Irrigation and Water Use Specialist

The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity of Ethiopia is a federal organization established to undertake the management of water resources, water supply and sanitation, large and medium scale irrigation and electricity. As part of the ambitious targets of GTP-II and Ethiopia’s vision 2015, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity (MoWIE) is developing a program that compensate the gap of meeting the GTP-II so far, advance the immediately needed further development, including new and innovative new way of doing the business.

The objective of this project is to provide technical support to the minister and state ministers of MoWIE to improve the decision making power of the ministers hereby meeting the GTPII targets assigned to the ministry.

Specific objective of the project

-          Develop national standards in water resource management

-          Formulate legal frame works, policies and guides relevant to water resource management

-          Build capacity of professionals in the field of water resource, irrigation and land management

-          Develop comprehensive information management system

• Collaboration in work-plan preparation for the MoWIE project management, including the setting of goals, targets and performance standards for the activity under his/her responsibility.

• Collaboration within the team to review the operational aspects of the proposed projects, taking independent and timely operational decisions to meet objectives.
• Establishment and/or strengthening of Irrigation Associations in order to enable them to assume their role in operation and maintenance (O & M) 
• Dissemination of improved water saving techniques including:

• Improvement of the physical irrigation infrastructure to reduce system water losses and facilitate equitable water distribution

 (a) More efficient irrigation methods,

 (b) More efficient water distribution systems,

 (c) Agronomic water saving measures including

• Propose options for improving on-farm water management practices
• Develop specific measures for reducing field application losses such as laser land leveling and high efficiency irrigation systems
• Estimate cost of proposed interventions for sub projects
• Support in the design and estimate on-farm interventions for sub projects
• Advise on the formulation and endorsement of WUA regulation and supporting guidelines and procedures at regional level including for water rights and fee and cost recovery

• Masters Degree in  Hydrology, Irrigation or related fields.

• Bachelors  degree in the same fields with additional two years relevant experience can be accepted in lieu of Masters degree.

• At least 5 years of  relevant experience for Masters Degree,  or seven years of relevant experience for Bachelors Degree. Out of the required relevant years of experience, three should be in Irrigation and Water use.
  
  

Fluency in spoken and written English and Amharic is required.

• Knowledge of and experience in sector/analytical work is desirable
• Recognized ability to conduct dialogue with clients, with international development partners, civil society and other water sector stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with multi-disciplinary teams and organizational units, as well as to maintain high service standards and high quality assurance under pressure, meet deadlines, and accommodate simultaneous demands from various sources. 
• Excellent oral and written communications skills.

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

This is  a local position and therefore it is open to only Nationals of Ethiopia.

1. Contract type: Local  Individual Contractor Agreement
2. Contract level: LICA-10
3. Contract duration: Ongoing ICA

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.