Location: Washington DC, United States
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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 IDBโs 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 Bankโs 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 sectorโs 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 Bankโs water and sanitation activities. The AquaFund aims at: (i) supporting 50% of IDBโs 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 Fundโs visibility so that it can continue to play a vital role in the regionโs 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 AquaFundโs 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 Bankโs DC Headquarters.
What youโll do
The candidate's primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
ยท 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 Fundโs distribution of approved funding.
ยท Support to the AquaFundโs Coordination and Management
o Contribute to AquaFundโs planning and monitoring of activities, including the identification of how the AquaFundโs programming is aligned with the Fund and Donorsโ priorities.
o Contribute to the definition of the AquaFundโs 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 AquaFundโs 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 AquaFundโs Results Framework.
o Support to the organization of annual meetings and other management activities of the Fund as required.
ยท AquaFund Monitoring
o Oversee the process of AquaFundโs 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 AquaFundโs progress report and work plan reports, in coordination with other internal units of the Bank.
o Document best practices and lessons learned of the AquaFundโs partnerships and collaboration efforts.
o Update the existing platform for sharing documentation with partners.
ยท 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 AquaFundโs 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: Bachelorโs 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, donorsโ 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
ยท Citizenship: You are a citizen of one of our 48-member countries.
ยท 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
ยท Type of contract: Consultant Full Time
ยท Length of Contract: 12 months
ยท 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
ยง Excellent knowledge of planning, policy, and project management principles.
ยง Good international knowledge of water and sanitation sectors and economy.
ยง Excellent research, analytical, risk assessment and strategic planning skills.
ยง Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation.
Core
ยง Good knowledge of the development of policies, projects, plans and programs.