SNV is looking for: Sanitation Engineering Advisor
SNV is a not-for-profit international development organisation. Founded in the Netherlands 50 years ago, we have built a long-term, local presence in 38 of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our global teams of local and international advisors work with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organisations with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development.
In Indonesia, SNV works together with local partners to provide technical expertise in three sectors: Agriculture, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Renewable Energy. For the WASH sector, SNV is focused on increasing access to safely managed sanitation and in sustaining positive changes in hygiene behaviour, by providing scale-able, market driven solutions tailored to rural and urban contexts.
SNV’s Urban Sanitation and Hygiene for Health and Development (USHHD) project
With an urbanization rate of 4.1% per year, by 2025 Indonesia will have 68% of its population living in cities (WB, 2017). This fast paced urbanization brings many human, environmental and economic opportunities but also substantial development challenges. Safely managed sanitation and hygiene is a critical one, to ensure health and prosperity for everyone, especially the urban poor.
In 2015, around 18 million urban people had no access to a toilet while 20 million more were resorting to unimproved sanitation facilities (JMP, 2015). With sewerage coverage existing in only 11 cities and 2% of city residents having no access to centralized sanitation systems, the vast majority of the urban population relies on on-site sanitation systems that are often sub-standard and/or inadequately managed (WSP, 2013). As a result, an estimated 95% of Indonesia’s wastewater is disposed untreated, and pathogens contaminate land and water sources, making faecal coliform from human waste the most excessive pollutant in Indonesian rivers, exceeding the recommended standards by a thousand-fold or more (WSP, 2013; FAO, 2011). Poor urban dwellers that rely the most on unsafe water sources for drinking, cooking and washing are blighted by the resulting water-borne diseases that keep them trapped in a seemingly unbreakable poverty cycle.
SNV sees safely managed sanitation and hygiene as a pre-condition for health and economic development in cities. Our Urban Sanitation and Hygiene for Health and Development project is focused on achieving sustainable and inclusive city-wide sanitation and hygiene services. To achieve this, SNV:
- Works together with local authorities to create an appropriate enabling policy and regulatory environment for sanitation services at the local level
- Develops financially viable and sustainable business models also with the private sector on the collection, transport, treatment, re-use and safe disposal of human waste
- Works with communities to increase their awareness and engagement towards safe and affordable sanitation products and services
- Guides the different stakeholders through a process of informed choice regarding technologies, finance strategies and service delivery models, in particular for low-income groups and slum residents.
- Support the capacity building of relevant sanitation Government line agencies and other appropriate actors in urban sanitation, including from the private sector. Therefore the Sanitation Engineering Advisor needs to work collaboratively and constructively with the different partners.
- The project has a strong emphasis on performance monitoring and learning and has such providing documentation and evidence. The Sanitation Engineering advisor is therefore expected to have a methodical and systematic approach to identifying solutions, implementing and monitoring these.
- Identify, propose and monitor technological solutions related to access to sanitation and human waste containment, most notably for densely populated areas.
- Support the development of technology upgrading options, service options for vulnerable areas, city data management and standards
- Integrate legal and social information in the search for technical solutions
- Ensure that the quality, safety, outreach and affordability of urban sanitation products and services are progressively increased and that meet the demand of different types of customers
- Provide technical guidance to City Authorities and private service providers and assist in establishing and managing the different roles
- Lead data collection and research for the urban services component (rapid technical assessments for containment and emptying, action research on current emptying and transport practices, occupational health and safety)
- Prepare and deliver meetings/trainings with Government stakeholders and service providers and provide on the job training when needed
- Provide high quality, evidence based advisory services on Urban Sanitation products and Services for city authorities and the private sector
- Facilitate exchanges between city authorities and urban sanitation service providers and support a good communication flow between them and the USHHD project team
- Contribute for final design of the urban sanitation services component activities, ensuring its relevance and suitability both for the project’s objectives and the local priorities, conditions and constraints
- Lead the implementation of urban sanitation services component activities, ensuring its adequate planning, budgeting and timely delivery in coordination with all the relevant stakeholders
- Monitor the results of the urban sanitation services component activities and provide critical input to adjust/improve the outcomes whenever relevant
- Actively contribute to the USHHD project’s evaluation and learning component
- Ensure the USHHD’s project visibility and profiling in line with SNV’s and partners branding guidelines
- Comply with SNV’s administrative and financial procedures for project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
- Comply with SNV’s Code of Conduct
- Masters in engineering with specialisation in WASH or related field.
- At least 10 years of experience in water supply and sanitation, or waste water management in public and/or private sector which at least 5-7 years’ experience in sanitation
- Strong interest in urban sanitation technical solutions with a proven track record of also addressing social aspects
- Creative, practical and systematic professional
- Evidence of producing knowledge products (publications and other).
- Flexibility to handle varied and demanding tasks and ability to balance priorities, thrive under pressure and juggle a multitude of details in a fast-paced environment
- Significant experience in developing and managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives directly delivering change.
- Ability to work independently, as well as member of a team, and to be flexible to accommodate the needs of stakeholders.
- Ability to lead the assignment and the team with remote supervision.
- Native Bahasa Indonesia speaker with a good command of spoken and written English
- Good computer skills (Ms. Word, Ms. Excel, Ms. Power Point, Internet and Outlook)
