Program Director “Rural Water Services – Social Entrepreneurship” At Inter Help

Mission based in Lilongwe

(Frequent travel in the Central and Southern Regions)

Who are we ?

Inter Aide has been working in Malawi for over twenty-five years and currently runs 9 programs in rural areas in the areas of community health, agriculture, access to water and maintenance of water points. For over 15 years, the association has been developing water point maintenance services enabling rural populations to maintain their facilities (mainly wells and boreholes equipped with hand pumps). These actions have gradually been extended on a larger scale (7 districts currently covered) and are now grouped together in two projects. The challenge now is to continue the professionalization of these services and to make them sustainable.

These water point maintenance projects are structured around the following axes:

• Establishment, professionalization and empowerment of a network of local craftsmen-repairers and independent resellers of pump spare parts, offering their services to rural communities.
• Training and support for village committees responsible for water points to ensure sustainable management and maintenance of their structures.
• Monitoring the functionality of the structures and sustainability of the networks through the involvement of other local stakeholders: community, institutional and private.
• Local promotion of services and advocacy for their adoption by other actors and their integration into local sectoral policies.

As part of a position renewal, Inter Aide is currently looking for a Program Director to ensure the coordination and overall supervision of water point maintenance activities in Malawi.

The mission:

Your mission will be the overall coordination, monitoring and evaluation and local representation of Inter Aide’s water point maintenance programs (in the Center and South regions).

Your main responsibilities will be:

1. Support and supervision for the implementation of the two maintenance programs (approximately 40% of working time):

• Coordination and technical support from the two local Inter Aide managers, to define and implement program strategies.
• Support-supervision of the two local Inter Aide Managers to ensure the HR, financial and administrative management of the programs; in conjunction with the Financial and Administrative Managers based in Malawi.
• Steering and monitoring of cross-project actions (approximately 40% of working time):
• Management and supervision of the system and the monitoring-evaluation team (2 people) common to the two Inter Aide programs.
• Steering and supervision of the actions of the Gender Manager, common to both projects.
• Coordination and monitoring of ongoing cross-cutting pilot actions with other local actors/partners, in particular with the Malawian organization Baseflow.
• Support for the organization and conduct of external program evaluations.

Representation, visibility and capitalization (approximately 20% of working time):

• Collaboration and representation of Inter Aide maintenance programs with sectoral actors (institutional and others) in Malawi.
• Advocacy to promote the adoption and support-financing of existing maintenance services within the framework of local policies and other sectoral programs.
• Support for the capitalization of program results and acquired experience, for the local promotion of maintenance services and wider dissemination – in conjunction with the Capitalization Officer based in France.
• Research and monitoring of potential local financing opportunities for projects.

You will be under the supervision of the Sector Manager based in France. You will be responsible for the two local managers of Inter Aide programs (Central and South Regions), as well as the cross-functional supervisors for both programs (monitoring-evaluation manager and gender approach manager).

Profile sought:

• You have higher education in a relevant field (Water & Sanitation, rural development, project management in developing countries, social entrepreneurship, etc.)
• You have more than 2 years of prior experience in project management in developing countries (essential)
• You can collaborate with institutions (relationship facilities, listening, diplomacy)
• You have practical knowledge of monitoring and evaluation tools and databases
• You are fluent in English (proficiency in French appreciated)
• You are autonomous in your work, rigorous and methodical.
• You appreciate mobility/flexibility, have a proven taste for the field and tenacity
• You have a Class B license (essential for your field trips)

The conditions:

• 24-month mission, renewable
• Compensation of €1,400 per month + land allowance
• Full social security coverage + repatriation insurance
• Round trip plane ticket at the start and end of the mission, from home to the mission location
• Annual return flight ticket from the mission location to headquarters
• Possibility of departure as a couple