Commercial Specialist for USAID Non-Revenue Water Management Project

 The USAID-funded Non-Revenue Water Management project, implemented by Tetra Tech International Development, is currently accepting expressions of interest from qualified candidates for a Commercial Specialist. This position will be located in the main office in Hebron.

The purpose of this project is to improve Palestinians’ access to safe, reliable, sustainable, and climate resilient water services through: 1) the development and strengthening of the institutional capacity of the Hebron, Halhul, and Dura water utilities for sustainable, reliable, and climate-resilient water delivery service; 2) the implementation of strategic infrastructure works to support the objective of the activity; 3) the design and implementation of innovative solutions to expand the use of smart water management technologies for efficient, timely, and transparent water management; and 4) the design and implementation of innovative measures and public awareness campaigns to promote effective water governance at the utility and foster social behavioral change toward more efficient and responsible water use practices and trends. This is a full-time position based in Hebron with regular travel to Dura and Halhul.

The Commercial Specialist will work under the guidance of the Institutional Support Advisor to develop strategies for professionalized customer service and accountability mechanisms, reporting against key performance indicators (KPIs) for redressing complaints and communicating all service delivery KPIs to consumers. The Commercial Specialist will work directly with the three municipalities supported by NRWMP to improve the commercial viability of the utilities through integrated accountability mechanisms, marketing campaigns, financial transparency measures, reduction of non-physical non-revenue water losses, and technical solutions for cost-effective payment systems. The Commercial Specialist will work with each water utility to compile and digitize, where needed, aging consumer debt with a customer register with potential negotiated repayment plans for outstanding debt consumers.

Responsibilities:

· Provide technical supervision for financial service consulting firm to review financial systems and propose options for the integration of web services with commercial systems.

· Provide technical options for cost-effective commercial systems which may include on-site digital payment for proposed commodity procurements for the utilities.

· Support the development of the communications strategy, utilizing municipality/utility websites.

· Develop strategies for professionalized customer service and accountability mechanisms, and negotiated repayment plans for outstanding debt consumers.

· Support the utilities to develop and implement customer satisfaction surveys throughout the life of the task order, analyzing results and recommending corrective measures

· Support the water utilities in implementing the strategy, policies, and SOPs for complaint redress to ensure improved accountability to customers.

· Support the water utilities in developing and implementing the customer service policies, communications policies, and complaint mechanisms.

· Lead the consultations with the water utilities on commercial components for incorporation into and implementation of the service delivery improvement plans and capacity building plans.

· Facilitate trainings for Task Order partners and stakeholders.

· Support implementation of water utility strategy, policies, and SOPs for complaint redress.

· Work with Public Outreach and Engagement Advisor in support of transparency and accountability systems for the utility.

· Ensure that all strategies and activities comply with legal requirements and industry standards.

· Conduct consultations with the service delivery improvement committees and communities related to tariff proposals.

· Integrate capacity strengthening efforts for the utilities into implementation of all aspects of programming, utilizing a co-design and co-implementation methodology.

· Develop and contribute to success stories and document lessons learned.

· Supervise the Utility Digitization Specialist.

· Perform other tasks defined by the Institutional Support Advisor.