Based in: Paris, FRANCE (homeworking negotiable) with field deployment

Starting Date: 2012, September the 3rd – 4 months contract (24 months extension to be decided upon in December)

Status: Salaried Employee

Overall objective of the position and Responsibilities
ACF-France is looking for a coordinator to the Global WASH cluster rapid response team. The position is based in ACF’s headquarters in Paris (France) under a secondment arrangement with UNICEF, with frequent deployment to the field to support the efforts of the WASH cluster at country level in an emergency response.

Approximately 50% of the time will be spent on emergency deployment. The length of deployment will be limited to 2 months, however during non-mission period RRT members will primarily be based in Paris and work closely on WASH cluster priority issues. The time in Paris will be equally divided between specific tasks allocated from the global WASH cluster, including supporting emergency preparedness missions in the Regions and assisting in building ACF’s internal capacity for emergency water/sanitation/hygiene response.

1.    Emergency deployment
The Rapid Response Team (RRT) members will be deployed within 48 hours in an emergency to support the WASH sector response in the very first days of any emergency response for which additional surge capacity is required. Emergency field deployments will normally be up to 6-8 weeks duration. Coordinators will support the response in the areas of:
-    WASH Cluster Coordination at national or sub-national levels
-    Development of Water, Sanitation & Hygiene sector emergency response strategy
-    Technical support (i.e. hygiene, sanitation, water)
-    Need Assessment and Information analysis

2.    Global WASH Cluster - Paris
The global WASH cluster strategy (2011-2015) reflects agreed priorities.  The RRT member would play a key role in the advancement of, and support to, progress in these areas, including capacity building and promotion of the tools and approaches adopted by the collective. The allocation of specific roles and tasks will seek to match the person’s interests and skills with project requirements and will be agreed with the Global WASH Cluster Coordinator.

3.    ACF - Paris
Up to 25 % of the potholder’s time will be engaged in supporting ACF-France’s cluster based capacity building strategy for national and international staff.  This will include contributing to the refinement of the agency’s internal procedures and tools to incorporate outputs from the global WASH cluster strategy and work plan, as they become available.  It will also require the participation in training and providing technical support to ACF.

 
Key responsibilities:
-    Within 48 hours of a joint UNICEF/ACF decision, deploy to the location appropriate to the emergency and, under the direction of the Head of Office of UNICEF, establish and or support the WASH cluster initiative as appropriate.
-    Coordinate the WASH cluster agencies in formulating an effective coordinated sector response, including; contact WASH cluster participants, establish and promote links with national / local authorities, coordinate initial rapid assessments, analyse and prioritise needs, develop appropriate WASH strategies and action plans that compliment national norms / policies / approaches and which cater to and incorporate all cross-cutting issues as appropriate, coordinate execution of collective efforts of cluster  agencies and foster and support communication between cluster agencies, other clusters and national / local authorities, contribute to WASH cluster advocacy position on key issues such as access and funding, promote and ensure inter-cluster coordination and synergy.
-    Monitor continuing development of, and changing circumstances within, the emergency and recommend changes to implementation approaches of the WASH cluster agencies.  Formulate collaborative and cohesive inter-agency and inter-sectoral contingency plans to address changing circumstances.
-    Maintain records, ensure and maintain documentation of all collective decisions and recommendations, provide cluster based update to the cluster lead agency as required.
-    Prepare comprehensive handover notes or fully brief successor
-    Facilitate evaluation of the collective WASH cluster response and functionality of the coordination forum, including information management and analysis.
-    Undertake tasks associated with the global WASH cluster strategy (2011-2015) as assigned by the Gobal WASH Cluster Deputy Coordinator.
-    Contribute to ACF’s technical capacity in the WASH sector through promotion of cluster based tools, guidance and resources, enhancing internal agency standards, systems, procedures, tools and agreed upon best practice approaches for emergency preparedness, disaster risk reduction and emergency response, including SPHERE and other recognized sectoral humanitarian standards, the Red Cross and NGO Code of Conduct.
-    Participate in the training and on-going technical support of ACF staff in humanitarian WASH.
-    Liaise closely with the other RRT and IM members and UNICEF to ensure complementarity and standardisation of approach and share learning in order to enhance the effectiveness of the emergency deployments.

Qualification and previous experience:
-    Significant experience in WASH sector, humanitarian preparedness, response, and poverty reduction and well developed understanding of the challenges and opportunities for community participation in emergency response.
-    Experience with natural and complex political emergencies in diverse cultural and climatic settings
-    Experience in program design, management, monitoring and evaluation, including SPHERE standards, donor relations, security and protection considerations
-    Experience in liaison with a broad range of stakeholders,  including  international donors, UN agencies and INGOs, national authorities, national/local partner agencies and emergency affected communities
-    Excellent training, coaching and mentoring skills
-    High level of writing and communication skills

The hosted member will be one of a team of 7 WASH professionals from numerous host organisations partnering UNICEF and participating in the global WASH cluster, each with complementary capacities to support a range of different needs in the field. Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience in all of the following and should be highly proficient in at least two of the four team competencies:
1.    WASH cluster co-ordination support (capacity for national or hub level)
2.    Development of response strategies, flash appeals/proposals etc with the WASH cluster agencies to support sector advocacy, coherence and fund raising efforts
3.    Technical Support (hygiene promotion, sanitation, water) e.g. leading WASH cluster technical working groups
4.    Rapid needs assessment

Key capabilities
-    Team building
-    Networking
-    Leadership skills and conflict management
-    Self-awareness
-    Interpersonal and negotiation skills
-    Resilience, stress tolerance and ability to cope with change
-    Community orientation
-    Data analysis for planning and monitoring
-    Proactive problem solving
-    Operational decision-making
-    Strong organisational skills and capacity to self-manage

Other requirements: The position requires frequent travel to the field, emergency and security management.