Local Infrastructure Adviser

Local Infrastructure Adviser, Grade- G7, Kathmandu

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Programme Roles)

Job Subcategory: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Programme Roles)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment, educational details, behavioural and technical/ professional skills questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only with all the required details and the shortlisting is not basis CV/ cover letter. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Main purpose of job:

The British Embassy Kathmandu (BEK) seeks a Local Infrastructure Adviser to support the delivery of its flagship £98.1-million Local Infrastructure Support Programme (LISP).

You will contribute to the implementation of integrated strategic programming within the British Embassy’s Governance and Social Development Group (GSD), as a core advisory member of the Services & Systems Team (SST) providing external-facing support to the Government of Nepal (GoN) and key implementing partners.

You will understand the Nepal infrastructure context and specifically the governance and policy challenges of local infrastructure, including those introduced by the transition to new federal structures. Applying political economy analysis and leveraging on your experience, you will bring technical expertise in social sectors and networks to benefit infrastructure investments in Nepal. You will work and think politically to strengthen Nepal’s infrastructure systems, and you will influence the infrastructure governance and policy landscape by representing the BEK within the relevant sectoral forums, including through development partners’ and intergovernmental coordination mechanisms. You will focus especially on influencing policy work that benefits inclusive infrastructure provision in Nepal, with a specific attention to women’s rights and marginalised groups and benefiting broader social sectors. Your work and advice will support the delivery of LISP’s ‘governance’ objectives, in a way that reinforces deliberative, inclusive, evidence-based decision making in local infrastructure.

As part of this outward-facing influencing role, you will support the Team Leader and other advisers in bringing together social infrastructure and social sectors’ programming in ways integrate broader governance and socio-economic development dimensions, with the key aim of supporting evidence based decision making by public sector providers. You will have a direct role in providing technical support to the implementation of LISP, with a focus on systems change, inclusion & community engagement, and innovation, evidence and learning (IEL). You will also contribute to the technical and strategic conversation around SST’s other incoming flagship, called Samartha, which focuses on social sectors’ governance programme, so that synergies and opportunities for additive effects can be found across areas of governance, social impact and locally-led development.

You will support relevant infrastructure-related central programmes and initiatives targeting Nepal, including by providing facilitation and outward-facing sectoral policy advice to the Government of Nepal, in particular the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Water Supply, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and the National Planning Commission, as well as subnational counterparts as relevant. You will help BEK deliver on FCDO’s green growth and stability agendas, as part of the core integrated teams delivering BEK Campaign Goals.

In addition to the core outward-facing policy and delivery roles described above, you will also provide expertise on infrastructure governance, policy and technical work across BEK. You will be flexible and pragmatic in providing support as required to the Systems and Services Team Leader, and provide technical and strategic insights to other teams, the Development Director, and the Ambassador on broader areas of infrastructure governance, innovation and analysis.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve:

Provide infrastructure advisory and advocacy support to LISP (80%)

• You will provide deep expertise support to the GoN, BEK and LISP implementing partners in terms of promoting evidence-based engineering standards, tailored infrastructure-relevant policies and guidance and strategic advice on best practices in infrastructure governance and delivery.
• You will provide insights on international and local best practices to ensure policy work and investments related to local infrastructure work in Nepal are strategic, sustainable and aligned with principles of green and resilient infrastructure.
• You will represent the British Embassy in relevant local infrastructure coordination and governance mechanisms, engaging with government stakeholders and proactively consulting and networking with other key development partners, including (but not limited to) the World Bank, USAID, ADB, private sector and local civil society platforms, with the goal of ensuring co-ordination and coherence of programming and policy influencing.

Provide technical input to ensure that UK’s infrastructure sector support and the broader growth agenda is coherent with the wider UK portfolio, CMPs, and programming of other DPs, and contextualised to the needs of Nepal (20%).

• You will engage with complementary programmes on local infrastructure, governance, security & justice, and climate resilience, providing technical input and policy insights to the broader BEK portfolio as required.
• You will provide technical and policy input both externally and internally to influence and deliver the UK’s strategic priorities in Nepal, for example on the potential for improving data governance, spearheading innovations in infrastructure (including around green and GESDI-sensitive infrastructure, etc).
• You will engage with centrally managed programmes either currently being implemented in Nepal or in the pipeline, sharing your
• Nepal experience and knowledge widely across the FCDO technical networks and within the British Embassy Kathmandu, as required. This will include engaging with CARA and other climate-related initiatives.
• You will promote and engage in collaboration and coherence across BEK’s portfolio, working alongside evidence partners within the
• Evidence & Knowledge Hub (Portfolio Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning – PMEL; Provincial Engagement Facility – PEF; academic evidence partners such as Yale University, SOAS).

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

Part of a team delivering up to £140 million over 7 years.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Post-graduate degree in Engineering or Infrastructure Planning, or similar;
• Ideally specialisation or academic exposure to governance and public resources management.
• At least seven years of experience overseeing and supporting programmes focused on the delivery and systems strengthening of public infrastructure, ideally within an international donor.

Language requirements:

Language: English and Nepali (knowledge of other local languages such as Maithili and/or Tharu a plus)

Level of language required: Fluent (both English & Nepali), including good writing and briefing skills.

Required behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Developing Self and Others, Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together

Application deadline: 28 November 2024
Grade: Grade 7 (G7)
Type of Position: Full-time, Fixed Term
Working hours per week: 36
Duration of Post: 36 months
Region: South Asia & Afghanistan
Country/Territory: Nepal
Location (City): Kathmandu
Type of Post: British Embassy
Number of vacancies: 1
Salary Currency: NPR
Salary: NPR 365,677 per month plus 10% provident fund contribution
Type of Salary: monthly
Start Date: 1 February 2024

Other benefits and conditions of employment

For British Embassy candidates, the Country Based Staff BHC Terms & Conditions will apply.

Salary will be all-inclusive of NPR 365,677 per month plus 10% Provident Fund Contribution.

The successful candidate will be provided with annual leaves, maternity/paternity and membership in the Embassy medical benefits scheme as per the Terms & Conditions of Services. The British Embassy in Kathmandu is part of a world-wide network of 240 Posts, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas.

No relocation or any other related costs or assistance will be provided. FCDO does not pay for any travelling, accommodation & relocation expenses incurred and/or accept any financial risk, including cancellation or reschedule costs.

FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require. This is a good opportunity to be part of a strong, diverse team, working in the biggest network that FCDO has anywhere across the globe. We are aiming to make it the best. The British Embassy is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

Please note – BHC does not deduct tax at source and employees are required to ensure that any requirements of local income-tax law are complied with in full. Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, e.g. Some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Additional information

Note: All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment, educational details, behavioural and technical/ professional skills questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only with all the required details and the shortlisting is not basis CV/ cover letter. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

To Apply:

Please note applications without (a) and (b) will not be considered. Point (c) to be adhere strictly.

a) Complete the Online Application Form.
b) Complete the Experience, Behaviours, Technical/Professional skills-based segment in the Online Application Form.
c) Applicants need to answer the questions based on their professional experience. Kindly refrain from use of AI based tools to avoid application from getting rejected/disqualified.

To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours and technical/ professional skills, basis your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework which provides a detailed guidance on how these behaviours are defined for each position. You are advised to read through the Infrastructure and Urban: Technical Competency Framework – GOV.UK for technical competence and questions.

Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to prepare specific examples of when and how you have demonstrated these behaviours in your application, by evidencing a structured response, including your skills and experiences. You briefly describe the situation in which you demonstrated the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.

Internal candidates applying for this position must have completed their probation and have prior approval from their line manager, else the application will not be considered.

We will accept only online applications by 28th November 2024 – 23:55 Nepal Time Zone

Please note that all the applicants will be required to strictly adhere to the security guidelines for British Embassy

• Applicants who do not have the required qualification & experience should kindly abstain from applying, as their applications will not be considered.
  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, and no telephone enquires will be dealt with. Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list’. If during the reserve period of 6 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.
• The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative date
• The appointment will be subject to achieving suitable clearances which includes police verification along with references, medical, educational and professional checks.

  We welcome all applications irrespective of age, race, colour, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief or creed. We are also open to applications from people who want to work flexibly.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.