County Coordinator – DRIP FUNDI At Millennium Water Alliance

The Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) www.mwawater.orgis a permanent global alliance of leading humanitarian, research, and business organizations that convene a trusted network and serve as a hub for collective impact, accelerate learning, and influencepriorities and funding to scale sustained WASH services and resilience globally. MWA and its members collectively serve over 50 million people in over 100 countries and are leading advocates for greater water and sanitation commitments by governments and the private sector.

Program description

MWA is seeking to recruit two County Coordinators to support the USAID funded DRIP FUNDI (Fixing Uptime Now and Decision Improvement) program in Kenya. The program, which is set to be implemented in the five counties of Marsabit, Garissa, Wajir, Isiolo and Turkana seeks to increase the borehole uptime across 200 boreholes in the five counties. The underpinning goal of the program is to address the challenge of borehole non-functionality that is prevalent in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of northern Kenya and rural areas of Kenya at large. Non-functional water systems make it particularly difficult for communities to cope with the recurrent droughts that the region experiences. The program will partner with respective county government borehole repair teams and private sector partners to facilitate the rapid repair of the boreholes. Further, it will also engage selected private sector partners for the provision of the spare parts required for borehole repair. Finally, the program aims to set up a carbon financing system to support the continued repair of the 200 boreholes beyond the program’s life.

Job Summary

The two County Coordinators will oversee repair and maintenance activities at boreholes in Isiolo, Garissa, Marsabit, Wajir and Turkana. They will also oversee fostering relationships with the county government teams, communities living around the boreholes, and local private sector entities tasked with repairing the boreholes. The two Coordinators will report to the Program Manager – DRIP FUNDI. The Coordinators will each be based in one of the five counties. By design, each of them will oversee more than one county and will have frequent travel to the MWA office in Nairobi.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

The County Coordinator will lead the following functions:

• Monitor the Virridy sensor dashboard, which indicates the functionality status of the boreholes, to ensure timely repair of boreholes under DRIP FUNDI.
• Confirm that repairs of broken/nonfunctional boreholes have been executed and fully completed either through physical visits to the site or phone calls with the borehole operators.
• Liaise with the MWA finance department to facilitate payment of private sector partners for goods or service rendered.
• Compile and submit high quality progress reports for their respective counties.
• Provide the requisite support during field data collection activities including the program baseline assessment, continuous monitoring visits, validation and verification activities by carbon auditors and the program impact assessment.
• Regularly meet with the county water department staff and Borehole Rapid Response Team (BRRT) to keep them updated on the status of the program and to foster good relationships.
• Liaise and work closely with the field teams working on the Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development Plus Program (RAPID+). RAPID+ is a program implemented by MWA and is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
• Establish and maintain close working relations with other USAID funded programs across the five counties which includes participating in PREG meetings.
• Facilitate all required logistics for various field activities including training of the county water teams and communities on DRIP FUNDI.
• Liaise with community and county governments to compile all the required documents in relation to carbon credits generated by the program.
• Participate in the development of learning products including articles and research papers.
• Attending relevant internal/external meetings where required.
• Any other duties assigned.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a Bachelors degree in mechanical or electrical or water or bio-system engineering from a recognized institution.
• A minimum of three (3) years’ experience in designing, configuring, and installing community water supply systems in an NGO or Private Sector organization.
• Relevant membership and up to date certificates of good standing with EBK or KETRB is mandatory.
• Demonstrable understanding of the operation, management and governance of community boreholes is mandatory.
• Experience working in the ASALs of Kenya is required.
• Experience implementing USAID funded programs is desirable.
• Experience with data visualization platforms is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to work independently and be self-motivated.
• Ability to work under pressure or when faced with competing demands.
• Ability to drive a manual transmission vehicle is required.
• Diligence is necessary.
• Concise report-writing skills are required.
• Strong communication and community interaction skills are required.
• Solid understanding of Microsoft 365 and its related applications.
• Ability to adjust to changing work environments, priorities, and goals.
• Adaptability and quick learning: We are looking for someone who thrives on learning new technologies.