Regional Technical Advisor - West Africa

Regional Technical Advisor - West Africa

Contract type: 2-Years Fixed term contract, Full time

Location: The role can be based at any WaterAid’s office in West Africa: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, subject to right-to-work eligibility in the respective country.

Salary: Salaries and benefits will vary by country and experience, in line with the successful candidate's location.

Change starts with water. Change starts with you.

Every day, millions of people live without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid exists to change that – for everyone, everywhere. Join us, and your energy will help unlock people’s potential and create a fairer future.

About WaterAid

We’re a global federation driven by one vision: a world where everyone, everywhere has clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. Powered by our values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation, we work alongside communities, partners and supporters to make change happen.

About the team

The Regional Technical Adviser (RTA) is a member of the regional team, in the International Programmes Department. S/he will also be a member of WaterAid’s global technical programme and support function. The role of the International Programmes Department is to support, resource and enable delivery of our global strategy at the country, regional and continental levels. The role of the regional team is to provide strategic leadership and ensure effective management of Country Programmes and Region, support and develop the capacity of our country programmes in the region to maximise their impact at the national and regional levels, contribute to the development of a strong WASH sector and thus enable the poor, marginalised and excluded people realise their rights to equitable and sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene.

About the role

The RTA will lead on ensuring that the technical quality of delivery of our programmes (in terms of hardware and software) is consistent with national and global best practice in the sector as well as with WA global programme frameworks and standards. The RTA will be responsible for ensuring that technical competence in country programmes is at the right level.

In this role, you will:

Technical and Advisory Support:

• Review Country Programme approaches and technologies for water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion in the light of national and global good practice with guidance from the Regional Team and PSK.
• Support country programme technical staff to raise standards of service delivery carried out through Country Programme partners.
• Based on the WaterAid Quality Programme Standards, support country programmes and partner staff in the quality assurance of project design, implementation and monitoring to achieve technical excellence and long-term sustainability of water and sanitation services. Support the understanding and embedding of the standards in CPs (QPS Project focal point in the Region)
• As part of WaterAid’s global technical support function, use WaterAid’s thematic frameworks – Sustainability, Water Security, Urban, Sanitation, Hygiene, Equity and Inclusion, Disaster Management - in supporting country programmes to adapt these to their respective contexts. Contribute to future developments of these and related guidance documents
• Ensure all WASH facilities constructed by WaterAid and partners in the region are resilient to climate change effects with strong focus on solar powered WASH systems.

Capacity development:

• Identify key areas where capacity gaps exist in WaterAid country offices and among partners and provide support to address these gaps in coordination with the Regional Team and PSK.
• Identify key resources / organisations within the region and at the global level, which can provide support to country programme and partner staff.
• Monitor effectiveness of capacity development inputs to ensure they address the challenges identified.
• Support the design of robust proposals for financial resource mobilisation specifically climate funds.

Quality Assurance, monitoring and evaluation:

• Ensure that adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place that can offer a high level of quality assurance to the Country Directors, Regional Programme Director and Regional Director in coordination with the Regional Team, PSK and the Programme Operations team.
• Support implementation of the Quality Programme Standards plans for assuring consistent adherence to global standards of quality and technical excellence.
• Review periodically the quality of technical delivery, advise senior managers at country and regional levels and propose remedial actions with guidance from PSK and follow up on these actions and on recommendations of country programme evaluations and technical assessments.
• Participate in country programme and other evaluations.
• Regularly revise the construction protocols to ensure security and safety at any time.

Learning, Innovation and knowledge management:

• Identify and promote good practices in the region that enable us to achieve high levels of technical excellence.
• Undertake systematic documentation of our experiences for sharing.
• Host, co-ordinate, anchor discussions and seminars on technical issues to promote our knowledge and understanding.
• Write papers with other RTAs and PSK to disseminate our experience more widely, especially at key regional and global events like AfricaSan, WEDC, Stockholm Water Week, AfWASA and IWA events …
• Actively encourage innovation in the technical spheres of our work and explore possibilities of these being scaled up and replicated.
• Initiate research and scoping studies on emerging themes such as circular economy, optimisation of solar powered water schemes. 

Regional collaboration and representation:

• Identify key opportunities for the region to be represented to promote and enhance our understanding and experience of technical issues on areas of particular interest to the region.
• Lead in developing joint proposals for technical research and take part in advocacy actions which promote our work, knowledge and experience.
• Influence other stakeholders through focused advocacy in promoting practices that, based on our experience and that of our partners, are effective in ensuring sustainable access to and use of water and sanitation services.
• Be the key spokesperson in the region on technical matters related to service delivery practices.
• Be a member of the Extended Regional Leadership Team and contribute to the effectiveness of the region in promoting WaterAid’s mission.
• Be a leading member of WaterAid’s Programme, working closely with the Programme Support and Knowledge as well as with the Country Programmes in the designated region.
• Actively participate to relevant CoPs and working groups as appropriate and required for RTAs

To be successful you will need:

• Master’s degree with specialisation in water, sanitation, environment or other WASH-related area,
• Knowledge of international WASH development and programme delivery,
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in national, regional and / or international WASH sector development,
• Experience of managing consultants,
• Experience of operational and participatory planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation
• Experience of working in an advisory or management capacity,
• Experience on CR-WASH and solar powered water schemes design, implementation and management,
• Experience on rural/urban WASH management models,
• Technical knowledge of the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors, specialising in at least one of these,
• Fluent spoken, written and read French and or English,
• Good communication skills including proposal preparation and presentation,
• Excellent word-processing and spreadsheet skills,
• Networking, establishing and maintaining relations with other organisations,
• Strong team player.

Desirable skills:

• Research qualification in WASH-related subject,
• Familiarity with WaterAid’s mission, values and aims,
• Chartered membership of a relevant professional institution,
• Organisational representation at forums or discussion meetings,
• Experience of operating in a global organisation,
• Familiarity with a WaterAid or similar country programme in Africa,
• Demonstrable skills in research and innovation on technical issues,
• Representational skills,
• Advanced knowledge of specific technical fields appropriate to WaterAid’s work.

View the full job description here

Closing date: Applications will close at 12:00 PM UK time on 26 January 2026.

How to apply: Click Apply to upload your CV and Cover Letter.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in my application?

At WaterAid, we strongly advise against using AI technology at any stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure a fair and transparent process that provides every applicant with an equal opportunity to succeed. We value hearing about your unique experiences and perspectives in your application, and, if shortlisted, during the interview as well.

Pre‑employment screening

To apply for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to local law and WaterAid’s Safer Recruitment policy.

Our Benefits

As a global organisation, WaterAid is committed to creating an environment where you can thrive and be yourself at your very best. Alongside our inspiring mission and meaningful work, we offer a range of benefits tailored to each country’s context and policies. These will be shared during the process.

Our People Promise

We will work with passion and focus to make sure everyone everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.

Equal Opportunities

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status. This includes, but is not limited to, race, ethnicity, caste, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability status, neurodiversity, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation.

Safeguarding

We are committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero- tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks).

Together, we’ll change the world through water.

Join us and be part of the change!