Consultancy for supporting the AquaFund, a Water and Sanitation Technical Cooperation Multi-donor Fund
JOB DETAIL
Location: Washington DC, United States
The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.
About this position
The Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) is looking for a professional with experience in international affairs, management, public policy, sustainable development, social sciences, engineering, or related fields.
The Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) of the IDB, as a part of the Infrastructure and Energy Sector (INE), provides technical support to member countries on conceptualization, preparation and execution of programs and projects in the water and sanitation sector. Specifically, WSA works in activities related to potable water, sanitation, urban drainage, water resources and solid waste. Following the Bank strategies, INE/WSA seeks to assist countries in their efforts to ensure universal access to these services in a sustainable manner and with high quality in their provision.
The AquaFund is a thematic fund for water supply and sanitation (WAS) and has been the main non-reimbursable financing mechanism to support IDB’s investments in the sector. The AquaFund was established in 2008 with two financing sources: funds from the ordinary capital of the Bank and funds from donors, called Multi-donor AquaFund. Since its establishment, the Fund has been capitalized with the Bank’s own resources approximately US$80 million and with resources from donors partners, namely the Government of Austria (US$2 million), the Swiss Cooperation (The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO) (US$22.85 million), PepsiCo Foundation (US$7,5 million) and the Government of Spain through its Development Agency AECID (US$8.85 million).
The AquaFund finances two types of IDB instruments: Investment Grants (IGRs) and Non-reimbursable Technical Cooperation Operations (TCs). Based on the use of these two funding mechanisms, the activities of the AquaFund can be grouped into the following four product categories: (i) Operational Support (OS) TCs, facilitating and supporting sector investment through initiatives to help preparation and execution of investment loans and investment grants; (ii) Client Support (CS) TCs, that respond to specific demands of the governments of the region, focusing on building the capacities of utilities, governments and communities; (iii) Research and Dissemination (RD) TCs, contributing to the sector’s knowledge and exchange of best practices among member countries and country stakeholders, and providing state of the art technical knowledge and experiences in the water and sanitation arena; and (iv) Pilot Projects funded both from TCs and IGRs, for piloting innovative strategies and methodologies that can be replicated or scaled up through larger investment programs.
The AquaFund has supported more than 220 technical cooperations (TCs) since its creation and every year it adds more than 20 operations for supporting the Bank’s water and sanitation activities. The AquaFund aims at: (i) supporting 50% of IDB’s US$1 billion yearly investments in water and sanitation; (ii) ensuring at least 30% of AquaFund supported projects demonstrate climate change adaptation and water security measures; and (iii) ensure that at least 20% of its supported projects incorporate a gender perspective.
There is a need to properly manage the TCs, analyzing outputs and outcomes, reporting to donors through technical reports and platforms and increasing the Fund’s visibility so that it can continue to play a vital role in the region’s water and sanitation efforts.
It is therefore deemed it necessary to hire a consultant that can perform a variety of functions and will provide technical, managerial and communications support to the AquaFund Coordinator, to continue positioning the AquaFund as a vital flexible funding source to support the region’s efforts in achieving universal access to high-quality water and sanitation services. The consultant will lead strategic analysis of the Fund’s results, improve the AquaFund’s visibility, monitor some of the key projects of the AquaFund’s portfolio, liaise with team leaders to ensure the timely execution of activities, among other responsibilities.
In this context, the consultant will provide managerial, technical and communications support to the activities of the AquaFund, as well as Technical Assistance in WSA Division Projects, based on the Bank’s DC Headquarters.
What you’ll do
The candidate’s primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
· Management of the INE/WSA Portfolio of Technical Cooperation (TC)
o Coordinate the internal review process for approval of TCs within INE/WSA, revising administratively the documents created for approval of TCs and liaising with the Infrastructure Front Office and other internal units of the Bank, WSA different teams, for completing the approval of the annual AquaFund TC portfolio.
o Provide administrative support for any issue that may arise of the active AquaFund portfolio, consisting of approximately 50 TCs. This may include support in approving extensions, fund increases, and any other aspect related to the execution of the TCs.
o Keep update databases with the information of the TCs and AquaFund’s portfolio, tracking the approval stage of each project proposed and prioritized for the year, as well as recording the closure of projects that have finished their activities.
o Prepare, when required, reports of the annual AquaFund programming and the active portfolio, including analysis of themes, geographic focus, etc.
o Analyze trends in the Fund’s distribution of approved funding.
· Support to the AquaFund’s Coordination and Management
o Contribute to AquaFund’s planning and monitoring of activities, including the identification of how the AquaFund’s programming is aligned with the Fund and Donors’ priorities.
o Contribute to the definition of the AquaFund’s result matrix, proposing outcomes and outputs indicators at the fund level aligned with the new standard output indicators set for technical cooperation at the IDB, and analyzing proposals of change for project outcomes and outputs to be aligned with the AquaFund’s result matrix.
o Provide comparative analysis of the Fund, such as analysis of its results and how these compare to the targets set in the AquaFund’s Results Framework.
o Support to the organization of annual meetings and other management activities of the Fund as required.
· AquaFund Monitoring
o Oversee the process of AquaFund’s TC reporting, supporting the team leaders for reporting through the IDB’s internal platforms and ensuring the information is aligned with the AquaFund’s donor reporting.
o Streamline and standardize reporting processes including work programs, annual reports and online reporting platform (Convergence).
o Develop the annual AquaFund’s progress report and work plan reports, in coordination with other internal units of the Bank.
o Document best practices and lessons learned of the AquaFund’s partnerships and collaboration efforts.
o Update the existing platform for sharing documentation with partners.
· Visibility and Communications
o Contribute to the development and implementation of the Communication protocol for the Fund, in coordination with donors and potential partners.
o Support in the organization of AquaFund’s project launching events and similar and contribute to the visibility of the fund through blogposts to the IDB Water and Sanitation blog, in coordination with the external relations unit of the IDB.
What you will need
Education: Bachelor’s degree in sanitation/environmental Engineering, economics, public policy or closely related field.
Experience: At least 2 years of relevant professional experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience in international affairs, management, public policy, sustainable development, social sciences, engineering, or related fields. Experience with the IDB Group system and knowledge of the organization will be a plus. Knowledge of the Water and Sanitation Sector, donors’ management and fund coordination are desirable. Preferably with experience in working with national government and international development agencies.
Languages: The consultant should be fluent in Spanish and English, with excellent oral and written communication skills in English. Knowledge of Portuguese and/or French is a plus.
Requirements
· Citizenship: You are a citizen of one of our 48-member countries.
· Consanguinity: You have no family members (up to the fourth degree of consanguinity and second degree of affinity, including spouse) working at the IDB, IDB Invest, or IDB Lab.
Type of contract and duration
· Type of contract: Consultant Full Time
· Length of Contract: 12 months
· Location: On Site
Core and Technical Competencies
Excellent organizational skills for managing a large portfolio of projects; comfortable using excel for data analysis; multitasking; openness and teamwork.
Technical
§ Excellent knowledge of planning, policy, and project management principles.
§ Good international knowledge of water and sanitation sectors and economy.
§ Excellent research, analytical, risk assessment and strategic planning skills.
§ Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation.
Core
§ Good knowledge of the development of policies, projects, plans and programs.
§ Excellent problem-solving skills, research skills.
§ Good time management skills.
§ Excellent presentation, oral and written communication skills
What we offer
The IDB group provides benefits that respond to the different needs and moments of an employee’s life. These benefits include:
· A competitive compensation packages.
· Leaves and vacations: 2 days per month of contract + gender- neutral parental leave.
· Health Insurance: the IDB Group provides a monthly allowance for the purchase of health insurance.
· Savings plan: The IDB Group cares about your future, depending on the length of the contract, you will receive a monthly savings plan allowance.
· We offer assistance with relocation and visa applications for you and your family when it applies.
· Hybrid and flexible work schedules.
· Development support: We offer learning opportunities to boost your professional profile such as seminars, 1:1 professional counseling, and much more.
· Health and wellbeing: Access to our Health Services Center which provides preventive care and health education for all employees.
· Other perks: Lactation Room, Daycare Center, Gym, Bike Racks, Parking, and others.
Our culture
At the IDB Group we work so everyone brings their best and authentic selves to work, willing to try new approaches without fear, and where they are accountable and rewarded for their actions.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are at the center of our organization. We celebrate all dimensions of diversity and encourage women, LGBTQ+ people, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job interview process. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] to request reasonable accommodation to complete this application.
Our Human Resources Team reviews carefully every application.
About the IDB Group
The IDB Group, composed of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Invest, and the IDB Lab offers flexible financing solutions to its member countries to finance economic and social development through lending and grants to public and private entities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
About IDB
We work to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through financial and technical support for countries working to reduce poverty and inequality, we help improve health and education and advance infrastructure. Our aim is to achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. With a history dating back to 1959, today we are the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. We provide loans, grants, and technical assistance; and we conduct extensive research. We maintain a strong commitment to achieving measurable results and the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability.
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