Aqua for All is an international foundation operating primarily in Africa and Asia. For over two decades, we have worked towards catalysing an innovative, sustainable and inclusive water and sanitation economy worldwide. We believe that innovation, scalable solutions, and public and private capital are needed to bridge the service and financial gap to achieve SDG 6 – Water and sanitation for all.
We use grants to accelerate access to water and sanitation to low-income households. We do this by supporting innovations and scaling up enterprises until they are investment ready, without distorting the market. In addition, we use our funds to mobilise private and public capital to increase investments in water and sanitation.
Since mid-2019, Aqua for All is leading the “Making Water Count’’ programme in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under this programme, we deploy grant funding to remove barriers for scale, support investment readiness and develop selected innovative, blended finance instruments targeting local SMEs and financial institutions. Find more details on our website: https://aquaforall.org/.
As our current Programme Manager is leaving, we are looking for a:
Senior Water & Sanitation Programme Manager
36 hours per week – based in The Hague, Netherlands
Your Opportunity
We are looking for an experienced WASH expert with a passion for (social) entrepreneurship and making finance work for water and sanitation impact in Africa and Asia. You complement our capacity and knowledge in scalability, applicability, functionality and investment readiness of our market-based water and sanitation portfolio. Your role is that of an advisor; technical backstopping and coaching at strategic programming and enterprise’s level. You provide technical assistance and assessments in relation to market potential, product-market fit, appropriate technology, emerging market water & sanitation business opportunities and best practices in sustainable service delivery models in the field of safe drinking water and sanitation for low-income households.
As Programme Manager you fuel Aqua for All’s programme staff in terms of sustainable water and sanitation service delivery from a technical and functional perspective, supported by an understanding of financial and entrepreneurial feasibility. You work closely with the regional programme managers and officers on activities ranging from intake-screening-advising-contracting of initiatives, to monitoring and impact measurement of existing contracts. The water-business related sector (suppliers, water enterprises, water boards, consultancy, R&D) is your primary domain. You report to the Managing Director.
This exciting role includes the following responsibilities:
- Advice and coach the programme team on the technical and sustainability aspects of their water and sanitation portfolio;
- Provide dedicated technical assistance support to the programme team with the aim to make WASH enterprises investment-ready and reach scale;
- Provide strategic programming advice and develop WASH-related (business) policy concepts and knowledge;
- Act as content lead in diverse WASH knowledge tracks on behalf of Aqua for All;
- Review proposals of external partners from a technical, financial and scalability perspective;
- Coordinate and manage selected projects and programmes from the application process to the reporting phase;
- Maintain an overview of new technologies and developments in the water and sanitation sector.
What you bring
- A passion for scaling water and sanitations services for developing countries and low-income communities;
- A master degree in water engineering or water-related study ranging from hydrology, geohydrology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering to water management;
- At least 10 years of professional, in-depth technical working in WASH implementation in a developing country setting;
- Strong financial and entrepreneurial insight with an in-depth understanding of the WASH sector, being able to analyse initiatives from a business, sustainability and scale perspective;
- Proven track record in water and sanitation programme management and proven field work experience, preferably in Africa and specifically in planning, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and financial management;
- Active and extensive network in the international water and sanitation sector;
- Result-oriented attitude with opportunity-seeking mindset;
- Multi-disciplinary team player with social and communication skills;
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, French is a plus;
- Residence or working permit for EU countries.
Our offering
- A position in a dynamic organisation with an enthusiastic and multi-cultural team based in the Hague, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Dhaka and Bamako;
- A challenging role with room for own ideas;
- Training and learning opportunities and possibility for career progression;
- An initial 1-year contract with the possibility of extension;
- A competitive remuneration package following the salary scales of the Government of the Netherlands (‘CAO Rijk’), 8% holiday pay, 200 hours annual leave, excellent pension scheme, commuting allowance;
- Flexibility to work partly remote and partly from our great working space in The Hague (Spaarneplein, 10 minutes’ walk from The Hague Central Station and 5 minutes’ walk from The Hague HS).
Interested to apply?
You can send your application by email to: info@aquaforall.org before 26 September 2022. Please include ‘Vacancy senior WASH expert’ in the subject line and include a motivation letter and CV. More information about the position can be obtained from Dick Bouman (d.bouman@aquaforall.org) or Marleen Hasselerharm (m.hasselerharm@aquaforall.org).