[Hiring] National Consultancy for developing a National Strategy and Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality and Water Quality Surveillance @AGORA

Role Description

UNICEF is seeking a consultant to conduct a comprehensive situational analysis of the drinking water quality and surveillance landscape. The specific objectives include:

• Conduct a comprehensive situational analysis of the drinking water quality and surveillance landscape, including institutional capacity, legislative frameworks, and coordination mechanisms across MoH, DRWS, WASCO, and District Councils.
• Develop a five-year National Drinking Water Quality Strategy addressing urban, rural, and small-scale water supplies, integrating climate resilience, equity, and risk-based approaches.
• Develop Operational Guidelines for Water Quality Surveillance (WQS), incorporating Water Safety Plan (WSP) principles from catchment to consumer.
• Establish standardized monitoring protocols, quality assurance mechanisms, and enforcement procedures applicable to all service providers and community-managed systems.
• Define a clear multi-stakeholder coordination framework aligned with decentralization, clarifying roles across MoH, MNR, MoLG, LEWA, and local authorities.
• Develop a costed capacity-building and implementation roadmap, including integration with the GIS-based WASH MIS.

Qualifications

• An advanced university degree (Master’s level or higher) in one or more of the following fields:
  • Environmental Health
  • Public Health
  • Public Health Engineering
  • Water Resources Management
  • Water and Sanitation Engineering or Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering
  • Civil or Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Or a closely related discipline
• A multidisciplinary academic background that combines public health and technical/engineering aspects of water systems will be considered a strong advantage.
• Additional training or certification in areas such as water quality management, environmental health, or climate resilience will be an asset.

Requirements

• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the WASH sector, with a strong focus on drinking water quality and public health.
• Proven experience in drinking water quality management and surveillance, including water quality monitoring, sampling, laboratory systems, and data interpretation.
• Demonstrated experience applying WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, including risk-based approaches such as Water Safety Plans (WSPs) and public health surveillance frameworks.
• Strong track record in developing national or sub-national policies, strategies, guidelines, or regulatory frameworks in the WASH, environmental health, or public health sectors.
• Experience in institutional and governance analysis, including defining roles and responsibilities across multiple stakeholders and sectors.
• Proven experience working within multi-sectoral environments, engaging ministries (e.g., health, water, local government), utilities, and development partners.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing capacity-building programmes, including training frameworks and institutional strengthening initiatives.
• Experience working in developing country contexts, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Fluency in English.

Desirables

• Prior experience working in Lesotho or similar contexts.
• Experience in climate-resilient WASH programming.
• Familiarity with environmental health inspection systems and regulatory enforcement.
• Experience working with Ministry of Health systems and water service providers (utilities or rural water supply programmes).

Benefits

• Diverse opportunities for professional and personal development.
• Attractive compensation and benefits package.