JOB OPPORTUNITY: WASH COORDINATOR (INT11735).

One person in three in the world lives in poverty. Oxfam is determined to change that world by mobilizing the power of people against poverty. Around the world, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them. In all we do, Oxfam works with partner organizations and alongside vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty.

As a confederation, our values are Accountability, Empowerment, and Inclusiveness.

Empowerment: Everyone, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can be a catalyst for change.

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Note: All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and may be subject to appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.

Background of Oxfam:

Oxfam started working in Southern Africa in the 1980s. Since then, we have implemented both development and humanitarian programmes to support practical and innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty.

We work with local stakeholders to find lasting solutions to the root causes which keep people in poverty. Oxfam is currently collaborating with the Government, international and local CSOs, UN Agencies and other stakeholders.

Oxfam envisions Southern African countries to be free of extreme inequality and injustice; a society where citizens and particularly women across all age groups claim and exercise their rights and responsibilities and can influence decisions that affect their lives.

Our regional program aims to promote women’s rights, good governance and accountability, resilient livelihoods, as well as enhance preparedness, reduce vulnerability to disaster and ensure an effective response to humanitarian crises.

Job Summary:

The WASH Coordinator provides advanced technical leadership, strategic coordination, and partner facing support for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programming across humanitarian, resilience, preparedness, and recovery contexts throughout the Southern Africa (SAF) Cluster.

The role is responsible for ensuring that WASH interventions are technically robust, contextually appropriate, gender-responsive, protection-sensitive, and fully aligned with humanitarian standards, organisational priorities, and Oxfam’s broader regional systems-change strategy. It ensures that WASH programming not only addresses immediate humanitarian needs but also contributes to longer-term resilience, public health outcomes, climate adaptation, and community system strengthening. Operating under the Humanitarian Action Programme Manager, the role serves as the Cluster’s principal technical specialist for WASH, ensuring that technical standards, programme quality, partner systems, emergency preparedness, learning, and adaptive practice are integrated into coherent multicounty humanitarian and resilience programming. The role works extensively with partners, country teams, programme leadership, and humanitarian systems to strengthen WASH design, implementation, compliance, innovation, and strategic positioning. It also contributes to linking operational delivery, programme quality, evidence generation, and humanitarian learning to improve both immediate response and longer-term WASH systems strengthening.

Operating without formal line management authority, the role requires high professional autonomy, strong technical expertise, analytical capability, systems thinking, and the ability to influence programme quality across complex, partner-led, and geographically dispersed systems. Through strong technical leadership, partner accompaniment, standards oversight, and evidence informed practice, the WASH Coordinator significantly strengthens Oxfam’s capacity to deliver safe, effective, accountable, and resilient WASH programming across Southern Africa.

The role requires a high level of technical expertise, analytical capability, and the ability to operate with autonomy in a complex, multi-country, partner-led environment.

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

Essential

• Master’s degree in civil engineering, Environmental Health, Water Resources Management, Public Health or equivalent qualification.
• 5 years of relevant experience in WASH programming, including experience in humanitarian or emergency contexts and working with partners.
• Proven experience working with national or regional partners supporting programme implementation including working across multi-country or multi-stakeholder environment.
• Strong technical expertise and ability to integrate programme design with influencing and policy work.
• Strong communication, analytical, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to build strong, credible relationships with internal and external individuals and organisations.
• Excellent personal communication skills, in written and verbal English, with strong influencing and persuasive skills.
• A high level of self-awareness, personal energy, stamina and flexibility.
• Proven experience as a team worker and demonstrably cooperative with members of other teams.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Desirable

• Portuguese language capability.
• Southern Africa regional experience.
• Humanitarian surge and preparedness experience.
• Policy and influencing integration experience.
• Climate-resilient WASH systems expertise.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies and experience of promoting gender equity and diversity and the interests of marginalized people in all aspects of Oxfam’s work.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, at times at short notice, locally and regionally.

• Provides advanced technical leadership, strategic coordination, and partner facing support for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programming across humanitarian, resilience, preparedness, and recovery contexts throughout the Southern Africa (SAF) Cluster.
• Ensures that WASH interventions are technically robust, contextually appropriate, gender-responsive, protection-sensitive, and fully aligned with humanitarian standards, organisational priorities, and Oxfam’s broader regional systems-change strategy.
• Ensures that WASH programming not only addresses immediate humanitarian needs but also contributes to longer-term resilience, public health outcomes, climate adaptation, and community system strengthening.
• Serves as the Cluster’s principal technical specialist for WASH, ensuring that technical standards, programme quality, partner systems, emergency preparedness, learning, and adaptive practice are integrated into coherent multicounty humanitarian and resilience programming.
• Works extensively with partners, country teams, programme leadership, and humanitarian systems to strengthen WASH design, implementation, compliance, innovation, and strategic positioning.
• Contributes to linking operational delivery, programme quality, evidence generation, and humanitarian learning to improve both immediate response and longer-term WASH systems strengthening.
• Strengthens Oxfam’s capacity to deliver safe, effective, accountable, and resilient WASH programming across Southern Africa through strong technical leadership, partner accompaniment, standards oversight, and evidence informed practice.

• Strong technical expertise in WASH programming.
• Ability to integrate programme design with influencing and policy work.
• Strong communication skills.
• Analytical skills.
• Decision-making skills.
• Ability to build strong, credible relationships with internal and external individuals and organisations.
• Excellent personal communication skills, in written and verbal English.
• Strong influencing and persuasive skills.
• High level of self-awareness, personal energy, stamina and flexibility.
• Proven experience as a team worker and demonstrably cooperative with members of other teams.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies.
• Portuguese language capability (Desirable).
• Southern Africa regional experience (Desirable).
• Humanitarian surge and preparedness experience (Desirable).
• Policy and influencing integration experience (Desirable).
• Climate-resilient WASH systems expertise (Desirable).
• Experience of promoting gender equity and diversity and the interests of marginalized people (Desirable).
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, at times at short notice, locally and regionally (Desirable).

• Master’s degree in civil engineering, Environmental Health, Water Resources Management, Public Health or equivalent qualification.
• 5 years of relevant experience in WASH programming, including experience in humanitarian or emergency contexts and working with partners.
• Proven experience working with national or regional partners supporting programme implementation including working across multi-country or multi-stakeholder environment.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s overall aims and policies (Desirable).