Country Lead Rwanda, Urban Water Resilience Initiative

Job Summary:
As the Country Lead for the Urban Water Resilience Initiative, you will guide the delivery of the urban water resilience initiative at the city level in Kigali and Musanze. You will work closely with local partners to take next steps on the City Water Resilience Assessment Approach (CWRA) in the city of Kigali and kick off the Musanze city work, ensuring coherence with the CWRA work ongoing in Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. Additional work will soon begin in Johannesburg and Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa. As the Rwanda Lead, you will guide the work of the local partner, build relationships with stakeholders, champion the initiative and support integration with national policy.

In addition, as the lead spatial planner for the program, you will also work with 6 cities in Africa to recommend and develop spatial interventions to improve urban water resilience in those geographic contexts. You will work closely with the Project Lead, the WRI’s GIS team, to assess and understand the key urban water challenges each city faces.

A local partner will be selected to work in each city and will be responsible for completing the following 4 deliverables of the CWRA process:

1. Prepare the city characterization report
2. Develop and implement a multi-stakeholder assessment and visioning workshop
3. Prepare a city water resilience profile and action plan
4. Develop and implement technical assistance plans for 2-priority actions Your role as the WRI’s

The summary of work for this role will include identifying and recommending urban design, land use, zoning and regulatory interventions/changes that will improve overall water quality, improve water security, conserve natural assets and mitigate water risks facing the city. Working closely with city stakeholders and experts, you will identify and develop opportunities to better align the city’s urban development plans with the water budget and the natural water cycle.

You will participate in stakeholder workshops to brainstorm, ideate and integrate these interventions in the city’s urban water resilience action plan. You will ultimately become fluent in the water resilience needs of cities across the region. You will assess and integrate local policy, regulatory & institutional context while making recommendations on specific interventions. In addition, you will support the Project Lead and Thriving Resilient Cities Director in developing agreements & securing political commitments for these spatial interventions; organizing activities such as conferences and workshops; scoping technical assistance and researching best practices in water sensitive urban design and spatial planning to share across the Africa water resilience network.

This position is a limited term, full-time, benefits eligible opportunity with an end date of December 30, 2022.

This role is based in Kigali, Rwanda.

Job Responsibilities:
Relationship management, diplomacy and strategic planning

• Represent WRI in Rwanda and serve as the main point of contact for WRI’s work in Rwanda, building relationships with city officials, utilities and a broad range of stakeholders to advance the development of the urban water resilience action plan in Kigali and Musanze
• Attend all stakeholder meetings, present the program on behalf of WRI at various in city events like focus groups meetings, assessment workshops, visioning workshops, action plan launch event
• Liaise with key points of contact at the national government and local government level to build consensus and identify opportunities for water resilience and secure and enhance political commitments to advance the UWRI initiative in Rwanda
• Represent the city’s (Kigali and Musanze) needs and advocate for city led action and be an ambassador bridging local context and culture to inform this pan-Africa initiative
• Project manage work plan, deliverables, timelines for the CWRA scope of the local partner in both cities
• Set agenda items for bigger group meetings with other partners (RCN, TRS, Arup) and WRI DC team
• Respond to local partner’s queries, advise on contextually relevant matters
• Coordinate with WRIs Project lead & TRC Director to strategically promote and elevate city champions in collaboration with WRIs communications and engagement lead to support messaging for the city work
• Ensure compliance with WRI Africa policies and protocols for events including travel policies, logistics, venues, out of pocket expenses etc.
• Identify key funding and financing strategies that will enable action on the ground and to inform a pan-Africa strategy to finance and fund water resilience
• Coordinate next steps with WRI’s project lead to design and implement network exchange programs between cities that support peer to peer learning on common challenges Kigali City Water Resilience Assessment 
• Work closely with the local partner to develop a governance analysis of the urban water system in the city using the OurWater tool. The OurWater tool helps map relationships between stakeholders throughout the entire water systems and the assessment allows cities to understand their local water system including different types of shocks and stresses confronted, the various hazards and the interaction between stakeholders required for effective urban water management.
• Coordinate with WRIs Project lead to complete the Kigali visioning sessions, working closely with city stakeholders, WRI team members and CWRA partners. Coordinate with the local partner to synthesize and analyze workshop outputs and develop city water resilience action plans for water resilience profile report
• Work closely with the WRI Project lead, the City Champion and the local partner to support securing commitments for the action plan from city stakeholders and leadership and identify priority water resilience actions
• Guide the local partner in developing final written material including city profile report, policy recommendations as well as talking points and background documents that are part of the collaterals identified for the launch of the final city profile report
• Guide the local partner in identifying, scoping, managing and implementing discrete technical assistance to support city of Kigali in advancing action on 1-2 priority water resilience initiatives for the city.

Spatial Planning Coordination

• Develop workplan for each city, including key milestones and deliverable timelines for spatial analysis
• Working closely with WRI’s data team and city stakeholders develop the baseline spatial analysis for the city to help identify key water & climate risks, insecurity and related vulnerabilities specific to the city region.

Job Qualifications:

• Five+ years of full-time work experience on water issues
• Master’s degree in fields such as environmental planning, architecture, landscape design, urban planning, urban economics, climate resilience, water wise development
• Demonstrated previous experience on research, coordinating/leading original projects, programs and urban planning activities.
• Experience with strategic planning processes, and knowledge of land use planning, zoning and building regulations with a focus on water related matters. Experience in problem solving, consensus building and lateral thinking would be key
• Subject matter knowledge of urban development policy or professional experience at an urban planning and urban development policy institution/research organization. Experience in designing hard and soft landscape strategies to address water related risks including flooding, pollution, siltation, landslides as well as recharge and restoration solutions for degraded aquifers, water bodies and water sheds is highly desired
• Demonstrated creativity in conveying complex science to non-expert audience in compelling ways.
• Demonstrated track record of accomplishments in advancing integrated urban planning, sustainable cities and climate resilience etc. Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams including water, energy, landscape, environment, transport and engineering disciplines
• Strong track record of relationships and project partnerships across Rwanda with key NGO and local research and urban development organizations and donors
• Exceptionally good communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work with teams of individuals and colleagues
• Extremely well organized, detail oriented, independent thinker, effective at organizing tasks and coordinating with partners to achieve project milestones and deliverables
• Strong writing skills with experience in designing and implementing qualitative and quantitative research methods

How to Apply:
Please submit a resume with personalized cover letter in English to be considered. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal. 

Program Overview:
The Urban Water Resilience Initiative (UWRI) is a three-year program (2020-2022) to help advance urban water resilience in Africa. The overall objective of this work is to help cities address their water risks and vulnerabilities through research, technical assistance, knowledge sharing, and partnerships for collective action. To this end, WRI and partners will work with city stakeholders to map key water, climate and development risks facing the city; develop research to identify pathways for change (i.e. policy, planning, governance interventions); set targets and owners for action; and catalyze implementation of priority actions through various capacity building initiatives including providing technical assistance, supporting knowledge exchange; and soliciting commitments from regional and national stakeholders to create an enabling environment.

To achieve the goals of this project WRI has proposed a 3-part action plan. These three phases of work are:
1. Research on Challenges and Pathways
2. Partnerships for Urban Water Resilience Actions
3. Enhanced enabling environment (aligned policy and investment) for urban water resilience through collective action

WRI Overview:
World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean.

We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include: integrity, innovation, urgency, independence and respect.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.
 
We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years and our operating budget is now $150 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of 1,000+ people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.  

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.