Ongoing Recruitment at Rural Water Managament Solutions

Position Information

• Position: County WSP Capacity Strengthening Specialist / Northern Kenya WASH Lead Duty Station: Turkana County, with regular travel to Samburu, Marsabit and West Pokot Programme: TUMAI MAJI – Pathway 2: Water and Sanitation Service Delivery Reports to: Pathway 2/Water and Sanitation Service Delivery Lead Supervises: Three (3) County WSP Capacity Strengthening Officers

Purpose of the Position

• The Specialist will provide technical leadership, supervision, quality assurance and cross-county coordination for WSP capacity strengthening and integrated WASH service delivery under Pathway
• The position will ensure that county-level interventions translate into measurable improvements in WSP performance, service reliability, financial sustainability, investment readiness, institutional capacity and inclusive access to water and sanitation services. Beyond leading System B implementation, the Specialist will contribute to the wider TUMAI MAJI programme by coordinating with Systems A, C and D to align service delivery interventions with basin-level water resource priorities, institutional and governance reforms, and investment mobilisation efforts. The role will also support joint planning, stakeholder engagement, field monitoring, programme learning and reporting, ensuring that interventions across the four systems are complementary and contribute to improved water security and sustainable water and sanitation services in the target ASAL counties.

Key Responsibilities
Technical leadership

• Lead the technical implementation of the WSP capacity-strengthening component.
• Establish common approaches, tools and methodologies for WSP and service-provider strengthening.
• Translate Pathway 2 outputs and indicators into practical county implementation plans.
• Ensure integration of water supply, sanitation/FSM, governance, finance, infrastructure, investment and climate resilience.
• Provide technical advice to the Pathway 2 management team and consortium partners.

Supervision and mentoring

• Directly supervise and mentor the three County WSP Capacity Strengthening Officers.
• Review and approve county workplans and technical deliverables.
• Conduct regular technical supervision visits.
• Identify implementation bottlenecks and coordinate corrective actions.
• Build the officers\' technical capacity and promote peer learning across counties.

WSP performance strengthening
Provide technical oversight on:

• WSP performance assessments;performance-improvement strategies;governance and management;customer-management systems;billing and revenue collection;NRW reduction;operational efficiency;asset management and preventive maintenance;service reliability; andKPI and performance-monitoring systems.

Investment and financial sustainability

• Guide development and implementation of county and WSP water investment plans.
• Ensure investment priorities respond to service gaps, asset condition, climate risks and affordability.
• Support linkage of investment plans with WSP business plans and financial projections.
• Guide development of investment-ready project concepts.
• Coordinate with finance and investment partners on resource mobilisation and private-sector engagement.
• Rural and small-provider service models
• Provide technical guidance on delegated management and other sustainable service-delivery models.
• Support professionalisation of rural and small water providers.
• Promote sustainable O&M, revenue and governance arrangements.
• Guide transition from project-supported systems to sustainable local management.

County institutional strengthening

• Strengthen coordination between county governments, WSPs and other providers.
• Support clarification of institutional roles and accountability.
• Promote institutionalisation of tools, systems and practices.
• Ensure county capacity remains after project completion.

Cross-cutting integration

• Ensure that county interventions incorporate:
• Climate resilience;
• Gender and social inclusion;
• Affordability;
• Digitalisation;
• Innovation;
• Private-sector participation;
• Sanitation/FSM linkages; and
• Environmental and social considerations.

Monitoring, learning and reporting

• Participate in programme inception activities
• Consolidate performance information from the three county officers.
• Maintain a cross-county action and performance tracker.
• Lead technical reviews and learning events.
• Document good practices and lessons from Northern Kenya.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual programme reporting.
• Track progress against Pathway 2 indicators and corrective actions.

Key Deliverables

• The Specialist will produce or oversee:
• WSP Capacity-Strengthening Methodology and Tools
• Consolidated County Implementation Workplans
• County Officer Supervision and Mentoring Plans
• Consolidated WSP Performance-Improvement Tracker
• Cross-County Technical Review Reports
• DMM/PPCP and Investment-Readiness Progress Reports
• Investment Planning and Investment-Readiness Tools
• Cross-County Learning and Knowledge Products
• Quarterly Technical Performance Reports
• Inputs to Annual Programme and Results Reports
• Institutionalisation and Capacity-Transfer Strategy
• Final Technical Handover and Sustainability Package

Minimum qualifications

• Masters degree in Water/Water Resources Engineering, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Development Studies, Public Policy, Management or a related field.
• Relevant Bachelor's degree.
• Professional registration/membership where applicable is an advantage.

Experience

• At least 10 years relevant professional experience, including:
• WASH Service Delivery in Kenya;
• Water Sector Reforms in Kenya;
• Both Urban/Peri-Urban and Rural Water Systems;
• WSP Institutional and Performance Strengthening;
• County Government Engagement;
• Water Infrastructure/Service Operations;
• Governance And Institutional Strengthening;
• Investment Planning and Resource Mobilisation;
• Private-Sector/Service-Provider Engagement; And
• Supervision Or Coordination of Multidisciplinary Teams.

Regional experience

• Demonstrated experience working in Northern Kenya and/or ASAL counties is strongly preferred.
• The candidate should demonstrate the ability to work with county governments, WSPs, rural providers, communities, private-sector actors and development partners.

go to method of application »

Purpose of the Position

• The Officer will provide hands-on technical assistance, capacity strengthening, coordination and performance monitoring to county governments, WSPs and other water and sanitation service providers.
• The Officer will work across urban, peri-urban and rural WASH systems, supporting improvements in institutional performance, infrastructure and operations, customer and revenue systems, investment planning, climate resilience and service sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

 WSP capacity strengthening

• Conduct WSP and service-provider capacity assessments
• Support preparation and implementation of performance-improvement plans.
• Strengthen governance and management systems.
• Support establishment and monitoring of WSP KPIs.
• Coach WSP management and technical teams.
• Track implementation of agreed improvement actions.

Technical and operational performance

• Support providers to improve:
• Water production and distribution;
• Network operations;
• NRW management;
• Water-quality management;
• Metering and connections;
• Preventive maintenance;
• Asset management;
• Infrastructure rehabilitation;
• Energy efficiency; and
• Service reliability and continuity.

Customer and commercial performance

• Support improvement of:
• Customer databases;
• Billing systems;
• Revenue collection;
• Meter management;
• Complaints management;
• Customer communication;
• Payment systems; and
• Commercial-performance monitoring.

Investment planning

• Support county and WSP investment planning.
• Identify priority infrastructure and service gaps.
• Develop technical inputs for investment cases.
• Link investment priorities to WSP business plans.
• Support preparation of investment-ready project concepts.
• Facilitate engagement with financing and private-sector partners.

Rural and small water providers

• Support rural and small providers to improve:
• Governance;
• O&M;
• Financial sustainability;
• Tariff and revenue systems;
• Operator capacity;
• Customer management;
• Asset management;
• Delegated management arrangements; and
• Service-level agreements.

County coordination

• The Officer will maintain regular engagement with:
• County Departments responsible for water/WASH;
• WSPs;
• Rural water providers;
• Community institutions;
• Private operators;
• Sanitation/FSM actors;
• Regulators; and
• Other relevant sector stakeholders.
• The Officer will maintain a county action tracker and follow up agreed actions to completion.

Sanitation and FSM integration

• Working with the relevant sanitation/FSM specialists, the Officer will:
• Support county-level coordination of water and sanitation interventions;
• Identify service-delivery gaps;
• Facilitate linkages with sanitation/FSM providers;
• Support integration of sanitation priorities into relevant county/WSP plans; and
• Monitor agreed county-level actions.

Climate resilience and sustainability

• Integrate:
• drought resilience;
• climate-risk assessment;
• source and infrastructure protection;
• water-resource considerations;
• energy efficiency;
• solarisation where appropriate;
• resilient O&M systems; and
• long-term financial sustainability
• Into county and WSP planning.

Capacity building and knowledge transfer

• Deliver and facilitate practical training.
• Coach county and WSP staff.
• Develop and adapt SOPs, tools and management templates.
• Facilitate peer learning.
• Document lessons and innovations.
• Promote institutional ownership of systems introduced through the programme.

Monitoring and reporting

• Maintain county implementation and performance trackers.
• Monitor agreed WSP KPIs.
• Document technical assistance and capacity-building activities.
• Track progress against county action plans.
• Identify risks and recommend corrective actions.
• Prepare periodic county progress reports.
• Provide data and evidence for Pathway 2 reporting.

Key Deliverables

• The Officer will be responsible for:
• County WSP/Service-Provider Capacity Assessment
• County WSP Performance-Improvement Plans
• County WSP Action and KPI Tracker
• Customer Management and Revenue-System Improvement Actions
• Infrastructure and Asset-Management Improvement Actions
• DMM/PPCP Development and Operationalisation Actions
• County/WSP Investment-Planning and Investment-Readiness Inputs
• Capacity-Building and Coaching Records
• County Stakeholder Coordination Records
• Climate-Resilience and Sustainability Actions
• Sanitation and FSM Coordination Actions
• Quarterly County Progress Reports
• County Institutionalisation and Handover Plan

Qualifications and Experience

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil/Water Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Natural Resources, Public Health, Development Studies, Social Sciences or any other relevant course with a bearing on water and sanitation;
• Postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• Professional registration/membership where applicable is an advantage.

Experience

• At least 7 years of relevant professional experience, including:
• WASH service delivery in Kenya;
• Water sector reforms in Kenya
• Demonstrated experience in both urban/peri-urban and rural settings;
• WSP or water-service-provider strengthening;
• County government engagement;
• Water infrastructure, operations or service management;
• Institutional capacity strengthening;
• Stakeholder/community engagement; and
• Implementation of government or donor-supported WASH programmes.
• Regional experience
• Demonstrated practical experience in Northern Kenya and/or ASAL counties shall be strongly preferred.