National Consultant - Hydraulic Engineer - LB-TY-01192

Action Against Hunger (AAH) is a global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger. Recognized as a leader in the fight against malnutrition, Action Against Hunger saves the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.

With 30 years of expertise in emergencies of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity, Action Against Hunger runs life-saving programs in over 40 countries. Action Against Hunger's 5,000+ professionals work to carry out innovative, life-saving programs in nutrition, food security & livelihoods, and water, sanitation & hygiene. AAH's humanitarian programs directly assist some five million people each year, along with countless others through capacity-building programs in collaboration with government ministries.

In Lebanon, Action Against Hunger has been active since 2006, operating mainly in the South, Beqaa, and Beirut.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Action Against Hunger is launching a national level three-year EU-MADAD funded program with multiple NGO partners (ACTED, WW-GVC, Solidarites International, LebRelief, and others) and government stakeholders (Ministries, four Regional Water Establishments) to improve water service delivery and governance in Lebanon. Within this program, partners will support all four Water Establishments to improve service delivery by providing capacity building, staff, equipment, supplies, and works under the Establishment-Led Service Improvement and Cost Recovery (ELSICR) Modality.

Within this framework, AAH seeks to hire one Hydraulic Engineer (HE) Consultant to support ELSICR implementation in the field and provide technical supervision and capacity building to technical staff at local offices of the South Lebanon Water Establishment (SLWE). The HE will work closely with other engineers, technicians, and managers at SLWE and staff from the MADAD funded Water Governance Program. The Hydraulic Engineer will be under the supervision of SLWE-Saida Local Office’s Director and AAH’s WASH Deputy Program Manager. On a day-to-day basis, the HE will coordinate directly with the Senior Hydraulic Engineer (SHE) hosted by WW-GVC who will provide technical advisory and oversight, capacity building, and backstopping support.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The responsibilities of the Hydraulic Engineer Consultant include, but are not limited to, the following activities:

Studies and Information (30%)

• Lead surveying and assessing existing water schemes directly through ground-truthing available data, measuring hydraulic values, and building/calibrating models.
• Supervise technicians and skilled workers in conducting network tapping and leak detection campaigns.
• Collect findings in Geographic Information Systems following established Standard Operating Procedures.
• Ensure Management Information Systems, especially Workforce Management Systems, are utilized effectively and reflect operations accurately.
• Produce weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly reports extensively documenting and analyzing progress, plans, achievements, and challenges, and make recommendations.

Implementation (40%)

• Lead the design and implementation of rehabilitation and upgrade works recommended, revised by SHE, and approved by the WASH Deputy Program Manager and SLWE.
• Support the head of the office in planning field work and coordinating with other departments of SLWE.
• Supervise maintenance works implemented by technicians and skilled workers within the jurisdiction of the assigned duty station.
• Ensure that infrastructure works in the field comply with contracts, designs, standards, and good practices.

Capacity Building (10%)

• Support the assessment of SLWE's local office operation and maintenance teams, equipment, and practices.
• Actively participate in training on surveying, maintenance, rehabilitation, design, modeling, and other relevant skills and support SLWE's technicians and skilled workers through continued coaching.
• Support the implementation of WE service improvement, operation, maintenance, contract management, and workforce management processes.

Procurement Processes (10%)

• Coordinate with AAH on contract management and provide timely material and works requests following the Standard Operating Procedures.

Ensure supplies and works meet both SLWE and AAH's standards and specifications.

COMPENTENCIES:

The prospective HE Consultant should, as a minimum, have the following functional and technical competencies and skills:

• Good written and spoken communication skills.
• Commitment to knowledge transfer and capacity building of colleagues and partners.
• Ability to maintain professional relationships with partner organizations, public institutions, and service providers.
• Proven organizational skills and ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and perform under pressure.
• High tolerance for lengthy processes and ability to patiently and persistently follow-up.
• Ability to think strategically and conceptually and to translate these into concrete results.
• Capacity to work autonomously and in problem prevention/resolution.
• Integrity in line with Action Against Hunger's values and ethical standards.
• Cultural, gender, religion, and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Availability to commit for a long-term deployment.
• Full professional competency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Professional skills in CAD.
• Professional skills in GIS and/or Hydraulic Modelling software.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

• A university degree or equivalent in the field of Water/Hydraulic Engineering or similar.
• A membership of the Order of Engineers and Architects, Lebanon.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• More than 3 years of engineering experience in water-related consulting, contracting, operations, institutions, academia, research, etc.
• Previous experience in the South Lebanon area.
• Previous experience working with public utilities.
• Experience in contract management and supervision of infrastructure works.

LANGUAGES:

• Professional written and spoken English.
• Native spoken Arabic.

SUSTAINABILITY:

The HE will be supporting the MADAD team to prepare tools and guidelines in EL-SICR and ensure the effective handover to the Water Establishment.

ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES:

The Engineer is responsible for ensuring that all relations with the stakeholders are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about Action Against Hunger program objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies.

The candidate should have a high level of integrity and accountability. He/she should also demonstrate and be exemplary in portraying humanitarian values and ethics. He/she should be a good team player.

DUTY STATION & TIMEFRAME:

The primary duty station is in Saida, South Lebanon (SLWE Saida Local Office). The envisaged time frame of the consultancy is 2 years. The HE must abide by the working hours of SLWE (5 days per week, 6 hours/day).

PAYMENT PROCEDURE:

Payments will be made on a quarterly basis, by a transfer of fresh US Dollars to the consultant's account.

The HE should submit, on a monthly basis, an attendance list and a progress report signed and stamped by the Head of Saida Local Office. Payments will occur after receiving and approving the latter documents (covering the quarter) by Action Against Hunger's representative.