Position Title:  Senior Irrigation Officer
Number of Position: 2 (Two)
Position Status: Full-time Regular Staff
Duty Station: Bhakari Cluster Office at Jumla and Surkhet (with a frequent field visit to BHAKARI working districts/Rural/Municipalities and working sites) 

Program/Department Summary

SAPPROS-Nepal is expected to begin a new program to enhance food and nutrition security, reduce future humanitarian caseload and improve the resilience of communities to recurrent shocks in the Karnali and Sudur Pachhim Province in Nepal, on or around October 1, 2020. The program will be a Multi-Year Emergency Food Security Activity funded by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs, and implemented in 6 districts (Mugu, Jumla, Kalikot, Achham, Dailekh and Surkhet with cluster hubs in Surkhet and Jumla) in the Karnali River Basin area. The new program, called “Building Hope Along the Karnali River Basin (Bhakari)”, is somewhat built upon many of the successes of the Nepal team’s previous Food for Peace program which ended in January 2020, the PAHAL program, but with some new districts and a much heavier emphasis on emergency response. It includes program components of agriculture and market systems, disaster risk reduction, water for productive use, natural resources management, and a large emphasis on a gender and social inclusion approach, all with a highly integrated multi-sectorial approach. 

SAPPROS as a consortium partner in BHAKARI, responsible for sustainable water interventions with a focus on installation, management and maintenance of productive water projects, including multiple-use water systems, rainwater harvesting, and irrigation storage and delivery systems in targeted RM/Wards/Communities of 6 districts of BHAKARI program through 6 local implementing partners in respective districts.

General Position Summary The Senior Irrigation Officer will be working as a full-time employee representing SAPPROS in Bhakri program, cluster office, Surkhet & Jumla. The overall responsibilities will be program planning, ensuring smooth implementation of the project, carrying out monitoring, reporting, and quality assurance of the activities delivered in assigned districts. They will be responsible for backstopping to Water component technical staffs of the district implementing partners, coordination with consortium partners at the cluster level. They will work closely with the multi-disciplinary project team representing different consortium partners at the cluster level to achieve the project results in time at a high standard. However, this position is contingent on a signed grant agreement with MercyCorps (via USAID). As gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), safeguarding, governance and environmental sensitivity are cross-cutting and core components of BHAKARI, the Senior Irrigation Officer is required to own these components and ensure these components are integrated into his/her work area. 

Essential Job Function

More specifically they will be responsible for the following tasks;

• Program Planning and Implementation:
• Represent SAPPROS to lead BHAKARI “water for productive use” component to effectively plan and implement field programs in selected districts. 
• Together with the multidisciplinary team, prepare and implement strategy, plans and guidelines for the project and its activities at the cluster and district level 
• Work closely with Water Security Manager to prepare annual Detail Implementation Plan and Annual Work Plans of the project
• Prepare periodic/quarterly plan with cluster team and facilitate its timely and effective implementation
• Ensure effective planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the project activities by the consortium partners 
• Together with other thematic experts, ensure the smooth delivery of thematic activities in the project districts.  

Coordination and Capacity Building:

• Support for the capacity building of district base Water Technical Staffs of local implementing partners and district level stakeholders on the water for productive use purpose.
• Coordinate and capacitate multiple stakeholders at the cluster level to create an enabling environment for planning, mainstreaming, and integration of the program activities. 
• Coordination and collaboration with Local Government, civil society and private stakeholders for leveraging of program fund, sharing and replication of best practices
• Support in building the capacity of district-level staff and key stakeholders to facilitate the overall process of planning, implementation and monitoring of adaptation plans at local and community level ensuring benefits to real climate-vulnerable communities within project areas and considering good governance, gender, and social inclusion.
• Represent in and backstop cluster team to organize and share program progress and plan in different forums.
• Maintain effective coordination with the consortium partner organization, governmental institutions and others at the cluster level as required to implement the program. 
• Work closely with Water Security Manager based in Surkhet

• Implementing Bhakari Water activities as outlined in the Sub-award agreement between Mercy Corps and SAPPROS. 

Monitoring, Documentation and Reporting:

• Regular field visits to backstoppin, monitoring and reporting of the project accomplishment.  
• Initiate and/or participate in a visit with the teams as required and as advised. 
• Ensure joint monitoring (Central/Regional/Provincial) involving different stakeholders and donors as required in the field 
• Maintain or compile the database, case studies and reports as acquired from the district level, analyze and report as necessary
• Support Water Security Manager in preparation of communication and extension materials for publication
• Document and share program learning and experiences in different forums and medias and promote replication of best practices
• Be responsible to meet the targets and indicators as per the project proposal and Performance & Monitoring Plan 
• Receive and support visitors, experts and representatives from donors and other Stakeholders at cluster levels
• Senior Irrigation Officer will report to Water Security Manager based in Bhakari Program Office - Surkhet

Financial Management:

• Be responsible for proper use of project resources and finances ensuring value for money
• Work closely with Water Security Manager, Senior Water Security Lead and finance section at SAPPROS to regularize financial planning and reporting 

Required Qualification and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Agriculture Engineering or other relevant and equivalent engineering degrees from a recognized university with at least 3 years of practical experience in management, planning, and construction of small and medium-sized productive water, watershed management and Multiple Use Water System planning, design and cost estimation, implementation and post implementation or similar environment.
• Updated knowledge of key issues in rural development (gender, social inclusion, equity, empowerment, etc), and Natural Resource Management

Essentials:

• Proven experience in planning, coordination, management, report writing, technical training, survey, design, cost estimating, and construction supervision of small and medium infrastructures development projects related to IWRM, domestic and productive water use.
• Thorough knowledge of participatory techniques and experience in designing and implementing programs with stakeholder’s engagement and a high level of community participation.
• Thorough knowledge of water resource management with the past experiences on the multi-use water system (gravity and solar) and sound working knowledge of Auto CAD, GIS, and other engineering software. 
• Work independently with minimum guidance, demonstrated ability to work in complex environments under tight deadlines.  
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner to bring credit to SAPPROS and BHAKARI not to jeopardize its mission.  

Desirable: 

• Strong proficiency in English and Nepali language
• Understanding of database management skills
• Prior experience in complex donor-funded programs with joined consortium organizations.

Remuneration and Benefit Package

• As per the organization norms commensurate with the project agreement 

Location: 

• Bhakari Cluster Office at Jumla and Surkhet (with a frequent field visit to BHAKARI working districts/Rural/Municipalities and working sites)