Utility Advisor

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is the implementing agency of the Federal Republic of Germany for technical and international cooperation. It offers flexible, sustainable and effective solutions in political, economic and social change processes. Most of the work of GIZ is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). GIZ also operates on behalf of other German ministries as well as public and private bodies in Germany and abroad. These include the European Commission, the United Nations, the World Bank and governments of other countries. In the Water and Energy portfolio of GIZ, the EU is an important commissioning partner.

The GIZ Project “Strengthening Institutions for Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation in Zambia (SIWaS)” is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The overall objective of the project is to support national institutions, commercial utilities, and local authorities in implementing national targets for the improvement of urban water supply and sanitation services in a coordinated manner. The projects lead partner is the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation and the 5 outputs of the SIWaS project are as follows:

Output 1: Strengthening the organizational capacity of MWDS to coordinate and manage the water sector.

Output 2: Developing tools to regulate Commercial Utilities through the National Water Supply and Sanitation Council (NWASCO).

Output 3: Strengthening the organisational, technical, and financial capacities of partner Commercial Utilities (CU’s).

Output 4: Establishing foundations for better coordinated services in rural water supply and sanitation.

Output 5: Establishing foundations for improved management of industrial wastewater in Lusaka and for decentralised sanitation.

Access to water supply and sanitation services remains low in Zambia especially in rural and peri-urban areas which is detrimental to the economy, health and well-being of the population. These low access rates have remained almost stagnant over the past fifteen years, despite Zambia aiming for universal access to safe and affordable water and sanitation services by 2030. The Government is rolling out several investment programmes like NRWSSP, NUWSSP and the ZWIP to change the trend in investments of infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. On the side of service provision, Zambia has decentralized and professionalised services by setting up commercial utilities as private companies owned by the local authorities while ensuring appropriate regulation by NWASCO and oversight by the ministry. However, the commercialisation of the utility services over the last 20 years has not fully achieved its objectives of having fully cost recovery of the services in urban areas with user tariffs. The current governance framework and consistent under-performance in relation to sector benchmarks like NRW or staff efficiency requires urgent action to change the trajectory of the sector. Similarly, the services in rural areas require structural changes, capacity building and investments to considerably improve services. Therefore, the Government and its cooperating partners like the German Government, the EU and others, are providing renewed efforts with dedicated investments in infrastructure and technical assistance (ref. to GIZ SIWAS) to address the challenges.

In this context, GIZ is therefore seeking a suitable candidate to fill the following position:

Utility Advisor – Band 4, (based in Kasama, Kabwe and Choma) × 3

REF: GIZ_SIWaS_UA

Main tasks and responsibilities:

The Utility advisor carries out the following duties and responsibilities in close collaboration with the Commercial Utility and Local Authority:

Provide technical and organizational advice to the Commercial Utilities on improvement of 3 out of 9 key performance indicators set by the regulator (e.g., staff efficiency, cost coverage collection efficiency and non-revenue water)

Provide technical advice on the implementation of measures to reduce commercial water losses caused e.g. by illegal water connections, inefficient billing and tariff collection practices.

Provide technical, financial and organizational advice to the management level of CUs, e.g. on controlling, development of long-term financial forecasts, including cash flow projections and tariff scenarios.

Provide Governance advice and training of members of the supervisory boards of CUs on the performance of their supervisory function and aspects related to gender transformation.

Provide technical and organizational advice for the development and implementation of management systems for the sanitation value chain in urban low-income areas (i.e. latrine emptying, transport and environmentally sound treatment of faecal sludge) in cooperation with CUs and local authorities in partner provinces.

Support the CU in establishment and implementation of methods to improve CU energy efficiency, such as energy audits, energy saving plans and utilization of solar energy in line with the recommendations provided in the Water Utility Platform

Support towards the development and implementation of joint action plans between the CU and local authorities to improve Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) .

Support to the CU and Local Government to develop an approach for a gender responsive rural WSS system for 1000 households which is then made available for replication by responsible stakeholders

Support towards the implementation of the hybrid management model of small piped water schemes in line with the future national guidelines

Support towards the preparation of project proposals in line with the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) to improve gender responsive Water Supply and Sanitation for rural households for submission to potential financing institutions

Support the local government on the establishment of a digital inventory for rural WSS in selected districts

Support coordination with the GIZ Decentralisation for Development Programme

Contract management: prepare tenders/calls and manage consulting contracts and working closely with assigned long and short term consultants

Keep the Project Manager regularly informed about activities and progress in the respective CUs and local authorities

Qualifications and Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in an area relevant to the project’s objectives such as Engineering, Economics, social/political science, or related fields.

Master’s degree is desirable

Professional experience

At least 7 years practical working experiences in working on water supply and sanitation services in particular with Commercial Utilities and Local Governments

Very good and proven knowledge and understanding of the Zambian Water Sector

Proven working experience with existing networks in water supply and sanitation, international development projects, NGOs, government institutions and/or local authorities.

Evidence of managing contracts, events and processes independently.

Other knowledge, additional competences

Strong advisory skills and conceptual competences

Zambia national or person with residence or work permit in Zambia

Fluent written and oral knowledge of English.

Excellent writing and communication skills.

Self-motivated, organized and pro-active team player and ability to work independently.

Must be highly adaptable, flexible and able to work under pressure

Experience with gender-sensitive, gender-transformative approaches is an asset

Strong commitment to the projects mandate and team spirit

The successful candidate will be expected to start employment with GIZ, on a fixed term contract.

Application deadline: 26.06.2024