Program Officer – Community Health, WASH & Environment @Community Health, WASH & Environment

Role Purpose

To lead Graceworld Foundation’s community health, WASH, and environmental programs, ensuring communities achieve measurable improvements in health outcomes, access to safe water and sanitation, and long-term environmental sustainability.

Job Summary

The Program Officer – Community Health, WASH & Environment will plan, implement, monitor, and report on integrated health, water, sanitation, hygiene promotion, and environmental conservation interventions, collaborating with Community Health Units (CHUs), county health teams, Water Service Providers, and environmental agencies.

Key Responsibilities

Community Health & WASH Implementation

• Plan and implement community health outreach, disease prevention, and health promotion activities.
• Support construction, rehabilitation, and functionality monitoring of water points, boreholes, latrines, and handwashing facilities.
• Train and mentor Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and WASH committees on preventive health and facility O&M.
• Facilitate CLTS triggering sessions, ODF verification, and hygiene behaviour change communication (BCC) campaigns.
• Conduct household-level hygiene promotion covering handwashing, safe water chain, MHM, and ODF practices.
• Implement environmental conservation: tree planting, watershed management, solid waste management, and climate resilience measures.

Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement

• Liaise with County Health Management Teams (CHMTs), Water Service Providers, and NEMA.
• Represent GWF in Health TWGs, WASH Cluster meetings, and County Steering Group (CSG) forums.
• Coordinate with CBOs, Community Health Committees, Water User Associations, and local leaders.
• Facilitate integration of WASH and health with nutrition, food security, and livelihoods.

Monitoring, Reporting & Data Management

• Collect, verify, and maintain WASH coverage data, CHU registers, ODF status, and environmental activity logs.
• Prepare weekly SitReps, monthly WASH/health reports, and contribute to donor reports using JMP indicators.
• Conduct routine field monitoring and support program evaluations, KAP surveys, and coverage assessments.
• Document lessons learned and success stories for program learning and communication.

Environmental Safeguards & Budget Management

• Conduct environmental screenings and implement mitigation measures per GWF and donor policies.
• Track project expenditures and contribute to Budget Follow-Up (BFU) reviews.
• Raise procurement requisitions in line with work plans and GWF procurement policy.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Environmental Health, Community Health, Nursing, or WASH-related engineering/sciences.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in community health and/or WASH programming in Kenya.
• Practical experience with CLTS facilitation and ODF verification processes.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Kenya’s Community Health Strategy and the three-tier community health system.
• Experience with WASH data collection, reporting, and JMP indicator frameworks.

Desirable

• Technical knowledge of water supply construction standards, latrine slab design, and WASH infrastructure maintenance.
• Familiarity with environmental impact screening and safeguard compliance procedures.
• Experience using GIS or GPS tools for water point mapping and WASH coverage analysis.
• WASH cluster coordination experience in humanitarian or development programming.

Core Competencies & Skills

• Strong community mobilization, SBCC facilitation, and adult learning skills.
• Working knowledge of Sphere standards, WHO water quality guidelines, and UNICEF/UN-Water WASH standards.
• Proficiency in mobile data collection tools (KoBoCollect, ODK) and MS Office suite.
• Excellent communication skills in English and Kiswahili; local language proficiency an asset.
• Resilience and adaptability for work in remote, resource-constrained, and challenging field environments.