Consultant Job Vacancy at WaterAid Nigeria, 9th November, 2018

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping the poor and marginalised people break free from poverty and disease, and change their lives for good through improved access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Since 1995, WaterAid has dedicatedly worked with the governments and people of Nigeria to support the implementation of sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions and programmes.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant – Capacity Strengthening of CSOs Working in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector

Location: Plateau

Background/Project Summary
The 2-year, EU-funded Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organisations (TAC) project is aimed at improving the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to drive the governance of public sector Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) service delivery in Plateau state and in Riyom and Shendam Local Government Areas (LGA).  This is expected to be achieved by continuous training and coaching to understand policy development, support development of sector documents, participate in governance processes, train community structures on WASH rights demand, implement electoral advocacy campaign, and facilitate budget advocacy.

A capacity assessment has just been concluded which adds to the evidence base as to programmatic areas CSOs will require technical support on to drive improved WASH governance in the state. The CSOs have over the years gained a basic working skill and knowledge of community mobilization, advocacy and other activities that support citizen engagement. However, they lack the technical skills required to conduct policy advocacy, systematically apply equity and inclusion principles and the human rights based approach to WASH advocacy and programming. They also require capacity support to strengthen their internal structures, raise funds and remain sustainable post-project.

The EU-TAC project hereby invites applications from highly resourceful, motivated and experienced professionals to serve as capacity strengthening consultants to facilitate training of CSOs and provide longer-term technical support to the trained CSOs.

The thematic gaps identified as areas the CSOs require support on are:

• Human rights based approach in WASH programming,
• Equity and inclusion in WASH programming,
• Fund raising to resource interventions,
• Financial management processes,
• Organizational planning, monitoring, reporting and documentation.
• Performance tracking and monitoring of the WASH sector.
• Policy-focused advocacy in WASH and sector accountability advocacy (including budget tracking)

As such, WaterAid Nigeria is planning two training sessions as the highlight of a capacity improvement support, that applies quality improvement and adult learning approaches to strengthen the weak capacity of the CSO in the areas of focus. The trainings will serve as the first step in delivering tailor made capacity support in the areas listed above to CSOs working on WASH issues in Plateau state over a two-year period. The Capacity Strengthening consultant will lead in delivering the training and post-training support.

Objective and Scope
The main objectives for the capacity building consultancy are to:

• Equip participants with the basic skills that will be used to advocate effectively for improved WASH governance in the state.
• Build organisational capacity of CSOs to sustainably supporting the WASH sector after the project
• Equip CSOs with the requisite skill to implement and drive project activities in 2 LGAs; Riyom and Shendam
• Develop, implement and track action plans with resource persons to ensure quality capacity support to CSOs is provided over the period of the project

Duration:

• The trainings are planned to hold in December, 2018 and January 2019 while post-training support will run from December 2018 to July 2020. Those to be trained are civil society members of the NEWSAN Plateau coalition.

Supervision and Ongoing support:

• The consultancy will be conducted under the supervision of the Sector Support and Capacity Manager to deliver this capacity strengthening project in Plateau state. Support from the Coordinator, Policy and Sector Capacity, EU accountant and the Policy Analyst will be provided for successful training sessions.

Terms of Reference:

• Develop training materials and presentation slides for the 4-day workshop
• Develop and share workshop agenda and a detailed checklist of training requirements.
• Coordinate and deliver expected training outcomes within the training duration
• Develop and facilitate training evaluation and action plans for participants. This will be used to support and mentor partners post training.

Qualifications

• At least a Master’s degree in Political Science, Public Administration, Public Policy, Law, Economics, Social Sciences or such related fields.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience or Bachelor’s Degree and 8 years of experience post qualification experience in any of the above areas
• Expertise in training and capacity building approaches on identified thematic areas.
• Experience in sector governance/reforms planning & implementation -in any sector (WASH sector experience will be a distinct advantage).
• Proven experience in working for or with civil society to drive a reform agenda
• Experience in designing social accountability tools, mobilizing the key stakeholders including media, the political leadership and consumers to support reforms
• Knowledge and experience in designing gender inclusive development programs.

Key Deliverables

• It is expected at the end of the trainings, the civil society participants will have developed working knowledge and skills in the thematic areas for programing.
• It is expected that the CSOs will need time to gain confidence in applying the knowledge gained over a longer period however; through a quality improvement process, and they will be provided continuous support in delivering programme activities.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV/Resume and a Proposal stating their interest in the consultancy, the Methodology of delivering the consultancy and a Budget to: ChiugoNwangwu@wateraid.org