Team Leader - Water and Sanitation Sector

Project description

The Water, Sanitation and Waste Management department aims to help our partners in the water and environmental sectors in developing countries become more agile and equipped to respond to today’s challenges. We do this by implementing projects that use public-private cooperation, systems thinking and data-driven approaches to advance the 2030 development goals.
We view water as an enabler and impact-multiplier that has the potential to generate positive spillover effects across SDG agendas, revitalize jobs and ensure global health, rather than a rival for limited resources. This requires innovative ideas, new models of collaboration, fresh approaches to mobilize and channel investment and technology solutions at scale and speed.
Therefore, we are looking for experienced water experts who can lead and shape projects in technology, finance, institutional strengthening and multi-sector partnerships that address the systemic gaps and inequities in our global water systems. We are looking for experts with a track record of catalyzing multi-sectoral leadership to support collective action, advancing latest insight and policy in water sector development, and a deep understanding of the risks and opportunities that water presents for a successful transition to a green economy.

Job description

We are looking for a skilled and experienced Team Leader to join our team and lead the advancement of water supply, sanitation and waste management in developing countries. As the Team Leader, you will execute projects, focusing on establishing and managing strategic partnerships, facilitating collaboration, and achieving impactful outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Supervise teams to accomplish project objectives in a timely and cost-effective manner, ensuring long-term benefits and measurable impact.
• Create, sustain, and capitalize on strategic collaborations to enable successful project delivery and stakeholder engagement, strengthening the reputation of GFA in the region, and offering insights into potential business development opportunities.
• Provide strategic guidance and technical assistance to diverse group of water sector stakeholders, enhancing their knowledge and skills
• Foster innovation among team members and subject matter experts to design and implement multi-disciplinary approaches in water supply and sanitation, wastewater, solid waste management, recycling etc that enhance climate resilience, reduce emissions, and promote inclusivity.
• Establish monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress, identify bottlenecks, and recommend adjustments, generating data-driven reports.
• Leverage organizational adaptive capacity by being flexible in goals, structures, sensemaking, and strategies to cope with changing environments.
• Develop resilience competencies of team members by being proactive, learning-oriented, collaborative, anticipatory, reflective, adaptive, and transformative.
• Adopt gender-sensitive or gender-transformative approaches in your work.
• Work closely with GFA HQ in Hamburg to ensure quality control of deliverables during project preparation, implementation and closure.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible professional experience with a graduate degree (or equivalent experience) in a relevant field such as business, economics, or sustainability. Experience working with multi-sector stakeholders, government agencies, and international organizations is highly desirable.
• Education: Master's degree in a relevant field such as Water Resources Management, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Sustainability, or a related field is required. 
• Strong understanding of sustainability and global water security agenda issues, including water-energy-food nexus, climate, and circular economy.
• Demonstrated leadership in delivering results through large-scale coalitions, working across stakeholder groups, including private sector, government, and international organizations. Ability to work with high-level stakeholders and subject matter experts, demonstrating influence and impact and build trustful relationships in ambiguous environments.
• Inspiring leader with excellent facilitation skills, strong business acumen, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Strong management skills to supervise, motivate, and mentor team members on a daily basis is a prerequisite.
• Extensive network across stakeholder groups in the water sector, with a proven ability to engage and collaborate effectively.
• Excellent strategic thinking and program management skills, with the ability to connect the dots and deliver impactful outcomes.
• Responsible, independent, and self-driven, with outstanding organizational skills, work ethic, and attention to detail.
• Creative thinker with the ability to convey information and insights in a compelling manner. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to be concise and clear. Fluency in English is required. Fluency in additional languages relevant to the region of focus (e.g., French, Spanish, Arabic) is an advantage.
• Commitment to adopting gender-sensitive and inclusive approaches.
• Demonstrated proficiency in managing teams remotely and using online tools such as MS Teams, Mural, Zoom, etc. to facilitate communication, collaboration, and coordination among team members and stakeholders.
• Flexibility in working on an intermittent basis and ensuring the delivery of results without compromising the quality or timeliness of the projects.
• Willingness to travel frequently to project sites in developing countries.

Contact person

Marisa Ludwig