Public Health Engineering Officer

Job Purpose

The Public Health Engineering Officer will coordinate and lead in the implementation of Oxfam’s Public Health engineering programme focusing on community
participation in the overall refugee assistance, community engagement for action and capacity building of Oxfam, District & partner staff and community volunteers to better manage public health risks. To support start-up / implementation of Public Health Engineering components of Oxfam humanitarian interventions in the West Nile. The work that will be undertaken will involve assessment, planning and implementation of public health activities in line with the Oxfam’s strategy in Uganda.

Job Responsibilities

Technical Responsibility

Program team:

• To carry out assessment, planning, design and implementation of public health engineering components of the Oxfam humanitarian WASH programme in line with the Oxfam’s strategy in Uganda.
• Ensure PHE interventions are integrated into the entire emergency response program and share learning across other sectors
• To ensure that the promotion of women’s rights is at the heart of all Oxfam in Uganda’s program work

Job Purpose – Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• To carryout technical assessments, design, and implement water and sanitation projects that are socially acceptable, environmental friendly, and economically viable.
• To assess emergency needs, as requested, especially taking in the broader perspective of Public Health and Design and implement camp water and sanitation facilities for refugee settlements
• Ensuring that the construction of emergency water systems, using surface water and possibly ground water, follows technical designs.  Problem solving and adapting design in consultation with the PHE Team Leader as required.
• Ensuring that the most appropriate forms of sanitation systems are implemented, in consultation with the beneficiaries, which includes excreta disposal, refuse disposal, vector control and drainage.
• Identify and assess the current resources and capacity of national counterparts, humanitarian agencies and government authorities to meet public health needs.
• To liaise closely with the Public Health Promotion Team throughout the planning, design and implementation stages of the WASH Programme. Hygiene promotion is a vital element of such public health engineering programmes
• As part of an integrated team contribute towards planning and proposal writing in order to provide clear objectives and establish indicators for monitoring and evaluating the programme
• To coordinate with other key actors including local authorities and NGOs to ensure Oxfam’s views and approaches are in harmony with other key players in the public health sector.
• To assist in drawing budgets, and support budget monitoring and expenditure forecasting.
• To report regularly, verbally and in writing to the PHE Team Leader and to represent Oxfam to other NGO’s, agencies and Government authorities where requested.
• To support and prepare contract bundles, facilitate tendering procedures and implementation of contracts in an environment
• To develop and implement a technical training programme for relevant staff/engineering Assistants, partners, to ensure that water sanitation projects in the area reflect sustainability.
• To ensure that all programmes take gender issues fully into account. This includes the introduction of mechanisms to enable women and men to participate in decision making around public health engineering issues.
• Ensure that where possible an empowering approach to working with communities is employed rather than an approach which relies solely on message based methodologies
• To ensure that work aims to meet Minimum Standards and adheres to Oxfam’s emergency guidelines and protocols
• Carry out any assignment as maybe delegated by Area Manager as appropriate.

Job Requirements

Education:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering or water and sanitation engineering or relevant discipline

Experience:

• At least 3 years consistent experience in emergency and humanitarian policy advocacy and relevant disaster Management work at regional or National level with substantial working experience in International NGOs at management level both national and regional
• Experience in humanitarian Capacity strengthening and  experience in coordinating a technically diverse team.

Key Attributes:

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.
• Good contact with Govt, private sector, academia and media are essential.
• Sound understanding of the national political economy and global context with theoretical understanding on social change process is desirable.
• Strong knowledge  National and International humanitarian laws,  polices, strategies, principle , standards.

Organisational Values:

• Equality: We believe everyone has the rights to be treated fairly and to have the same rights and opportunities.
• Empowerment: We acknowledge and seek to expand people’s agency over their lives and the decisions that impact them.
• Solidarity: We join hands, support and collaborate across boundaries in working towards a just and sustainable world.
• Inclusiveness: We embrace diversity and difference and value the perspectives and contributions of all people and communities in their fight against poverty and injustice.
• Accountability: We take responsibility for our action and inaction and hold ourselves accountable to the people we work with and for.
• Courage: We speak truth to power and act with conviction on the justice of our causes.

Key Behavioral Competencies (based on Oxfam’s Leadership Model)

Competencies	Description
Decisiveness	We are comfortable to make transparent decisions and to adapt decision making modes to the context and needs.
Influencing	We have the ability to engage with diverse stakeholders in a way that leads to increased impact for the organization We spot opportunities to influence effectively and where there are no opportunities we have the ability to create them in a respectful and impactful manner.
Humility	We put ‘we’ before ‘me’ and place an emphasis on the power of the collective, nurture the team and play to the strengths of each individual. We are not concerned with hierarchical power, and we engage with, trust and value the knowledge and expertise of others across all levels of the organization.
Relationship Building	We understand the importance of building relationship, within and outside the organization. We have the ability to engage with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders in ways that lead to increased impact for the organization.
Listening	We are good listeners who can see where deeper levels of thoughts and tacit assumptions differ. Our messages to others are clear and consider different preferences.
Mutual Accountability	We can explain our decisions and how we have taken them based on our organizational values.  We are ready to be held to account for what we do and how we behave, as we are also holding others to account in a consistent manner.
Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity	We scan the environment, anticipate changes, are comfortable with lack of clarity and deal with a large number of elements interacting in diverse and unpredictable ways.
Systems Thinking	We view problems as parts of an overall system and in their relation to the whole system, rather than reacting to a specific part, outcome or event in isolation. We focus on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. By consistently practicing systems thinking we are aware of and manage well unintended consequences of organizational decisions and actions.
Strategic Thinking and Judgment	We use judgment, weighing risk against the imperative to act. We make decisions consistent with organizational strategies and values.
Vision Setting	We have the ability to identify and lead visionary initiatives that are beneficial for our organization and we set high-level direction through a visioning process that engages the organization and diverse external stakeholders.
Self-Awareness	We are able to develop a high degree of self-awareness around our own strengths and weaknesses and our impact on others. Our self-awareness enables us to moderate and self-regulate our behaviors to control and channel our impulses for good purposes.
Enabling	We all work to effectively empower and enable others to deliver the organizations goals through creating conditions of success. We passionately invest in others by developing their careers, not only their skills for the job.  We provide freedom; demonstrate belief and trust provide appropriate support.

Interested candidates should apply using the links provided against the positions and  the closing date for receiving applications is August 15 2023.

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