viability of the business models recommended for each site for implementation by SWASSA. Contribute to the development of business plans for water service providers.

* Support planning and development of awareness raising campaigns designed to engage with existing and potential private water service providers and other actors within the value chain.

* Support implementation of market-based public-private partnership contracts and procurement processes for water service delivery to communities including coordination and capacity building for governing entities.

* Link the SWASSA activity with market actors and other key stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector.

* Liaise with international/ local STTA providing guidance on specific improvement business areas.

Qualifications:

* Possess a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, or other relevant field; Master’s degree preferred.

* Must have at least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in small and medium enterprise start-up, development, and management; business plans development; capacity building programs design and implementation; and business efficiency improvement.

* Familiarity with water utilities/ service providers’ operations preferred.

* Knowledge of DRC government’s laws and policies relevant to the water sector, including procurement regulations and policies preferred.

* Experience working with donor-funded projects and with different partners in market development.

* Strong communication and analytical skills, with the ability to write well-structured technical reports and to perform critical reviews of business plans.

* Ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment.

* Must be computer literate (in Microsoft Office applications such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.); strong skills in Microsoft Excel required.

* Fluency in written and spoken French and/or Swahili is required; proficiency in English is preferred.

* Experience working in Democratic Republic of Congo preferred.