Employment Term: Fixed Term (1 Year Contract)
Level: National, C1
Location: Yangon, Myanmar (Frequent Travel to Sittwe)
Closing Date: 12 November 2026
“This role is opened for national applicant only.”
Early application is encouraged as the recruitment process will be done on a rolling basis and Oxfam reserves the right to appoint a suitable candidate as soon as they are identified.
The Role:
Oxfam GB in Myanmar is looking for Programme Manager (WASH).
Job Purpose:
The Programme Manager, WASH is responsible for providing strategic, technical and operational leadership to Oxfam’s humanitarian WASH programme in Sittwe, ensuring the effective delivery of high-quality, inclusive and accountable WASH services to internally displaced people and host communities. The role oversees programme planning, implementation, quality assurance, resource management and team performance, while ensuring effective coordination with consortium partners and other relevant stakeholders. A key priority is to advance localisation and strengthen community-led WASH approaches by building the capacity of local partners and community structures, promoting ownership and supporting the long-term sustainability of WASH services. The Programme Manager will also contribute to resilience initiatives, strengthen programme learning and accountability, and ensure that interventions are responsive to community needs, aligned with humanitarian standards and delivered in accordance with Oxfam’s values and donor commitments.
This Role Report To: Humanitarian Consortium Manager
Staff Reporting to this Post: WASH Field Coordinator – Public Health Promotion (WFC PHP), WASH , Field Coordinator – Public Health Engineering and Sanitation (WFC- PHE), WASH Field Coordinator - Localisation, Community Action and Coordination (WFCC), Senior Water Quality Officer (SWQO)
Key Relation/Interaction: Consortium Finance Manager; Consortium MEAL Coordinator; Logistics & Operation; Finance, HR and MEAL team.
Key Responsibilities: (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource Management)
Programme and Technical Leadership
- Lead the planning, implementation and technical oversight of Oxfam's humanitarian WASH programme in Sittwe, ensuring quality, timely delivery and alignment with programme objectives, donor commitments and humanitarian standards.
- Provide technical leadership across Public Health Engineering (PHE), Public Health Promotion (PHP), water quality monitoring, sanitation and community-based WASH services, ensuring appropriate, safe and context-specific approaches.
- Guide the transition towards locally led and community-managed WASH services by strengthening community participation, ownership and sustainable operation and maintenance systems.
- Provide technical guidance to WASH teams and consortium partners on programme design, implementation approaches, infrastructure quality and community engagement, ensuring consistency with agreed technical standards and good practices.
- Lead the development and implementation of community-based resilience and livelihood initiatives linked to WASH services, identifying opportunities for innovation, piloting and scaling up effective approaches.
- Ensure WASH interventions are gender-responsive, inclusive, conflict-sensitive and accountable to affected populations, with particular attention to the meaningful participation of women, persons with disabilities, internally displaced people and host communities.
- Engage with Oxfam's regional and global technical advisers and relevant consortium counterparts to strengthen technical quality, adapt programme approaches and integrate learning.
Programme Management, Quality and Accountability
- Oversee programme implementation, operational planning and resource allocation in collaboration with WASH Field Coordinators, ensuring delivery against approved workplans, budgets and agreed targets.
- Monitor programme performance, identify implementation challenges and risks, and take timely corrective action to maintain quality, effectiveness and continuity of services.
- Ensure sound financial oversight, including budget forecasting, expenditure monitoring and efficient utilisation of resources in compliance with donor requirements and Oxfam policies.
- Work closely with MEAL teams to strengthen programme monitoring, community feedback and accountability mechanisms, evidence-based decision-making and documentation of results and learning.
- Ensure timely preparation of accurate, high-quality technical and programme reports, including donor reporting, progress updates and management information.
- Provide regular updates to the Humanitarian Consortium Manager/Area Manager, highlighting key achievements, operational challenges, emerging risks and recommended actions.
- Ensure programme activities comply with relevant safeguarding, safety, environmental and organisational standards.
Consortium Coordination and Partnership Management
- Work closely with consortium stakeholders to ensure coordinated planning, implementation and monitoring of the WASH programme under a shared programme approach.
- Contribute to consortium programme management, technical working groups and strategic discussions, promoting harmonised technical standards, operational approaches and joint problem-solving.
- Coordinate with consortium teams to develop common implementation plans, technical designs, monitoring frameworks and consolidated programme reports.
- Strengthen collaboration with local partners, community-based organisations and Water Facility and Community Committees (WFCC), supporting their leadership and increasing ownership of WASH services.
- Identify and address capacity-strengthening needs of community structures and local partners, including organisational development, technical skills, management and sustainability planning.
- Support consortium-level coordination, partner engagement and reporting responsibilities as delegated by the Humanitarian Consortium Manager/Area Manager.
Representation and External Coordination
- Represent Oxfam and the WASH programme in relevant Rakhine-level WASH coordination mechanisms, technical working groups and inter-agency forums.
- Maintain effective working relationships with UN agencies, INGOs, local organisations, camp management agencies, community representatives and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen programme coordination and complementarity.
- Coordinate with the Humanitarian Consortium Manager/Area Manager and Yangon-based teams on engagement with relevant authorities, ensuring alignment with organisational protocols and agreed representation arrangements.
- Contribute to technical discussions, joint assessments and sector coordination initiatives to improve the quality, effectiveness and sustainability of humanitarian WASH responses.
People Management and Capacity Strengthening
- Provide effective leadership, line management and technical supervision to the WASH programme team, ensuring clear responsibilities, performance expectations and accountability.
- Lead staff recruitment, performance management, coaching and professional development in accordance with Oxfam's people management policies and procedures.
- Identify technical and managerial capacity gaps and facilitate targeted learning, mentoring and skills development for staff, local partners, volunteers and community-based structures.
- Promote a collaborative, inclusive and accountable team culture, encouraging learning, initiative, effective communication and constructive problem-solving.
- Demonstrate Oxfam's feminist leadership principles and commitment to gender equality, racial justice, equitable partnerships and the meaningful participation of marginalised communities in programme decisions and management practices.
Safety and Security
- Complying with all security policies, procedures, directions, instructions, regulations or plans.
- Taking care of their own safety and security.
- Actively contributing to the development and maintenance of security management policy and procedures.
Safeguarding
- Ensure adherence to safeguarding policies by protecting the safety and dignity of all individuals.
- Ensure completing all annual core compliance courses.
- Must report any concerns or witness or suspect any behaviour that could be in breach of the one Oxfam safeguarding policies (PSEA, Child Safeguarding etc) or Oxfam Code of Conduct.
Other
- Eager and required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights.
- Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles.
- In case of emergency response, perform assigned tasks to contribute to an efficient and timely emergency response activities.
What we are looking for:
Skill and Competence:
ESSENTIAL
For this role, you will be expected to role model Oxfam's feminist leadership approach and we have selected the most relevant feminist leadership practices which we will use for assessment purposes (which you can read more about here ).
- Self-Awareness
- Relationship building
- Strategic Thinking and Judgment
- Enabling
- Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity
- Mutual accountability
- Decisiveness
Qualifications, Experience and Skills
- Postgraduate qualification in Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Public Health, Social Sciences, Community Development or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
- Minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in humanitarian or development programming, with substantial experience in WASH programme management, preferably in emergency, conflict-affected and protracted crisis settings.
- Demonstrated experience in managing large-scale and complex programmes, including programme planning, implementation, budget management, quality assurance, donor compliance and reporting.
- Strong technical knowledge and practical experience in Public Health Engineering (PHE), Public Health Promotion (PHP), water quality monitoring, sanitation and community-based WASH approaches.
- Proven leadership and people management experience, including managing multidisciplinary teams, strengthening staff capacity and ensuring effective performance in complex and challenging operational environments.
- Demonstrated experience in community engagement, participatory programming and hygiene behaviour change, with a strong understanding of inclusive and accountable approaches.
- Experience working with local partners and community-based structures to strengthen their technical and organisational capacities, promote local leadership and support sustainable, community-managed WASH services.
- Proven ability to coordinate effectively with consortium partners, local organisations, UN agencies, relevant authorities and other humanitarian stakeholders.
- Strong understanding and practical application of conflict-sensitive programming and Do No Harm principles, particularly in humanitarian and conflict-affected settings.
- Demonstrated commitment to gender equality, diversity, inclusion and meaningful community participation, with cultural sensitivity and the ability to work effectively with displaced, marginalised and diverse communities.
- Strong programme assessment, analytical, planning, negotiation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify risks, develop practical solutions and ensure timely programme delivery.
- Excellent interpersonal and relationship management skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively and communicate with people from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including strong report-writing and presentation skills, with the ability to analyse, synthesise and communicate complex technical and programme information clearly to diverse audiences, including donors, partners and other stakeholders.
- Demonstrated initiative, flexibility and sound judgement, with the ability to manage competing priorities, work independently and deliver results under pressure in complex and resource-constrained environments.
- Commitment to Oxfam's values and principles, including feminist leadership, safeguarding, gender justice, localisation, diversity, inclusion and accountability to affected communities.
- This version consolidates the original criteria into 15 focused requirements, removes overlapping language and maintains an appropriate balance between technical WASH expertise, programme management, leadership, localisation and contextual competencies. It is ready for inclusion in the external job advertisement.
Desirable Qualifications, Experience and Skills
- Previous experience working in Rakhine State, Myanmar, with a sound understanding of the local context, humanitarian challenges and operational complexities.
- Practical experience in the direct implementation of WASH, livelihoods and community-based resilience interventions in humanitarian or development settings.
- Demonstrated ability to design, develop and implement innovative, context-appropriate livelihoods and resilience initiatives that complement WASH programming and strengthen community self-reliance.
- Experience supporting locally led programming and sustainable community management of WASH services, particularly in displacement or protracted crisis settings.
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, exercise sound judgement and adapt effectively to challenging and changing operational environments.
We offer:
We offer a competitive salary and a range of additional benefits to staff including flexible working options, generous pension scheme, annual leave, additional leave allowances, company sick pay, life assurance and a range of other benefits.
From the day you join Oxfam we invite you to stretch and learn in your role. Our wide range of Learning & Development opportunities includes in-house courses, e-learning modules, on-the job learning opportunities, coaching and mentoring, and much more.
You can read more about all Oxfam has to offer here.
Flexfam:
We believe flexible working is key to building the Oxfam of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you.
How to apply:
As part of your online application, please upload your up to date CV and Cover Letter explaining your suitability against the essential criteria in the job profile.
