Senior WASH Officer

Established in response to the Syrian conflict, Big Heart Foundation is a Syrian-led, non-profit NGO founded in 2013, which aims to alleviate human suffering through the impartial delivery of humanitarian and development programs. Big Heart provides assistance & services to conflict affected populations, including essential food and Non-Food Items (NFI), Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Livelihoods, and Education services. We specialize in the delivery of targeted aid to highly vulnerable populations in areas that are difficult to reach and correspondingly most under-served.

The Senior WASH Officer (SWO) is responsible for the planning, implementation and reporting of all WASH programming, supported by the Programs Coordinator. The SWO will lead on development of the WASH program and ensure coordination, planning, monitoring and management of WASH program activities. This will involve working closely with partners and stakeholders (in particular, Water Units) and with Big Heart M&E staff to ensure timely and effective monitoring and evaluation of WASH activities and impact. The SWO will be responsible for day-to-day program implementation and for ensuring that the program effectively and efficiently achieves its objectives in accordance with Big Heart’s guidelines and principles in addition to partner and donor requirements

Project Management

· Develop detailed activity plans in line with the WASH program objectives, ensuring that those activity plans are implemented and any expected delays and / or modifications are communicated and discussed in a timely manner with the Programs Coordinator.

· Monitor performance of the WASH program in terms of outputs against activity plans and take all-necessary action, in association with the Program Coordinator, to ensure the program achieves its objectives within the allotted time and budget and to quality;

· Lead on the technical design of new WASH projects and proposal development; ensuring these are informed by an accurate understanding of priority needs and gaps in Big Heart’s areas of operation;

· Ensure continual and effective monitoring of all WASH program activities, including complete and accurate records and supporting documentation is filed and clear feedback is provided to field staff on necessary changes or improvements required to ensure project activities meet stated objectives and deliver maximum benefit to targeted beneficiaries;

· Work closely with WASH project partners (including Local Councils and Water Units) to ensure project objectives and activity plans are clearly understood and adhered to, and that agreed roles and responsibilities are met by Big Heart and project partners;

· Ensure that beneficiaries, local authorities, and local staff are represented in program planning and evaluation;

· Ensure effective coordination, information sharing and liaison with other WASH actors operational in Big Heart areas, identifying opportunities for complementarity and reducing the risk of duplication.

Compliance

· Day-to-day project implementation and for ensuring that activities effectively and efficiently achieve stated objectives in accordance with Big Heart’s guidelines, humanitarian principles and donor requirements.

· Ensure complete and accurate documentation of all project activities in line with Big Heart policies and donor requirements.

· Work with the Programs Coordinator, Programs Information and Grants departments to ensure accurate and up to date data is available for all project activities, and support in the production of quality donor and internal reports.

· Ensure adherence to the financial guidelines as per Big Heart policies.

· Ensure compliance against all donor requirements, including timely quality reporting, as applicable to the project.

Coordination with other departments

· Coordinate with relevant staff in Turkey and Syria on the project needs in relation to support from Operations, Finance and HR.

· Work closely with the procurement department to ensure that there are no delays in procurement and delivery of WASH supplies required for the program

· Ensure effective coordination, information sharing and liaison with other actors operational in Big Heart areas, identifying opportunities for complementarity and reducing the risk of duplication.

· Work with Big Heart’s M&E team to ensure timely and effective monitoring and evaluation of project activities and impact, and on the design and implementation of need and other assessments

HR Management

· Direct management of Big Heart field staff (Turkey and Syria) assigned to WASH program, including ensuring that all staff have clearly defined job descriptions, work plans and understand their responsibilities;

· Ensure appropriate HR planning, training and resource allocation as required for the successful implementation of program objectives;

· Identify staff capacity building requirements and work with the Programs Coordinator and HR Manager/HR Officer to design and deliver effective training, mentoring and other activities to address identified capacity gaps.

· Ensure appropriate HR planning in coordination with the HR Manager, training and resource allocation as required for the successful implementation of project objectives.

· Ensure that policies and guidelines as laid down in Big Hearts manuals and policies are adhered to at all times, in collaboration with the HR Officer.

Quality control

· Coordinate with the M&E team to ensure the development and implementation of appropriate M&E and program management tools and systems as well as on community feedback mechanisms;

· Improve the quality of services provided through support and supervision of key staff, analysis and dissemination of M&E data and lessons learnt, and review of Big Heart and other best practice guidelines

Others

· Other related tasks at the request of Line Manager.

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

· Good skills at prioritizing tasks.

· Excellent interpersonal skills and relationship building skills with the ability to interact well with people of all backgrounds.

· Flexible and creative approach with a proven ability to resolve issues and identify solutions;

· Enthusiastic, flexible about working long hours and keen to work hard to achieve the objectives of the program;

· Strong personal commitment to beneficiary accountability and humanitarian principles;

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

· Understanding of water and sanitation provision in the Syrian context.

· Minimum 3-5 years’ work experience in a relevant sector, prior experience working with a humanitarian organisation is desirable.

· Experience of staff management

· Proven ability to build the capacity of local organisations an advantage.

· Experience of working in Syria, knowledge of Aleppo governorates a distinct advantage

· Demonstrable experience of project cycle management

· Demonstrable experience in capacity building and training

· Strong computer skill required

· Ability to travel within Turkey and international is a must

· Ability to make adhoc trips to Syria when required

LANGUAGE REQUIRED

Languages: Excellent communication skills in English and Arabic

EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

Degree level qualification in engineering, public and / or environmental health or other related discipline