Water and Sanitation Regional Senior Consultant

Background of this search:

The Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) is looking for a professional to carry out the activities of a Division regional senior consultant for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The consultant will provide specialized support and coordination to country governments and other constituencies in Latin America and the Caribbean to maximize the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) plans and programs.

The consultant will work primarily with Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partners to support countries in reaching their water, sanitation, and hygiene-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, by encouraging a focus on the most marginalized and excluded from WASH services.

The consultant will also promote, give visibility to and represent the partnership when necessary, mobilize support to respond efficiently to the need of countries and help to prepare SWA’s high-level meetings.

The consultant will be accountable to both Sanitation and Water for All’s Chief Executive Officer, as well as to the WSA Division Chief for all substantive, functional and delivery of tasks and will be under the supervision of IDB’s Water and Sanitation Specialist in the country office for daily management and administrative operations.

The team’s mission: 

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank (“IDB” or “Bank”) is the main source of financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides loans, grants, guarantees, policy advice and technical assistance to the public and private sectors of its borrowing countries.

Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) is a global partnership of governments, external support agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector, united in their commitment to delivering universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. Established in 2010, the SWA partnership works towards this goal by strengthening collaboration, improving performance, ensuring mutual accountability and seeking increased political support and financing for WASH.  The partnership, currently with over 200 partners, is governed by a Steering Committee, elected by its members. UNICEF is a founder member of SWA, sits on SWA’s Steering Committee, and has hosted SWA’s Secretariat since 2010.

The Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) of the Inter-American Development Bank will host SWA’s Regional High-Level Expert for Latin America and the Caribbean in the modality of an IDB consultancy. The consultant will be based at one of the IDB’s Country Offices in Costa Rica; Peru or Panama.

What you’ll do:

The selected candidate will:

Support multi-stakeholder country engagement strategies at regional and country levels in the water and sanitation sector.

• Assess and identify strategic opportunities and develop plans for improving engagement with SWA constituencies at country and regional levels;
• Develop mechanisms to ensure regular bilateral follow-up with existing and potential constituencies;
• Identify specific regional and country needs with regional and country-level constituencies.
• Mobilization of SWA Constituencies including External Support Agencies, Research and Learning, CSOs, and Private Sector at country and regional levels to respond to the needs of present and future partners in the region;

Support activities to support the Water and Sanitation Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean.  Some of the activities may include:

• Support the systematization of information to address the WASH-related targets of the SDGs;
• Support countries in addressing financing shortfalls in the sector, including by 1) supporting the development, agreement and consistent following of sector financing plans, with financial expenditure reports easily accessible to the public, 2) making the case for increasing government budget allocations to WASH, 3) making the case for better alignment of external support agencies to national WASH plans; 4) support countries’ engagement with and high level participation in SWA’s Sector and Finance Ministers Meetings
• Support the team working with countries to address inequalities in access to WASH, including by 1) mapping of extent and nature of inequalities, 2) developing strategies to specifically address them, and 3) regularly report on progress;
• Support the team working with countries in encouraging an alignment between the plans/activities of development partners as well as regional commitments with those of the government, as well as partners’ participation in government-led coordination mechanisms; Support the team working with countries in the development and management of national WASH monitoring frameworks, with indicators aligned with those defined by the SDGs, as well as encourage ways in which that data can inform governments’ strategic decisions.
• Support partners in the region in elaboration, tabling and following up to commitments in the context of SWA’s Mutual Accountability Mechanism;

Support in country present and future SWA partners in the preparations for regional meetings aimed at aligning efforts towards the achievement of the water, sanitation and hygiene related targets of the SDGs

• Ensure SWA partners in the region are well informed about objectives, timing and logistics of SWA’s High-level Meetings (HLMs);
• Guide and ensure SWA partners participate and contribute to the HLMs preparatory process, including by identifying relevant regional case-studies to be shared and by engaging in SWA’s Mutual Accountability Mechanism.
• Ensure that background briefing materials are provided to participants, including templates for country and constituency presentations;
• Facilitate and promote in-country, multi-stakeholder dialogues to prepare participants to fully benefit from the meetings;
• Support documentation of the preparatory processes and capture key lessons learned for the future.

What you’ll need:

• Citizenship:  You are either a citizen of one of our 48-member countries with residency or legal permit to work in one of the IDB’s Country members. The consultancy work will be carried out in an IDB member country within the Region where the residence of the selected candidate is located.
• Consanguinity:  You have no family members (up to fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB Group.
• Education:  Master’s degree in water and sanitation-related field, in development studies, public policy/administration or in a relevant area.
• Experience:  A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in the region in sustainable development in general and, preferably, also in water, sanitation and hygiene. An understanding of technical, social and institutional issues relating to water, sanitation and hygiene in low and middle-income countries, both in rural, peri-urban and urban areas. A successful track record of influencing key-decision makers including governments. Knowledge of how regional agencies and key stakeholders operate in the region. A good knowledge of the social, political, policy and institutional environments of countries and the region.
• Languages:  Fluent in Spanish and English. Highly desirable to speak or write fluently French or Portuguese.

Core and technical competencies:

A team player, self-starter, able to work in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-country team. Ability to communicate clearly and persuasively to high level target audiences - both professional/specialist and lay audiences. Experience in establishing contacts at the political level in the region. Experience in convening and organizing multistakeholder meetings and consultations.

Opportunity summary:

• Type of contract: Consultant Full Time.
• Length of contract: 12 months with an option to renew depending on performance.
• Starting date: TBD.
• Location: The consultancy work will be carried out in an IDB member country within the Region where the residence of the selected candidate is located.
• Responsible Person: Principal Specialist INE/WSA.
• Requirements:   You must be a citizen of one of the IDB’s 48 member countries and have no family members currently working at the IDB Group.  

Our culture:   Our people are committed and passionate about improving lives in Latin-America and the Caribbean, and they get to do what they love in a diverse, collaborative and stimulating work environment. We are the first Latin American and Caribbean development institution to be awarded the EDGE certification, recognizing our strong commitment to gender equality. As an employee you can be part of internal resource groups that connect our diverse community around common interests.

Because we are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment, we embrace all diversity and encourage women, LGBTQ+, persons with disabilities, afro-descendants, and indigenous people to apply.

About us :  At the IDB, we’re committed to improving lives. Since 1959, we’ve been a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social, and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. We do more than lending though. We partner with our 48-member countries to provide Latin America and the Caribbean with cutting-edge research about relevant development issues, policy advice to inform their decisions, and technical assistance to improve on the planning and execution of projects. For this, we need people who not only have the right skills, but also are passionate about improving lives.

Our team in Human Resources carefully  reviews all applications.

“Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for our Region, the IDB Group is reviewing its hiring needs and re-prioritizing its areas of talent acquisition. We encourage candidates to continue to apply to the active postings, yet current job openings may be subject to further decisions in terms of timing of the processes, or other actions, in accordance with business needs. Final hiring decisions may also be conditioned to the candidate’s ability to timely relocate to the post of duty at the moment of starting service.”

Additional Information

• External Opening Date: Feb 19, 2021
• External Closing Date: Mar 4, 2021
• External Contact Email: hrsc@iadb.org
• External Contact Name: HR Shared Services
• Job Field: Technical Support

Information

• Location: , Costa Rica

Industry experience

Education: Masters

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Years of experience: 5 to 10 years

Taxonomy

• Consultant
• Environmental Consulting
• Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
• Environmental Engineers & Consultants