Civil Engineer/Hydrologist (UNHABITAT)

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. It is present in Ethiopia since 1998.

Through its Regional Office for Africa (ROAf), located in Nairobi, Kenya, UN-Habitat has been supporting African governments to take early action to position themselves for predominately urban populations to achieve sustainable urbanization and the right to adequate housing for all, within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda – particularly Sustainable Development Goal 11 to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” – and the New Urban Agenda.

Since 1998, the UN-Habitat has implemented several projects in Ethiopia. Building on global frameworks such as SDG 11, the New Urban Agenda and Ethiopia’s 2^nd Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), the country programme is organized around four pillars: (i) Urban Regional Planning, (ii) Urban Resilience, (iii) Housing and Urban Basic Services, (iv) Urban Monitoring and Research Advocacy. It also considers cross cutting issues such as Awareness Raising - Participatory Approach Capacity Development - Technical Advice - Policy Support. Subsequently, UN-Habitat and the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction (MUDCo) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding which provides the legal framework to implement the UN-Habitat Country Programme.

UN-Habitat Ethiopia is supporting the Government of Ethiopia in strategic regional planning and spatial development of cities and other settlements, promoting inclusive and sustainable development. UN-Habitat is implementing a pilot public space along the Sheger river in Addis Ababa following the ‘Beautifying Sheger Project’ Initiative. The initiative aims at renewing the image of the riversides of Addis Ababa and making it green as well as clean. The UN-Habitat project will design and implement an open green space along the riverside; support an integrated watershed management and provide institutional capacity development to the city administration in management of urban river waterfronts.

The incumbent will work under the direct supervision of the UN-Habitat Ethiopia Programme Manager, the Civil engineer/Hydrologist will be responsible for the following duties:

• Review existing policies, strategies and plans with physical impact on the management of upper Sheger river watershed, including policies related to sanitation and wastewater management.
• Lead the hydrological system mapping, modelling seasonal water offset, and analysis of hydrogeology.
• Analysis of watershed dynamics against the city master plan and identification of impact and risks of increased water runoff
• Project future wastewater generated taking into consideration Addis Ababa master plan and climate change impacts.
• Formulate key issues and constraints of the water management along Sheger river
• Lead the formulation of SIWDP through multi-stakeholder consultations process
• Based on sub zoning of Sheger area maps, develop infrastructure and connectivity schemes
• Design appropriate retaining mechanism to stabilise the ground at the river edge
• Develop technical designs for nature-based infrastructure in the rehabilitation of the river in a selected location, support procurement processes and monitor/supervise the construction.
• Any other tasks requested by the or the team leader and Programme Manager.

Expected Outputs

• Revised policies and strategies related to the sustainable management of Sheger watershed, including policies related to sanitation and wastewater management
• Hydrological system mapping and analysis
• Analysis of watershed dynamics against the city’s master plan
• Formulate key issues and constraints of the water management along Sheger river including waste water and effluent from residences and factories  
• Formulation of SIWDP through multi-stakeholder consultations process
• Develop technical designs for the rehabilitation of the river in a selected location and retaining mechanism where needed
• Support procurement processes and monitor/supervise the construction.

• Ability to identify key strategic issues, opportunities and risks. Ability to generate and communicate broad and compelling organizational direction. Ability to communicate clearly links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals.  Demonstrated ability to provide innovative technical leadership by performing and/or overseeing the planning, development, and management of operation.  Demonstrated ability to negotiate and apply good judgment  Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations.  

• Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently. 

• Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client. 

• Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; encourages risk-taking and supports creativity and initiative; actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; appraises performance fairly. 

• Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; gathers relevant information before making a decision; considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; checks assumptions against facts; determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; makes tough decisions when necessary.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Proven ability for building and managing effective partnerships; 
• Excellent writing skills, with analytical capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality reports.
• Ability to work independently or with minimal supervision with a high degree of responsibility, in a flexible manner and often under pressure;
• Knowledge of financial resources and human resources management, contract, asset and procurement, and general administration;
• Capacity to coordinate and organize a team and to support project implementation;
• Ability to conduct interviews, surveys, and other data collection techniques. 

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Civil engineering, Environmental Engineering, Water resources/ Hydrology or related field is required;
• Substantial knowledge in environmental planning and engineering, environmental and social impact assessment, and water management is an asset.
• Proven experience in development of technical drawings and project supervision.
• Excellent knowledge of the Ethiopian context and particularly aware of climate resilience infrastructure and construction is required.

• A minimum of four (4) years experience in water resource management projects or civil engineering projects around water management.
• Experience in developing and using hydrological research and analysis, required ability to project future scenarios, assess risks and identify solutions.
• At least three (3) years of similar in-depth practical experiences in project implementation, preferably in the construction sector.
• Experience in the using computers and relevant software for digital drawing and remote sensing for analysing data and information is desirable.

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English (both oral and written) is required. Knowledge of any of the local languages is an asset.

Important applicant information

All posts in the SC categories are subject to local recruitment.

Applicant information about UNDP rosters

Note: UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Scam warning

The United Nations does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Should you receive a solicitation for the payment of a fee, please disregard it. Furthermore, please note that emblems, logos, names and addresses are easily copied and reproduced. Therefore, you are advised to apply particular care when submitting personal information on the web.