Catalysts Malawi (Canadian citizens/permanent residents ONLY)
Engineers
Without Borders Canada (EWB)
is
a Canadian NGO that invests in people and ventures to create a thriving and
sustainable world. Bolstered by its network of 40 chapters and 1300 members,
EWB provides seed funding, talent and mentorship to social enterprises
throughout SubSaharan Africa. For
more information on EWB, visit http://ewb.ca.
The EWB
Fellows Program
Now in its 15 th
year, the EWB Fellows Program exists to develop a cadre of Systems Change
Leaders by equipping them with the opportunities, competencies and skills
needed to build a more thriving and sustainable world. Every year we recruit 2530
outstanding people for the 12month Fellowship, placing successful candidates
in one of our earlystage Ventures located throughout Sub Saharan Africa. This
Fellowship opportunity is with WASH Catalysts and is based in Lilongwe, Malawi.
About WASHCatalysts
Since 2008, EWB’s
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives in Malawi have been working
with private, public, and donor stakeholders in Malawi’s WASH sector in areas
of decentralization, sustainability, management systems, and coordination. We
envision a future wherein water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services shift
from projectized approaches towards a sustainable service delivery model
through critical thinking, learning, and innovation.
Projectized
approaches focus on the implementation of discrete, oneoff projects at the
community level. Sustained service delivery approaches focus on the longterm
provision and improvement of WASH services at scale. With this vision, the
venture, along with its sister venture WASH Coordination, support the role of
the Government of Malawi in increasing the sustainability of WASH services
provided to communities. We work to advance three strategic needs of Malawi’s
WASH sector: District governments need to better leverage their available
resources to support sustained service delivery
Districts lack adequate resources to fulfill their service delivery mandates
The WASH sector
needs a coordinated and strategic approach to development led by government
District government offices in Malawi are typically underresourced and understaffed,
yet have many responsibilities in service provision. WASH Catalysts works to:
- Provide
short term embedded support to successful District applicants to our
Tingathe (“We can”) Fellowship Program to develop their innovation for
improved service delivery. This is followed by longer periods of handsoff
support. - Building
national level structures that support district innovation. These include,
but are not limited to, creating a network of innovators regionally and
nationally, holding regular workshops, strengthening existent coordination
groups, and consulting for the development of policy documents and better
project design by development partners. - Advocating
for increased recurring funds to be made available to district governments
for the provision of services.
About the
Role
As our venture’s
current 3-year strategy in Malawi comes to an end in July 2017, we are
entering a period of intense documentation of learning and engaging more
national and international audiences. There is a need for communications to be
used not solely for sharing, but to also help us influence key partners
identified in our strategy for scaling this impact within Malawi and
internationally. This is a unique, dynamic placement that requires you to work
with the three main initiatives of WASH Catalysts to clearly and concisely
communicate our work and various messages to current and potential partners
locally and internationally.
This role will
require the Fellow to:
Lead the development of concise communications pieces under the three main
initiatives of WASH Catalysts: contribute to advocacy goals through packaging
case studies and political information to national level technical stakeholders
as well as politicians, capture learning and document progress of district level
innovations, develop succinct and well articulated recommendations for
partners and other interested parties;
- Contribute
to the achievement of specific objectives under each initiative when
delegated by initiative leaders (direct involvement in program work); - Manage
and provide accountability for team members to interact with the
Monitoring and Evaluation system and to create a practical linkage between
the system and the creation of engaging communications pieces and stories;
- Develop,
manage, and update content for blog(s);Plan/create multimedia
communications materials for specific purposes on an asneeded basis;
Maintain social media accounts such as Twitter; -
Manage requests for information from external parties; - Coordinate
the distribution of relevant materials to partners as our venture
disseminates final lessons nationally and looks to scale internationally.
You will also be
expected to contribute operationally to the team through participation in team
meetings, administrative functions. Sound exciting? Here’s who we are looking
for:
Skills &
Qualifications
- Excellent
speaking, writing and editing in English, with the ability to clearly and
concisely articulate complex issues to various groups of stakeholders; - Demonstrated
ability to produce clear and aesthetic communications for dissemination to
a wide range of audiences; - Interest
in governance for all of its potential, challenges, and opportunities; - Strong
leadership skills and the ability to both give and receive directions as
required; - Ability
to work well with people from various backgrounds, and are themselves
adaptable to various work environments; - High
degree of professionalism, patience, flexibility, and persistence. - Undergraduate
degree mandatory - 2+
years professional experience in a related field - Experience
with any of the following is considered beneficial: grant proposal writing
and management, journalism, interviews, surveys, project management,
media, communications and design/layout, policy, advocacy, monitoring and
evaluation, and/or local governance.
Please note:
You must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or landed immigrant in
order to apply. No exceptions.
Compensation
All costs relating
to the placement are either paid for directly by EWB (airfare, insurance,
vaccinations, trainings) or indirectly through a living stipend, which covers
food, living expenses, local travel, etc. Fellows also receive an honorarium
that can be used to assist with repatriation costs or additional costs during
the duration of the placement. The stipend covers basic living expenses for a
modest lifestyle in your placement country. You should not expect to save money
during this year or use the stipend to cover previous expenses (ex. student
loans).
Additionally, EWB
offers a range of benefits including insurance, a settlement allowance,
professional development opportunities, and more.
Submitting your
application for the EWB Fellowship involves two steps:
Step 1: Under the
subject line “Communications Coordinator – WASH Catalysts”, submit your
CV/Resume to recruitment@ewb.ca.
Step 2: Complete the
following online application form.
Please select “EWB Long Term Fellowship – WASH Catalysts” as the
“Opportunity type” and ‘WASH Catalysts’ as the “Organization of Interest”. If
you would like to submit your candidacy to more than one role, please fill out
separate forms.