Jobs and Careers

TERM: 

Part-time consultancy

JOB DESCRIPTION: 

USAID launched the Armenia Improved Water Management Program (Program) to refine Armenia’s approach to water management and protection of freshwater resources. The Program is funded by USAID and implemented by Deloitte Consulting LLP as the prime contractor and sub-contracted by the Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD) and University of Colorado Boulder. The Program has the following objectives: application of advanced technologies and tools, improved water governance, promotion and scale up of best practices and innovative approaches, regional cooperation with neighboring countries, and improved access to water.

Supervision and Reporting:
The Specialist will report to and be supervised directly by Objectives 1, 3, and 5 Leads of the Program.

The objective of the assignment
This assignment refers to Objectives 1, 3 and 5 of the Program.

Under Objective 1, USAID/Armenia's Improved Water Management program is providing support to the RA Government in improving the monitoring of water availability, quality, and use/allocation. It aims at supporting the rehabilitation of monitoring posts and the application of remote-sensing technologies for improved monitoring of water availability, quality, and use/allocation.
According to the Program Objective 1 output requirements, at least 10 monitoring posts must be equipped with modern technology-based data transmission tools. These hydrological and hydrometeorological monitoring posts belong to the Hydrometeorological and Monitoring Center (HMC) SNCO of the Ministry of Environment (ME) of the Republic of Armenia (RA). They are included in the hydrometeorological monitoring system of Armenia.

Under Objective 3, the Program will demonstrate use of innovative water conservation and more efficient and advanced technologies, aiming at enhancing leading practices and technological approaches in drinking water supply, agriculture and irrigation, wastewater treatment and/or reuse. The Program will explore different modalities of private sector and academic institutions' participation to apply innovative leading practices and/or increased efficiency in small-scale water infrastructure projects, intended to benefit communities and serve as demonstrators for uptake within the private sector. The results of these pilot projects will be disseminated to the private sector and communities, and where needed and feasible, the project will support the rehabilitation of water infrastructure that increases equitable access to water.

Under Objective 5, the Program will improve access to water sources for irrigation and drinking water in border communities, since most of these communities in Armenia do not have sufficient and equitable access to drinking and irrigation water resources.
The Program will implement a minimum of 26 small-scale infrastructure projects under Program Objectives 1, 3 and 5, of which 6 are already completed or near completion.
Within the framework of this technical task, the EMMP training and Environmental Compliance Specialist will deliver training on environmental compliance requirements for each of the SSIPs and carry out environmental monitoring during their implementation as presented below. Based on monitoring site visits, the Environmental Compliance Specialist will fill out Environmental Review Checklists and prepare Records of Compliance for USAID.

Reports are presented in the following format:
a) Reports in MS Word text files, with photos from site visits and observations, corrections implemented based on mitigation measures undertaken.
b) Data in MS Excel spreadsheet files - as relevant.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

- Conduct EMMP training for each small-scale infrastructure project and for projects on upgrading/renovation hydrological monitoring posts;
- Ensure environmental compliance in the design and implementation of each small-scale infrastructure project and for upgrading/renovation of hydrological monitoring posts by making visits to projects’ sites to observe baseline situations and by making planned and random spot-checks complete the ERC checklists;
- Prepare draft and final reports in Armenian and English languages on Record of Compliance based on USAID requirements;
- Coordinate activities timelines with Objective 1, 3, and 5 Leads to schedule site visits.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

- Master’s degree in environmental science, chemistry or other relevant field with a focus on the water sector (5 years +);
- Expert level experience in water resources management is an asset;
- Strong reporting skills;
- Reporting experience;
- Experience in working with international organizations in the water sector is an advantage;
- Fluent in English and Armenian.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES: 

Interested candidates are asked to send their CVs to: *****.***********@*****.***

Please clearly mention in your application letter that you learned of this announcement through Career Center and mention the URL of its website - www.careercenter.am. Thanks.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: 

This position will be recruited by Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD) as a co-implementer of the USAID funded IWM Project.