Project Engineer (The BRIDGE PROJECT) – Uganda

Position Title: Project Engineer (The BRIDGE PROJECT)

Position Grade: B3

Duty Station : Field based

Contract: 24 months, Renewable

Reports to: The Project Director

Management Responsibility: None

Key Relationships: Regional Coordinator and Project Officers

Background: War Child Canada is an internationally recognized charity organization registered in Toronto, Canada, dedicated to helping children and their communities overcome the devastating effects of war. Its vision is “Accelerating Peace by Disrupting the Cycle of Violence” and its mission is “Driving Generational Change for The Hardest Hit By Investing In The Power Of Local Communities”

Since being founded in 1999, War Child Canada has worked in 20 countries across the world and we are currently operational in Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

During the past five years, War Child Canada reached over 2,500,000 conflict-afflicted children and adults; 985,000 people benefitted from War Child’s educational initiatives; 480,000 people were helped to climb out of poverty and 1,075,000 people learned more about their rights and had better access to justice systems

War Child Canada in Uganda: Since 2014, War Child Canada has worked in 10 districts (mainly Refugee hosting) implementing integrated education, access to justice (incudes peacebuilding), opportunities/livelihoods, and programs. Our current districts of operation include: Adjumani, Obongi, Yumbe, Arua, Koboko, Isingiro, Lamwo, Kikuube, Koboko and Kamwenge districts.

Context: The BRIDGE PROJECT: War Child Canada in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Community Empowerment for Rural Development – CEFORD, Education Local Expertise Uganda (ELECU) and eight Refugee Led Community based organizations, will be implementing the BRIDGE: From Secondary Education and Skills Development to Job Opportunities for Refugee and Host Community Youth in Uganda’ Project.

The BRIDGE project that will be implemented from 2022 to 2026 is designed to further the Mastercard Foundation’ Young Africa Works Strategy (2018 to 2030)[1] and address the youth unemployment challenge focusing on refugee and host communities in Uganda’s refugee settlements in Adjumani, Obongi, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kikuube, Yumbe, Arua and Koboko districts.

War Child Canada and project implementing partners will employ a gender sensitive and inclusive approach to programming, empower young people and recognize their potential as agents of change to ensure effective implementation and sustainability of the interventions. This will be achieved through two outcomes.

1. Increased access to market relevant secondary and tertiary education and skills for refugee and host community youth
2. Improved capacity of education institutions and teachers to offer quality and relevant education and skills for refugee and host community youth

The program will help to increase demand for education through a strong community engagement and strengthen education supply by strengthening the capacity of Alternative Education Program (AEP) host schools and BTVETs on gender and age sensitivity education and enroll 20,400 Lower Secondary AEP learners (14,280 female) and 2,168 (,518 female) Advanced level learners into 34 lower secondary AEP centers, 2,003 learners (1,402 female) in 15 Business, Technical, Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) schools and 136 learners in different universities across the country.

The proposed program aims to improve the quality and relevance of education by placing a strong focus on teacher capacity and formal, non-formal and alternative education and learning opportunities.

The program will further support young people in their transition to dignified work and throughout the life of the project, to thrive in their chosen form of employment or livelihood. Activities to support their success will include conducting market analysis annually to tailor interventions to the business context at the refugee settlement, implementing an adopted UPSHIFT – https://www.unicef.org/innovation/upshift business incubation “boot camps”, strengthening youth business support centres and BTVET institutions through training and infrastructure improvements, providing financial support to young people to access training programs and set up businesses and pairing young people with mentors from the business community.

Finally, the program approach promotes continuous learning and development to ensure project sustainability.

Position summary: The Project Engineer will be responsible for all technical and engineering aspects of the assigned projects. He/she plan, schedule, predict, and manage all the technical tasks of the assigned project to assure accuracy, proper resources, and quality from start to finish.

The position holder is responsible for providing supervision to ensure the technical aspects of all construction works ensuring quality implementation and value for money in line with guidelines from the ministry of Education and Sports. The incumbent will be required to participate in the daily implementation of the above components of the BRIDGE project providing an insight into gender sensitivity as well as assisting to see that the activities are implemented in an all in all inclusive, timely and participatory manner.

Responsibilities:

• Carry out verification/ assessment of school infrastructure needs in the districts
• Ensure timely development and submission of project BOQs
• Support the procurement process of contractors in accordance with WCC- Uganda procurement guidelines.
• Prepare, Schedule, Coordinate, and Monitor the assigned engineering projects
• Supervise and monitor the technical aspects of construction ensuring compliance to applicable codes, regulations and practices, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, specifications, performance standards, and quality implementation of the projects in line with the standards in the Building Bills of Quantities.
• Coordinate and review Contractor’s work schedule and perform overall quality control of the work (budget, schedule, plans, contractors’ performance) and report regularly on project status
• Review all technical aspects of construction projects and provide whenever necessary, relevant specialist, expert and technical advice
• Take part in routine supervision of contractors and evaluate works done and prepare payment certificates and certificates of completion for all works done
• Cooperate and communicate effectively with the Project Director on the different construction progress
• Take lead in the training of Center Management Committees and Parents and teachers Associations of the respective schools on construction monitoring and reporting.
• Prepare and update timelines showing constructions critical path project delivery and close monitoring of the project.
• Write and submit periodic project reports to the Project Director
• Facilitate the handover of the project to schools and communities ensuring contractual obligations of contractor are fully met and the constructed structure meets the required standards.
• Oversee the recruitment, training, mentoring and involvement of youth during all stages of construction

Requirements:

Knowledge and Experience:

• The applicant for the WCC- Uganda BRIDGE project should hold a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering
• Seven or more years’ experience as a Civil Engineer, Construction Engineer, or in a similar position within Construction, or Civil Works Company, or on any other large building works project
• Excellent knowledge of design and visualizations software such as AutoCAD
• Advanced MS Office skills
• Familiarity with rules, regulations, best practices and performance standards on the different construction works.
• Ability to work with multiple discipline projects
• Project management and supervision skills
• Effective leadership skills
• Hold current engineer license
• Time management and organization skills
• Background in humanitarian work especially in NGO settings;

Skills and Abilities:

• Ability and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in a difficult and sometimes stressful working environment.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, prioritize, and meet deadlines in a complex and challenging environment.
• Ability to work well with diverse teams from all backgrounds and levels.
• Strong diplomacy skills: ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with partners, donors, and other stakeholders in a sensitive environment.
• Personal Attributes:
• Affinity with War Child Canada’s mandate.
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy.
• Creative, energetic, adaptable, and flexible.
• Stress-resilient to be able to cope with deadlines and complex problems.

[1] For more information Mastercard Foundations Young Africa Works Strategy, please refer to this link – https://mastercardfdn.org/research/young-africa-works/