Technical Advisor, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Finance (WASH-FIN) Program At Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech International Development Services is currently accepting expressions of interest from qualified Technical Advisor candidates for the United States Agency for International Development-funded Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Finance (WASH-FIN) program.

Position Description/Summary:

The Technical Advisor provides a wide variety of technical support to advance programming across the WASH-FIN portfolio and provides integral support to the knowledge management component of the program. The required support may additionally include the direct management of subcontractors and consultants used to deliver services. The role is based in Washington, DC or can be executed remotely, with participation in quarterly team meetings in Washington, DC desired. The role will have a duration of up to 15 months, as it is limited to the duration of the WASH-FIN project, which concludes in September 2022.

Role and Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical backstop for one WASH-FIN portfolio country, either directly providing or sourcing the technical support required for the country team to deliver high-quality work in accordance with its annual workplan. This may additionally include directly supporting the management of any subcontractors and consultants used to deliver services in the country.
• Support the implementation of technical activities primarily within the contract’s ‘surge activity’ scope to be implemented within the last contract year, helping to ensure that these activities remain on schedule and that associated deliverables are developed to project quality standards. This may especially include support to subcontracted or components of work in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia specifically, as well as potential support to the organization of the World Water Forum in Senegal in March 2022.
• Provide integral support to WASH-FIN knowledge management efforts including the following:
• Serve as lead author for at least one primary knowledge product within WASH-FIN’s workplan and serve as contributing author for several more.
• Provide detailed technical reviews of other knowledge products authored by other WASH-FIN team members and/or consultants/subcontractors.
• Draft blog or other short knowledge products designed to promote larger technical products or WASH-FIN’s participation in conference or other events.
• Support preparations for WASH-FIN participation in global and regional conferences (preparation of talking points, PowerPoint presentations, etc.)
• Support the engagement of host country government counterparts, WASH service providers, financial institutions, and development partners to advance governance and infrastructure finance-related initiatives in support of WASH-FIN project objectives.
• Support the design of engagements for short-term technical consultants (international and local), particularly in relation to the development of knowledge pieces, by drafting strong scopes of work and supporting their effective management as required.
• Draft sections and provide other contributions to project technical reports and contractual deliverables including Quarterly and Annual Reports and the last project Annual Workplan.
• As permitted within COVID-19 travel restrictions, travel to the Technical backstop country to facilitate the smooth implementation of technical activities. Travel to additional WASH-FIN portfolio countries as needed and permitted.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

M.S. or M.A. degree in development economics, finance, business administration, urban planning, public administration, civil engineering, or other relevant field.

• Strong technical writing skills with demonstrated experience in the lead authoring of technical documents designed for global audiences.
• A minimum of four or more years of experience in the water and sanitation sector, local (municipal) governance and public finance in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia. Experience in finance and utility management including project finance, utility reform, non-revenue water reduction, creditworthiness improvement, financial underwriting, and/or transaction advisory preferred.
• Experience in the successful management of scope, schedule and budget of projects from the conceptualization of engagements (drafting Scopes of Work and procurement of subcontractors/consultants as required) through their execution and finalization.
• Experience in developing excellent collaborative working relationships with cooperating country stakeholders, implementing partners, international organizations, development and private finance institutions and donors.
• Foreign language skills of any of the WASH-FIN portfolio countries, especially French and/or Portuguese, desired.