Millennium Challenge Account
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA-Lesotho II) is an entity established by the Government to act as the accountable entity to implement the Compact, with the authority to bind the Government with regard to all Program activities.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) awards eligible countries with fixed-amount, fixed-term (five year) grants (“compacts”) for a defined set of projects aimed at reducing poverty through economic growth. Country ownership of compacts is a core part of MCC’s model and influences a great deal of MCC’s work. MCC supports this through the assembly of a local team of professionals for each compact, typically called a “Millennium Challenge Account” or “MCA”, charged with compact implementation and overseen locally by a Board of Directors. MCC believes that the performance of MCA-Lesotho II staff has a significant impact on the efficiency, effectiveness, quality of compact implementation, and ultimately on the results that the compacts achieve.
Lesotho Compact
The Lesotho Health and Horticulture Compact aims to benefit 2.5 million people by growing, strengthening, and organizing the private sector in Lesotho and improving the government’s coordination to deliver critical services necessary to support private sector development. It will achieve this goal through investments in Health System Strengthening and Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture, providing sustainable income for smallholders and increasing climate resilience by replacing rain-fed subsistence farming with irrigated commercial horticulture in select locations. The GOL committed to passing several key reforms that will help make this compact successful, including reforms that address gender equality, working conditions and worker safety, as well as land and water rights. Each of the compact’s four projects focus on overcoming barriers to the economic inclusion of women, youth, and the rural poor.
Position Objective
The Engineering Specialist will have principal responsibility for managing, on behalf of the MCALesotho II, the firms designing, constructing, reviewing, and supervising the implementation of the irrigated horticulture infrastructure projects. The Specialist will be responsible for project planning and management of the irrigated horticulture infrastructure contracts. The Specialist will also be responsible for quality assurance and will work with other MCA-Lesotho II staff, pertinent government agencies responsible for implementation, and other partners to address implementation challenges and opportunities in coordination with MCC and other project stakeholders. The Engineering Specialist will report to the Irrigation Infrastructure Activity Manager, under the Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture (MDIH) Director.
Duties and Responsibilities
• Demonstrated skill and ability in managing all components related to the irrigated horticulture infrastructure including quality assurance, timelines, budgets, reporting, and other related project management tasks.
• Monitor the Design-Build (DB) contractor progress to ensure adherence to schedule and budget as well as compliance with GOL, MCA-Lesotho II, and MCC policy and guidelines.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of water and irrigation activities, including the development and tracking of monitoring indicators, as well as any evaluation activities.
• Partner closely with other MCA-Lesotho II staff and pertinent government counterparts.
• Work closely with the Environmental and Social Performance (ESP) and Health and Safety (H&S) Specialists to provide information and updates on relevant aspects of the environment, resettlement, H&S, and other relevant aspects and cross-cutting issues to ensure these aspects of the program are addressed in accordance with MCC and GOL requirements.
• Produce required status updates, monitoring reports and timely communications to the Irrigation Infrastructure Activity Manager, highlighting key implementation issues and opportunities.
• Prepare communications materials that highlight the irrigation infrastructure project’s progress, successes, and lessons learned.
• Work with the Stakeholder Engagement Manager and Communications Director on relevant plans and tasks.
Requirements (Education, Experience, Technical Competencies)
• An undergraduate degree in Irrigation Engineering/Civil Engineering or related field.
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively increasing technical responsibility designing and/or implementing irrigation, water resources, or similar projects.
• Ability to provide technical direction to projects, ensure high-quality outputs, set realistic priorities, and guide successful implementation of water and irrigation sector activities.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate in a collaborative and respectful manner cross-culturally, using verbal (in-person and virtual) and written form.
• Strong organizational skills and experience working with donor projects in developing countries.
• Proficiency in English is required, proficiency in Sesotho will be an advantage.
• Ability to drive and travel throughout Lesotho.5 years of experience in stakeholder engagement and developing communication strategies for multiple stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
This Position Description is subject to revisions/updates as necessary to ensure alignment to the organization’s strategic direction and structure. Revisions to the description are subject to applicable Human Resources policies and procedures, and Human Resources maintain official versions of each Position Description.
How to apply
Complete applications must be submitted on-line, on or before 3rd January 2025
Follow the following steps to apply:
Go to: https://mcalesotho.org.ls/jobs/
