Job Description
Water Enterprises and O&M Associate – Multiple Locations
Position Water Enterprises and O&M Associate
Function Regional Operations and Programme Delivery
Duty Station Multiple Locations
Contract Type 6 – Months Renewable
Reports To Water Market Systems & Business Development Services (BDS) Lead
About Braintec Consulting Limited
Braintec Consulting is an emerging consulting and advisory firm delivering high-impact solutions across the Horn and East Africa. The firm specializes in Market Systems Development (MSD), Private Sector Development, Enterprise Competitiveness, Business Development Services (BDS), Investment Readiness, Inclusive Finance, Institutional Strengthening, Organizational Development and Public Sector Advisory.
Braintec partners with development agencies, INGOs, financial institutions and the private sector to design and implement sustainable, market-driven solutions that improve livelihoods, strengthen institutions and promote inclusive economic growth.
Braintec designs and implements interventions that strengthen market systems, improve enterprise performance, facilitate private sector participation, enhance unlock investment and build sustainable business models for service delivery across Somalia.
About the assignments and programmes
Braintec delivers consulting, advisory and implementation assignments across the Horn and East Africa. Its work spans market systems development, private sector development, enterprise support, institutional strengthening, investment readiness, inclusive finance and related development initiatives.
Assignments may involve coordination with enterprises, community institutions, authorities, development partners, financial institutions and other public and private sector stakeholders.
The Regional Operations Officer supports the effective field delivery of Braintec assignments by coordinating operational activities, stakeholder engagement, field teams, technical inputs, reporting and implementation follow-up across assigned locations.
The Opportunity
Braintec is seeking a hands-on and field-oriented Water Enterprise & O&M Associate to support the operational, commercial and technical performance of water service providers, SMEs and community-managed water systems.
The position combines practical enterprise-development support with water infrastructure and O&M support. The successful candidate will help diagnose both the business and operational constraints affecting water-service delivery and work directly with actors to implement practical improvements.
The role will support enterprise and infrastructure diagnostics, O&M strengthening, business and operational SOPs, performance improvement plans, coaching and mentoring, data collection and performance monitoring, and preparation of viable actors for investment and expansion.
The emphasis is on practical field delivery rather than engineering design: understanding how the infrastructure, operations and business model work together to determine service reliability and sustainability.
Key Responsibilities
1. Water Enterprise Identification & Diagnostics
· Support identification, onboarding and profiling of WSPs, SMEs, O&M providers and community-managed water systems.
· Conduct integrated enterprise diagnostics covering operations, revenues, costs, customers, and service-delivery performance.
· Collect and validate financial, commercial, operational and basic technical data.
· Assess actor maturity, performance constraints, incentives and improvement requirements.
· Support classification and segmentation of actors according to performance, needs and readiness for further support.
2. Water Infrastructure & O&M Assessment
· Support field-level assessment of water infrastructure including boreholes, pumps, storage facilities, piped systems and distribution networks.
· Collect and validate information on system functionality, downtime, water output, energy use and service interruptions.
· Assess existing preventive and corrective maintenance practices.
· Identify infrastructure and O&M bottlenecks affecting service reliability, operating costs and enterprise performance.
· Support basic asset-condition assessments and maintenance planning.
· Identify practical efficiency improvements that can reduce downtime, operating costs and service interruptions.
· These responsibilities consolidate the existing technical role’s infrastructure diagnostics, O&M SOPs, asset-condition work and performance monitoring.
3. Business & Operational Improvement
· Support development and implementation of practical enterprise and operational improvement plans.
· Assist WSPs and SMEs to improve tariff management, revenue collection, cost control, customer management and financial record keeping.
· Support development and rollout of appropriate business and O&M SOPs.
· Support maintenance schedules, fault-reporting systems, spare-parts management and basic asset registers.
· Help enterprises strengthen billing, customer tracking, inventory management and operational records.
· Support improvements in cost recovery and operational efficiency.
· Ensure business improvements are aligned with the technical realities of the water system.
4. Coaching, Mentoring & Adoption
· Provide hands-on coaching and mentoring to WSPs, SMEs, O&M providers and community-managed systems.
· Support actors to implement agreed improvement plans rather than limiting assistance to classroom training.
· Conduct regular follow-up visits to assess adoption and identify implementation constraints.
· Support management and operational teams to institutionalise improved practices.
· Escalate complex engineering, financial, or investment issues to the appropriate Braintec technical specialists.
· This distinction is important: the combined Associate should be a strong field generalist, not expected to replace specialist water engineers or investment professionals.
5. Performance Monitoring
· Track commercial and operational performance indicators including:
· system uptime and downtime;
· water output and service reliability;
· energy consumption;
· revenue and collections;
· operating costs and cost recovery;
· customer growth and service coverage;
· maintenance performance; and
· adoption of agreed SOPs and improvement measures.
· Maintain accurate field records and provide data for Braintec’s programme management and analytics systems.
· Identify underperformance, operational risks and emerging constraints requiring corrective action.
· This combined measurement approach fits the W4R structure, which already requires integration between technical performance and enterprise performance. The organogram specifically places both functions under the Water Market Systems and BDS Lead and requires coordination between them.
6. Service Viability & Investment Readiness Support
· Support assessment of the commercial and operational viability of water-service providers and enterprises.
· Provide basic technical inputs into CAPEX and OPEX requirements.
· Identify infrastructure constraints or investment requirements affecting growth and service delivery.
· Support preparation of basic business plans, operational records and performance documentation.
· Contribute technical and operational information required for investment-readiness assessments.
· Identify promising enterprises and systems for referral to Braintec’s investment and finance team.
· Support follow-up on agreed operational improvements required before actors progress toward financing.
7. Stakeholder Coordination & Field Delivery
· Work closely with Braintec’s market systems, finance, engineering, analytics and field operations teams.
· Maintain productive working relationships with WSPs, SMEs, CWMCs, O&M providers and other market actors.
· Support field missions, assessments, coaching activities and technical visits.
· Coordinate with Regional Operations Officers on field planning, stakeholder engagement and implementation follow-up.
· Provide timely feedback on operational realities, emerging opportunities and implementation bottlenecks.
8. Documentation & Knowledge Management
· Document enterprise and operational improvements and maintain appropriate supporting evidence.
· Prepare concise field reports, diagnostic records and progress updates.
· Document lessons learned, good practices and case studies.
· Contribute to the development and refinement of Braintec’s enterprise, O&M and water-market tools.
· Support documentation of field-level lessons learned, case studies, and scalable practices.
Qualifications
Education
Bachelor’s Degree in Water Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Business Administration, Economics, Development Studies, Water Resources Management, Environmental Studies, or another relevant discipline.
A combination of relevant technical training and demonstrated practical enterprise-development experience will also be considered.
Professional Experience
- The ideal candidate will demonstrate;
- Minimum 3-5 years’ relevant professional experience in water-service delivery, enterprise development, O&M, WASH, private-sector development or related field-based programmes.
- Practical experience working with WSPs, SMEs, community-managed systems or similar service providers.
- Experience conducting field assessments or enterprise/operational diagnostics.
- Understanding of water infrastructure and basic O&M requirements, including preventive maintenance and fault reporting.
- Experience supporting business or operational improvement processes.
- Ability to understand basic enterprise financial information including revenues, costs, cash flow and cost recovery.
- Experience developing or implementing SOPs, operational systems or improvement plans.
- Experience providing hands-on coaching, mentoring or technical support to enterprises or community institutions.
- Experience collecting, validating and reporting operational and performance data.
- Previous experience working in Somalia or similar fragile and conflict-affected environments is highly desirable.
Core Competencies
The successful candidate should demonstrate;
- Practical understanding of water-service operations and basic O&M systems.
- Good understanding of enterprise operations and commercial sustainability.
- Ability to connect technical performance with business performance.
- Basic financial literacy, including revenue, costs, cash flow and cost recovery.
- Strong diagnostic and problem-solving ability.
- Hands-on approach to working with enterprises and field actors.
- Strong interpersonal and coaching skills.
- Ability to work independently in field locations and security-sensitive environments.
- Good data collection, documentation and reporting skills.
- Ability to work effectively within multidisciplinary teams.
- High standards of integrity, professionalism and accountability.
- Commitment to inclusive development, gender equality and climate resilience.
Why Join Braintec?
Joining Braintec offers the opportunity to play a central role in coordinating field operations across a diverse portfolio of consulting, advisory and implementation assignments, working directly with communities, enterprises, authorities and partner organizations.
The role offers strong opportunities for professional growth in operations, stakeholder coordination and field delivery within a dynamic regional consulting environment.
How to Apply
Interested candidates are invited to submit;
- A cover letter outlining their suitability for the position.
- An updated Curriculum Vitae (maximum four pages).
- Contact details of three professional referees.
Applications should be submitted in English and sent to jobs@braintecconsult.com. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Braintec Consulting Limited is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace. We encourage applications from qualified women and men and are committed to safeguarding against all forms of discrimination, exploitation, abuse and harassment in the workplace.
The application deadline is 21st September 2026.
How to Apply
This role is listed on FursadLink and applications are submitted on the organization's official email. Use the “Apply on External Website” button above to proceed. Please reference "Water Enterprises and O&M Associate, Nationwide". Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Braintec Consulting is an equal-opportunity employer and strongly encourages women to apply.
