Senior Manager: Water Security, Partnership and Implementation, Africa at C40 Cities

Position Description

The Senior Manager will report into the C40 Head of Implementation in Africa. They will also work very closely with the Director of Climate Resilience, Adaptation and the Adaptation Implementation Specialist seconded to the Urban Municipal Developemnt Fund (UMDF) under the C40-AfDB collaboration, to support the implementation of adaptation projects in C40 African Cities. Broadly, they will:

• Bring technical as well as managerial skills, demonstrated in the field of climate adaptation and water management, particularly in working with cities in Africa.
• Support C40 African Cities on their regional water priority action programs.
• Advise on the advancement of water resilience in the Africa region by supporting C40 African cities, build ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ resilience to climate-related water hazards like flooding and droughts; and ensuring impactful and scalable water resilience practices are implemented within C40 African Cities.
• Support the growth of C40’s water programmes and partnerships in Africa- between C40 Cities as well as private sector organisations to generate new and innovative solutions, related to water action implementation and poverty reduction.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Leverage existing benchmarking approaches to undertake a needs assessment (and benchmarking) of C40’s 13 African cities, based on their climate action plans, risks assessments and current capacity and political context.
• Deliver technical assistance directly as well as through peer-to-peer learning between cities, to help selected C40 African cities address the gaps and challenges identified during the needs assessment in order to improve the water management enabling environment and advance implementation in the city. For example, the current Aarhus-Tshwane City partnership on improving water security in Tshwane, which C40 is looking to expand to new cities.
• Support water security budgeting and financing processes in selected C40 African cities through undertaking operations and maintenance forecasting, cost-benefit analyses, cost recovery assessments, developing financial plans and supporting advancements in city procurement.
• Offer upstream support for water security projects from preparing a pipeline of mature projects that unlock access to large-scale capital funding, to building capacity, understanding the business case for projects; and to developing potential financing sources and financing options.
• Help C40 Africa cities mobilise and access downstream finance for water and poverty reduction projects, including through UMDF.
• Lead the development and implementation of the Mayoral statements on Water security in Africa released by African Mayors and C40’s Africa Water Security Forum.
• Develop and support the fundraising strategy for the Water Secure African Cities programme, and other water and adaptation projects.

Person Specification:

• Substantial experience working in or with government, business or NGO sectors with a focus on water security, climate adaptation, inclusion, sustainability, and experience working with or within municipal governments; experience in engaging in vertical integration processes and engaging with national authorities is desirable.
• Experience working in the African context on climate action, water security, sustainability and/or water management.
• Technical expertise in climate adaptation planning, delivery, finance and monitoring.
• Understanding and familiarity Climate Action Plan (CAP) of C40 African cities will be an asset.
• Passionate about the mission of C40 and have a strong interest in helping cities overcome their sustainability challenges, particularly water related challenges.
• Experience in fundraising and project management, including project development, scheduling, budgeting and management of subcontractors and sub-consultants.
• International experience, particularly working across different cultures, languages, and time zones is highly desirable.
• Language Skills: English and French (required); preference given to those that speak additional languages.
• Excellent analytical problem-solving and strategic thinking capabilities and attention to detail for a delivery-oriented approach.
• Self-solve attitude to problems.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to engage professionally with C40 and African City staff.