Ethiopia: Shelter Officer P3 TA - Gambella, Ethiopia - Ethiopia

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Functional title: Shelter Officer

Position Grade: P-3 | TA

Location, Country: Gambella, Ethiopia

Deployment time-frame: Initially until end of the year

Expected starting date: ASAP

Supervisor: Head of Sub Office

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Shelter Officer will be based in the UNHCR Sub Office in Gambella, Ethiopia. He / She will work under the overall supervision of the Head of Sub Office and in coordination with other colleagues working in the field. The position requires regular contact with programme, protection and field staff in country in order to ensure technical support related to shelter and construction activities.

Close and regular contact with technical and non-technical staff of UN Agencies, Implementing Partners, National and International NGOs and Government Authorities, is essential to discuss matters relating to shelter and infrastructure coordination and provision.

The Shelter officer will contribute on behalf of UNHCR to the Shelter/NFI Sector as appropriate.

The Shelter Officer is also expected to liaise on a regular basis with the Regional Support Hub / Regional representative and the Shelter and Settlement Section in Geneva.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Authority

· Intervene with implementing partners on shelter issues.

· Decide priorities in the designing of UNHCR shelter implementation plan.

· Advise on implementing partners’ selection.

· Enforce technical strategies, protocols and guidelines with UNHCR implementing partners.

· Contribute on behalf of UNHCR to the Shelter/NFI Sector as appropriate.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the overall and direct supervision of the Head of Sub-Office Bauchi, the incumbent will perform the following duties:

· Provide advice on all technical matters, including shelter, physical planning, site selection/ development, infrastructure, environment, etc. to the Sub Office, implementing partners and other persons/ agencies involved in assisting refugee programme in Gambella, Ethiopia.

· Develop the shelter strategies to meet the ongoing needs of refugees taking into account the preferences of the beneficiaries, local construction practices and available materials. Plan and supervise the maintenance and upgrading of family shelters in order to improve the standards;

· Coordinate and provide technical inputs for the Contingency Planning related to possible influx of refugees within the Ethiopia.

· Conduct technical feasibility / assessment studies for identification of adequate refugee sites in close coordination with the Ethiopian Refugee Authorities (ARRA), Local Authorities at Provincial, District and Divisional levels, as well as with the concerned line Ministries and implementing partners;

· Ensure that basic technical criteria of land availability/property, accessibility, security, topography, water resources, absorption capacity, and adequate terrain for proper sanitation facilities are taken into consideration while selecting potential refugee sites. Other factors such as national reserves, migration corridor, and flooding, possible conflict with local population have also to be taken into consideration during the site planning;

· Supervise the construction activities for the development of the site by contractors and implementing partners, including site clearance, roads, culverts, etc.;

· Ensure that technical specifications, bills of quantities and shelter design drawings are produced in a sound and standardize manner and establish monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure that works are implemented according to plans and completed within the designated timeframe.

· Coordinate with the affected committees, local authorities and other partners the identification of potential needs related to shelter and NFIs and ensure that NFIs need identification/distribution is coordinated among all the actor;

· Coordinate provision of technical inputs for project submissions to address the needs, taking into consideration the technical standards (UNHCR/ Sphere/ National) and UNHCR protection mandate and policy priorities, such as environment, women and children, with specific needs.

· Work in close coordination with the Site planning and Shelter Team, and undertake recruitment of national site engineers as required;

· Advice on the matters related to procurement of sector-related materials or equipment (including development and preparation of technical specifications for bid documents, technical evaluation of bids, review/inspect quality of the products/works as requested).

· Provide support to relevant sectors in the market analysis of locally available construction materials and skills, promoting the use of local capacity as appropriate;

· Ensure regular monitoring and evaluation of site planning and shelter activities, providing inputs for situation reports and reporting back to the country office and headquarters on progress and standards.

· Perform other related activities as deemed relevant by the Head of Sub Office.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Education

University degree in Architecture or Civil Engineering, or recognized equivalent.

Experience

· At least 8 years relevant experience in the technical/ engineering field.

· Prior experience of implementing shelter and settlement projects in humanitarian context and large scale emergencies coordinating with operational partners and governmental technical departments.

· Prior experience in designing and implementing a shelter strategy, including host family situations, collective shelter and camp settings, in emergency while considering the transition to more sustainable solutions.

· Project formulation, planning, supervision and management skills.

· Strong analytical, drafting and diplomatic skills, and proficient in computer software’s, including engineering (AutoCAD) and site planning design tools (GPS, ArcGIS).

· Previous involvement in implementation processes (including development of bill of quantities, analysis of local capacity and local markets, cost estimations etc.)

· Experience of construction management (including site supervision, monitoring, quality control, evaluation etc.) including application of participatory approaches to facilitate active participation of communities into the project cycle and into the construction process.

· Experience in developing shelter and settlement need assessments and undertaking gap analysis for development of shelter programmes.

· Prior experience in designing and implementing shelter strategies.

· Experience in cluster and/or post-conflict operations.

· Experience in building on existing local capacity and transfer knowledge as appropriate.

· Knowledge of UNHCR standards and criteria for shelter, site selection, including consideration of cross sectorial issues related to protection, SGBV, WASH, environment, land property issues etc.

· Previous experience in tender processes (including development of all relevant technical documentation) to ensure settlement development.

· Experience of site construction management (including supervision, monitoring, quality control, evaluation etc.)

Desirable Qualifications & Competencies

· Knowledge of a range of shelter assistance options, including sensitivity to cultural and gender specific needs to ensure that the social and cultural background of the refugees is taken into account while designing, developing and implementing shelter options.

· Familiarity with and considerable field exposure to UNHCR programme planning and implementation and on humanitarian operations.

· Previous experience in Shelter Clusters if appropriate

· Knowledge of another relevant UN language or local language would be an asset.

· Coordination and inter-personal skills.

Other requirements

· Capacity to work with multi sectorial teams

· Cultural sensitivity to the specific needs of the persons of concern.

· Willingness and ability to work in hardship environments.

DURATION

The initial contract will be up to the end of December 2016 through UNHCR Temporary Appointment (TA) contract. The selected candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.