Jobs and Careers

TERM: 

Full-time

JOB DESCRIPTION: 

The South Caucasus Regional Water Management (SCRWM) Activity is a five-year project funded by USAID and meant to support effective transboundary cooperation and water management among Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. This will set an example of successful regional cooperation on shared priorities, mitigating conflicts, and contributing to peacebuilding in the South Caucasus. This project will also concurrently achieve social, economic, environmental, and climate change objectives.

The project will implement three cross-related objectives:
- Objective 1 - Transboundary environmental and water management networks developed at various levels across the South Caucasus.
- Objective 2 - South Caucasus stakeholders take a harmonized approach to transboundary water governance.
- Objective 3 - Communities incentivized by introducing new technologies, approaches, and economic models to rationally use water in a manner that demonstrates the benefits of improved water resource utilization across boundaries.

Purpose of Assignment
The Water Governance Specialist will provide programmatic leadership under Objective 2 in Armenia to support the harmonization of legal and institutional frameworks for cross-border cooperation. The Water Governance Specialist will also coordinate with the other Objective Leads and the cross-sectoral team and report to the Armenia Country Lead.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

The Water Governance Specialist is responsible for the following:
- Lead or contribute to studies of the water sector of Armenia, including the assessment of decentralized governance of water risk in the county;
- Conduct a comprehensive assessment of existing water governance structures and systems to identify legal and institutional gaps related to cross-border water management, with a focus on Marz (regional) and community level institutions;
- Evaluate national and international legal frameworks related to water resource/water security management, highlighting gaps and inconsistencies that may hinder effective cross-border cooperation;
- Propose amendments or new legislation to address identified gaps and enhance the legal foundation for cross-border cooperation on water resources with the focus on local and Marz(regional) levels;
- Support institutional and policy development efforts to further transboundary water cooperation, and advise on the drafting of new legal texts, implementation decrees, policies, and white papers;
- Formulate comprehensive strategies and action plans aimed at enhancing capacities for local municipalities and regional structures of Armenia for effective collaboration, coordination, and sustainable management of cross-border water resources;
- Facilitate concrete agreements for sharing water and environmental information on transboundary rivers and aquifers and set up public information and awareness-building tools. Emphasize the importance of establishing mechanisms for effective data and information sharing among participating countries;
- Provide support for strengthening the capacity of local institutions responsible for water management through organizational development initiatives and technical assistance.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

- Master’s degree in a discipline related to local governance, water resources management, international affairs, disaster risk management, environmental law, political science, or related;
- Minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience related to local governance development, with a focus on cross-border issues, including experience with USAID or other international donors, preferably in the South Caucasus region;
- Demonstrated technical capacity to design and implement local governance development or natural resource management programs in collaboration with local and international experts;
- Preferably comes with a current professional in-country network in the most relevant ministries and offices, private entities, and non-government organizations in the local governance and/or water/environment sectors.

Key Skills:
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary and multinational teams, fostering cooperation and knowledge exchange;
- Proven understanding of water governance issues and reforms across political, social, economic, and administrative dimensions;
- Ability to conduct legal analyses, identify gaps and propose legal remedies;
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to effectively engage government and civil society organizations, public and private sector counterparts, and other key stakeholders to create collaboration and synergies toward achieving concrete results; 
- Cultural sensitivity and adaptability to work effectively in a multi-cultural and cross-border context;
- Ability to think innovatively and propose creative solutions to address complex challenges in cross-border water resource management;
- High level of technical and analytical skills across multiple aspects of water management to effectively develop and adjust activities to achieve expected results;
- Effective communication skills, both oral and written, to support communication with USAID, public and private sector counterparts, and colleagues;
- Full professional proficiency in spoken and written Armenian and English is required.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES: 

If you are interested, please email your CV with the Cover Letter to: ****@*****.*** before 5 pm on 25 April 2024.

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.