Regional Professionalized Services Engineer job at Water Mission

Water Mission is a Christian engineering nonprofit that builds safe water solutions for people in developing countries, refugee camps, and disaster areas. Since 2001, Water Mission has served more than 8 million people in 60 countries, sharing safe water and the message of God’s love. Working at Water Mission is as much a calling as it is a career, and we are searching for people with the courage, passion, and drive to help us change the world. Read more about our Statement of Faith and Our Christian Mission.

Position Summary
Under the direction of the Regional Professionalized Services OPS Manager, the Regional Professionalized Services Engineer provides regional engineering support, technical quality assurance and quality control, and capacity building for Professionalized Services activities across assigned East Africa Country Programs. The position serves as the primary regional technical resource for Country Program Professionalized Services teams, supporting infrastructure assessments, troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, repairs, upgrades, commissioning, and technical performance monitoring.

The Regional Professionalized Services Engineer works through established Country Program structures and in close coordination with Country Directors, Country Program Professionalized Services Managers, engineers, technicians, operators, and other staff. The role provides technical recommendations and QA/QC oversight but does not replace Country Program management authority or responsibility for country-controlled budgets and personnel.

This is a full-time position based in East Africa, with Nairobi, Kenya, preferred, and Tanzania or Malawi considered. The position requires regular travel to remote locations across assigned Country Programs (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi).

Responsibilities or duties

• Maintain a strong Christian witness and model servant leadership to colleagues, partners, the communities we serve, and the public.
• Engage and participate in prayer before and after team meetings.
• Lead and participate in biblically based staff devotions.
• Work in a posture of humble service to God and others.
• Understand, support, and nurture the Vision, Mission, and Core values of Water Mission.
• Develop and deliver practical technical training, coaching, reference materials, and field demonstrations for Professionalized Services staff, technicians, operators, and service providers, and support adherence to approved construction, operation, and maintenance standards, including the development of guidance documentation for operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Support field staff in troubleshooting water systems, monitoring equipment, and prepaid meters; operating and maintaining systems; tracking performance in mWater and other tools; raising spare-parts requisitions and assisting with technical procurements; and confirming that communities remain appropriately served through regular design review.
• Conduct or facilitate root-cause analysis for recurring system failures and recommend corrective and preventive actions.
• Give technical guidance on pumping, piping, system pressure, and distribution point flow, as well as solar arrays, wiring, inverters, motors, and other electromechanical issues.
• Promptly identify and escalate technical, safety, water-quality, infrastructure, and operational risks to the Regional PSM and appropriate Country Program leadership.
• Lead regional technical QA/QC processes for Professionalized Services activities, including infrastructure assessments, upgrade designs, repair recommendations, construction and installation inspections, commissioning, and post-implementation verification, and maintain the standardized inspection checklists, technical review processes, commissioning procedures, and corrective-action tracking tools that support them.
• Prepare or technically review engineering assessments, calculations, drawings, specifications, bills of quantities, and scopes of work for system repairs, upgrades, and operational improvements.
• Maintain timely documentation of work activities, prepare regular reports on progress and outcomes, and ensure timely submission of all required documentation to the supervisor.
• Support Country Program teams in developing preventive maintenance plans, inspection schedules, spare-parts strategies, asset condition assessments, and lifecycle replacement recommendations, using mWater and other approved systems to analyze technical performance, maintenance history, failures, and recurring operational risks.
• Manage multiple simultaneous initiatives and maintain effective communication with team members across multiple countries and time zones as well as with outside entities.
• Coordinate with Country Program leadership and Professionalized Services staff before directing significant field activities, changes in scope, or expenditure of country-controlled funds.
• Gain a base level of understanding across engineering disciplines as required by projects, work effectively within cross-cultural environments, and participate in disaster response activities when needed.
• Prepare and make presentations to other departments, partner organizations, country program office staff, strategic partners, donors, and volunteers.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

• Personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Alignment with Water Mission’s Statement of Faith and core values of Love, Excellence, and Integrity.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering—Civil, Chemical, Environmental, or Mechanical disciplines are preferred.
• Minimum of four years of relevant engineering experience, including at least three years involving the design, installation, commissioning, operation, repair, or maintenance of rural or small-town water systems in low-resource settings. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and engineering design and analysis tools such as AutoCAD, Civil 3D, or EPANET; experience with mobile data collection, asset-management, or water-system monitoring platforms such as mWater is preferred. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including the ability to clearly articulate ideas and provide constructive feedback. 
• Fluency or working familiarity with Swahili is preferred; familiarity with other languages used in assigned Country Programs is an advantage.
• Excellent analytical, process design, and project planning and management skills, with high attention to detail and a strong work ethic.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel up to three months per year, primarily within East Africa. Trips are typically one to four weeks and involve long car rides on rough terrain, extended periods standing in hot weather, and lifting moderately heavy loads.
• Legal authorization to work in the country where the position is based.
• Flexibility to work periodic nights and weekends as required for ministry operations.
• Home internet bandwidth is strong enough to support video conferencing and other job-related responsibilities.

• Maintain a strong Christian witness and model servant leadership to colleagues, partners, the communities we serve, and the public.
• Engage and participate in prayer before and after team meetings.
• Lead and participate in biblically based staff devotions.
• Work in a posture of humble service to God and others.
• Understand, support, and nurture the Vision, Mission, and Core values of Water Mission.
• Develop and deliver practical technical training, coaching, reference materials, and field demonstrations for Professionalized Services staff, technicians, operators, and service providers, and support adherence to approved construction, operation, and maintenance standards, including the development of guidance documentation for operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Support field staff in troubleshooting water systems, monitoring equipment, and prepaid meters; operating and maintaining systems; tracking performance in mWater and other tools; raising spare-parts requisitions and assisting with technical procurements; and confirming that communities remain appropriately served through regular design review.
• Conduct or facilitate root-cause analysis for recurring system failures and recommend corrective and preventive actions.
• Give technical guidance on pumping, piping, system pressure, and distribution point flow, as well as solar arrays, wiring, inverters, motors, and other electromechanical issues.
• Promptly identify and escalate technical, safety, water-quality, infrastructure, and operational risks to the Regional PSM and appropriate Country Program leadership.
• Lead regional technical QA/QC processes for Professionalized Services activities, including infrastructure assessments, upgrade designs, repair recommendations, construction and installation inspections, commissioning, and post-implementation verification, and maintain the standardized inspection checklists, technical review processes, commissioning procedures, and corrective-action tracking tools that support them.
• Prepare or technically review engineering assessments, calculations, drawings, specifications, bills of quantities, and scopes of work for system repairs, upgrades, and operational improvements.
• Maintain timely documentation of work activities, prepare regular reports on progress and outcomes, and ensure timely submission of all required documentation to the supervisor.
• Support Country Program teams in developing preventive maintenance plans, inspection schedules, spare-parts strategies, asset condition assessments, and lifecycle replacement recommendations, using mWater and other approved systems to analyze technical performance, maintenance history, failures, and recurring operational risks.
• Manage multiple simultaneous initiatives and maintain effective communication with team members across multiple countries and time zones as well as with outside entities.
• Coordinate with Country Program leadership and Professionalized Services staff before directing significant field activities, changes in scope, or expenditure of country-controlled funds.
• Gain a base level of understanding across engineering disciplines as required by projects, work effectively within cross-cultural environments, and participate in disaster response activities when needed.
• Prepare and make presentations to other departments, partner organizations, country program office staff, strategic partners, donors, and volunteers.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and engineering design and analysis tools such as AutoCAD, Civil 3D, or EPANET
• Experience with mobile data collection, asset-management, or water-system monitoring platforms such as mWater is preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including the ability to clearly articulate ideas and provide constructive feedback.
• Fluency or working familiarity with Swahili is preferred; familiarity with other languages used in assigned Country Programs is an advantage.
• Excellent analytical, process design, and project planning and management skills, with high attention to detail and a strong work ethic.

• Personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Alignment with Water Mission’s Statement of Faith and core values of Love, Excellence, and Integrity.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering—Civil, Chemical, Environmental, or Mechanical disciplines are preferred.
• Minimum of four years of relevant engineering experience, including at least three years involving the design, installation, commissioning, operation, repair, or maintenance of rural or small-town water systems in low-resource settings.
• Valid driver's license and ability to travel up to three months per year, primarily within East Africa. Trips are typically one to four weeks and involve long car rides on rough terrain, extended periods standing in hot weather, and lifting moderately heavy loads.
• Legal authorization to work in the country where the position is based.
• Flexibility to work periodic nights and weekends as required for ministry operations.
• Home internet bandwidth is strong enough to support video conferencing and other job-related responsibilities.