Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist – Project Coordinator – Orange Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM)

VACANCY: TERMS OF REFERENCE

Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist Centurion, Pretoria Project Coordinator

24 months, depending on performance and availability of funds

1.0 Introduction

The Orange Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM) was established in November 2000 following the signing of an agreement between the four basin states, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The Commission advises the basin states on the development, utilization and conservation of water resources of the Orange Senqu River and comprises of the Council as the highest decision-making body. UNDP has been supporting ORASECOM since 2006 to strengthen its technical and institutional capacity for joint management of the transboundary Orange-Senqu River to realize sustainable utilization and management of natural resources in the basin through the implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management principles and practices.

Through the first phase of the UNDP-GEF support, ORASECOM produced the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) of the Orange-Senqu River basin, which summarized environmental and socioeconomic status of the basin, identified environmental threats to the basin ecosystem, and analysed immediate and root causes of the environmental threats. Based in the information presented in the TDA, the four countries identified their priority actions at the transboundary and national levels to address the identified environmental threats. Those priority actions were presented as the Strategic Action Programme, or SAP (for the transboundary level) and endorsed at the ministerial level by all four countries in August 2014. SAP contributes to the ORASECOM’s basin-wide IWRM Plan and its implementation ensures the environmental sustainability in the basin.

ORASECOM, with support from UNDP, managed to secure further financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to implement selected priority activities of the SAP. The UNDP-GEF project titled, Support to the Orange-Senqu River Strategic Action Programme Implementation Project (referred to as Project in this document), is being implemented by ORASECOM since 2019.

Job Purpose:

To lead communications, outreach, and knowledge management functions at the ORASECOM Secretariat.

Eligibility:

Preference will be given to citizens from ORASECOM State Parties (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa). Responsibilities and Tasks

• Support the Communications Task Team to develop and implement annual communications plans as guided by the ORASECOM Communication’s Strategy.
• Lead the production and dissemination of materials on the Project and broader ORASECOM work.
• Document lessons learned and best practices on SAP implementation and disseminate widely to other River Basin Organisations, Regional Economic Communities and globally through IW:LEARN and other global fora, including the active participation in IW:LEARN related activities.
• Organise knowledge sharing events (such as knowledge fairs, site visits, interviews).
• Maintain the ORASECOM website, produce annual reports for the project and ORASECOM, newsletters etc.
• Contribute to preparation of the substantive and operational reports for the Project.
• Facilitate the review and updating of the ORASECOM Water Information System (WIS) in terms of its functionalities and sustainability.
• Promote the WIS as an important and highly useful resource.
• Coordinate learning and exchange amongst ORASECOM State Parties and south-south cooperation.
• Support the integratation of data produced by basin-wide environmental systems into the WIS so that it can be used by stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Develop and oversee implementation of a knowledge management system for the Project and ORASECOM.
• Facilitate collection of data, information and update of the knowledge management system.
• Support project monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Ensure consistency and creativity in Project and ORASECOM branding.
• Provide support in meetings and workshops (organization, recording of proceedings, etc).
• Contribute to the fostering and establishment of close linkages with other Projects in ORASECOM and related GEF programmes.
• Represent the Project at meetings and other project related fora within the region and globally, as required.

Core Competencies

• People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and can support other staff.
• Communication Skills: Well developed written and oral communication skills. Experience in using and developing various communication and knowledge management tools.
• Integrity: Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment.
• Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner.

Work style: Is well planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem-solving skills.

Attributes

• Demonstrable passion for communication and knowledge generation,
• Ability to generate people centered knowledge products using innovative tools and approaches (including products for the youth).
• Energetic and proactive.

Technical Competencies for this position

• Previous communications, marketing and knowledge management experience
• Experience in multi-donor funding environment will be useful

Qualifications and Experience

• A bachelor’s degree in business and/or social sciences. Post graduate qualification is ideal
• Experience in communications

Experience in information systems, website development and strong IT skills

Work experience in a relevant discipline: water resources management, natural resources management- Familiarity with developing and delivering knowledge sharing programs

• Experience in establishing effective partnerships within and outside the organization.
• Communications: Ability to explain complex concepts in layman’s language; demonstrate sensitivity for cultural and gender differences

Stakeholder orientation: Understands stakeholder needs and concerns; respond promptly and effectively

• Teamwork: Collaborates with other structures. Has the ability to get consensus and collaboration
• Learning and knowledge sharing: open to new ideas
• Analytical thinking and decisive judgement Fluency in English
• Previous work experience in one or more of the participating countries, and previous work experience in the region on issues related to the Project will be very favourably considered.