TROSA River Basins Coordinator

Job Description

Position Title:     TROSA River Basins Coordinator

Supervisor:         TROSA Project Manager

Location:             In any of the Oxfam country offices implementing TROSA (India, Nepal, Bangladesh or Myanmar) or with the TROSA PMU in Oxfam in Cambodia

Contract Type:    Fixed Term, one year (with possibility of extension)

Category:             C-2 national

Starting Date:     As soon as possible

Qualified women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Background

Oxfam is an international confederation of 19 organizations networked together in 97 countries. As part of a global movement for change, we are working together to end world poverty and injustice. We work with thousands of partners in countries around the world, and employ staff in a wide variety of posts. We work directly with communities and we work with the powerful to enable the most marginalized to be improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.

Working at Oxfam is so much more than just a job. As an Oxfam employee, consultant, or volunteer, you will join a team of dedicated and passionate professionals working to save lives, help people overcome poverty, and fight for social justice.

Transboundary Rivers of South Asia or TROSA is a five year program aimed at reducing poverty of river basin communities in three large river basins, including a significant upper tributary of the Ganga River – the Mahakali / Sharda River shared by Nepal and India; the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra / Padma /Jamuna and Teesta Rivers shared by India and Bangladesh; and the last free flowing trans-boundary river in Asia, the Salween River basin in Myanmar (shared with China and Thailand).  

Oxfam envisages that poverty will be reduced for marginalised and vulnerable river basin communities through increased access to and control over river water resources.  The program will build on existing knowledge and programs of Oxfam teams and regional partners in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.  The value of the program is USD 11.4 million  over five years and is funded by the Government of Sweden (SIDA).

Purpose:

The purpose of this post is to coordinate basin levels and trans-boundary activities of the programme across the three river basins, four country offices (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal) and five regional partners (IUCN, ICIMOD, SIWI, WWF and International Rivers).  The post-holder will ensure work of Oxfam and partners is aligned with TROSA’s overall goal and objectives, and will play a key role ensuring broad buy-in from key stakeholders to the goals of the program.

Core Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Program Manager, the River Basin Coordinator will be responsible for:

• Supporting the Program Manager in strategic planning, design and implementation of TROA activities at various levels;  

• Coordinating with country offices, regional partners and other networks in the region to facilitate and strengthen transboundary and inter-basin activities and engagement aligned with TROSA’s overall objective;

• Identifying opportunities to strategically engage with and influence the development of improve government and private sector policy and practice on river management and governance;

• Providing advice to regional partners and other civil society organizations to design and develop appropriate training modules and curriculum on trans-boundary river water governance;

• Deciding, in consultation with the PMU (and the Steering Committee, when required), on plans and activities in response to emerging policy needs and opportunities at the basin/regional level;

• Ensuring an inclusive approach to development with strong participation by women, minorities and other vulnerable groups in all activities supported by TROSA;

• Maintaining coherence and building cohesion of TROSA activities, ensuring they support the program’s trans-boundary agenda, including strong human rights, gender, climate change and SDGs elements (as appropriate);

• Responsible for the design and strategic planning of program learning and advocacy activities with different stakeholders, including the private sector;

• Maintaining and strengthening existing, and developing new, trans-boundary water governance networks to develop, deepen and share knowledge;

• Identifying new allies and collaborators to support TROSA’s trans-boundary water governance agenda;

• Working with the Project Manager to produce and deliver high quality narrative reports to the TROSA Steering Committee and the donor (SIDA);

• Representing TROSA to both internal and external parties on behalf of the Project Manager, as required, including donor relations and government liaison when required;

• Working with the TROSA Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Coordinator to ensure the program remains on track to deliver high quality outputs, outcomes and impact at the basin, country and community levels;

• Undertaking any additional tasks assigned by the Project Manager;

• This post doesn’t involve any staff management.

Skills and Experience:

• Relevant qualifications in, and in depth understanding of, water governance or a related field with substantial work experience, preferably in south Asia;

• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills;

• Good problem solving and negotiation skills;

• Experience of leading/supporting strategic planning in regional/multi-country programming and implementation;

• Prior experience of private sector engagement an asset.

• Good at networking and partnership development;

• Ability to multi-task, prioritise and meet deadlines;

• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision;

• Fluency in written and spoken English, including well-developed report writing skills;

• Results-oriented and a good team player, sensitive to working in multi-cultural environments;

• Commitment to Oxfam's humanitarian principles and commitment to Oxfam's equal opportunity and gender policies;

• An understanding of and commitment to putting gender equality at the heart of development work;

• Able and willing to travel regularly, and for long periods, to participating countries in the region;

• Well-developed computer skills.

• Qualified women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Staff Attributes:

• Problem Solving:  Uses clear and innovative thinking to solve problems and ensures supervisors are made aware of any risks.

• Continuous Learning:  Demonstrates a commitment to own professional development by actively participating in continuous learning.
  

• Self-Awareness: Is aware of own strengths and development needs and seeks to improve style, skills and performance including cultural and gender sensitivities.

• Adaptability:  Adjusts approach and thinking to work effectively in a variety of situations and with different people.

Applying

This post is open to all nationals. For those who are interested in this post, please send your application [email protected] [1] by November 15, 2017.  Applications should include your CV and a covering letter, no more than two pages, stating your motivation for the post and how you think your experience would enable you to undertake this regional post.