National WASH Consultant (Engineer)

National WASH Consultant (Engineer), NOC, Kampala, Uganda. 11.5 Months (Ugandan Nationals Only)

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

In order to provide sustainable access to WASH services in communities and to improve the enabling environment in schools and health facilities, UNICEF Uganda is supporting construction of WASH facilities spread over 18 districts in three zonal offices supported through 10 grants. These constructions require effective planning, monitoring and quality assurance to ensure timely completion within the stipulated quality standards and costs. To this end, UNICEF Uganda will hire a national WASH consultant-engineer to support UNICEF country office and zonal offices of Moroto, Gulu and Mbarara during the planning, tendering and construction of the water and sanitation systems.

PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT:

The national WASH consultant will support the planning, organizing and directing technical feasibility studies, documentation of WASH construction projects, including those under climate resilience innovation approaches,  documentation of progress of construction activities within the timeline specified for each project including, reviewing of  detailed design and documentation, preparing tendering documents , construction and supervision for quality assurance.

The national WASH consultant will work under the direct supervision of the WASH Specialist in Kampala and the overall guidance of the WASH Manager. The incumbent will also closely interact with and support the various thematic leads under WASH team at Kampala and the WASH specialists in the three UNICEF zonal offices in the area of WASH construction. The position will be based in Kampala with frequent travel to project sites for construction progress monitoring and quality assurance.

SCOPE OF WORK:

Preparation of Bill of Quantities, bidding documents and evaluation

• Review the BOQs and drawing prepared at the Zonal office and /or prepare BOQ and drawings and ensure that these are in accordance with required technical specifications.. (Deliverable: a) Input provided on BOQs within 3 days of receipt from Zonal office either to Zone office for correction or to Thematic Leads for processing b) Design and BOQs developed for new WASH system
• Support technical evaluations of construction bids and other related documents including prequalification of contractors.

 (Deliverable: Provide evaluation input within three working days of the documents received)

Quality assurance of construction projects, monitoring and reporting

• Ensure detailed records are kept enabling real time tracking of construction progress (Deliverable: Fortnightly update of progress of construction projects supported by UNICEF in Uganda)
• Advise UNICEF on any potential risks and propose corrective measure regarding construction timeline, budget and quality of the works. (Deliverable: Fortnightly update on Red Flags and areas of concern to the respective thematic leads)
• Conduct spot checks of selected sites to ensure quality and agreed/established supervisory regulations and documentations are being complied with. (Deliverables: At least one week per month spent on technical spot checks of works carried out; to be reported monthly.)
• Provide technical guidance to any technical challenge encountered by the Zonal team related to WASH Construction projects (Deliverable: Technically advice provided within 48 hours of receipt of requests from the Zonal office )
• Technical Review of WASH construction project reports submitted by the contractors through the zonal offices and ensure deliverables have been met based on contract provision.
• and ensure deliverables have been met based on contract provision.

(Deliverable: Report of Technical review of  reports  on construction projects; and recommendations for corrective measures.

Feasibility studies and design of water supply and sanitation system

• Provide technical backstopping for consultants who will be carrying out feasibility studies under the Climate Resilience and R-WASH projects. (Deliverable: Field trip Reports and Reports of consultation at national/regional/district /community level)
• Carry out community consultations and Prepare Design and Bill of Quantity for innovative dual water system under Climate Resilient WASH initiative (Deliverable: a) Design of Water supply system along with BOQs and other related technical documents b) Process documentation of community consultation which will feed to deliverable under 4 i)
• Carry out documentation of innovative approaches under the Climate resilience projects.  (Deliverable: ) Documentation of CR WASH Project implemented in Karamoja ii) Process Documentation of a) ground/surface water monitoring system for scaling up  b) Innovative dual use water supply system
• Working with Thematic leads Provide technical input finalizing the design of WASH facilities for Schools and Health Facilities. Provide technical input to communication section colleagues in developing appropriate communication material on technical designs (gender and disable friendly) of WASH facilities for community, schools and Health facilities (Deliverable: Finalized Design of WASH facilities and communication material)

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

The selected Consultant should have:

Education:  

• A master’s Degree in Structural Engineering/ Hydrology/ construction Management/ or a relevant technical discipline related to Design/ Construction from a recognized University / Institution.
• A Bachelor’s Degree Civil Engineering.

Work experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience working on supervising construction projects especially water supply and sanitation construction projects in a project management and coordination capacity
• Experience of working with the UN systems in similar function is highly desirable.
• Proficiency with Autocad (or drafting equivalent software), GIS software, excel and MS word is required, familiarity with other software programs is a plus including designing a water supply system
• A high level of interpersonal, management skills, integrity and ability to work with complex teams is required.
• Proven ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines with minimum supervision is required.
• Fluency in written and verbal English.

Skills and abilities:

• Proven skills in strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; Proficient in English language (both writing and spoken)
• Effective organizational skills; high drive for results;
• High commitment; Teamwork and strong interpersonal and intercultural skills;
• Computer literacy especially with Excel and related skills of managing data is required.

Desirable:

• Understanding of issues and challenges in the areas of WASH in institutions and communities.
• Understanding of the UN procedures
• Understanding of Government Systems
• Understanding of the donor policy and projects especially those related to KOICA, Iceland, Dutch, SIDA

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses).  This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work (extensive experience in writing donor reports, in compiling and editing annual reports for various UNICEF offices).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.