WASH Field Engineer

Solar Water Enterprise Hubs Programme · ForAfrika South Africa

1. Programme Background

ForAfrika is a leading African humanitarian and development organisation operating in eight countries, with a vision of an Africa that thrives. Under a three-year grant from the donor, ForAfrika South Africa will assume full operational responsibility for solar-powered rural water systems across Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal.

Each system comprises five integrated sub-systems: solar power generation and storage (2–4 kWp PV arrays with MPPT charge controllers and battery banks), a borehole with a Grundfos SQFlex or equivalent solar-direct submersible pump, automated inline chlorination, a 10 m³ elevated reservoir with gravity-fed distribution, and a standpipe network with volumetric metering. ForAfrika's role is to maintain, operate, and transfer these systems to community ownership, with water quality compliance against South African National Standard SANS 241:2015 as a Day 1 obligation.

2. Purpose of the Position

The WASH Field Engineer is part of the programme's technical delivery role — the qualified engineer responsible for quarterly full-system inspections, preventive and reactive maintenance, water quality field monitoring, and first-line technical problem-solving across an assigned cluster of sites. The position sits between trained community pump operators performing daily checks and specialist contractors performing manufacturer-level servicing, and is accountable for keeping systems operational, compliant, and well-documented.

The Field Engineer plays a central role in the technical condition assessment of all sites in the assigned cluster.

4. Qualifications and Experience

Essential

•    Bachelor's degree or national diploma in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, or Water Engineering, or a closely related engineering field.

•    Registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as a Candidate Engineer or Candidate Engineering Technologist (or eligibility to register); DWS registration/recognition as applicable.

•    Minimum three (3) years of hands-on experience in the operation and maintenance of rural water supply systems, with demonstrable experience on solar-powered pumping systems (solar-direct submersible pumps, PV arrays, MPPT controllers, battery systems).

•    Working knowledge of water quality monitoring and SANS 241:2015 requirements, including use of portable field test kits and bacteriological sampling protocols.

•    Practical fault-diagnosis and repair skills across electromechanical, hydraulic, and basic civil components of borehole-based water systems.

•    Valid driver's licence (Code B minimum; Code C1 an advantage) and willingness to travel extensively (up to 75%) to remote rural sites, including overnight stays — the KwaZulu-Natal position requires residence in-region, as day trips to the uMkhanyakude sites are not feasible from other bases.

Desirable

•    Grundfos certification or documented experience servicing Grundfos SQFlex or equivalent solar submersible pump fleets.

•    Experience with remote monitoring/telemetry platforms and condition-based (predictive) maintenance approaches.

•    Experience training community-based operators or artisans.

•    Familiarity with borehole yield testing, sanitary survey methodology, and inline chlorination systems.

•    Prior experience on donor-funded WASH programmes in the NGO/development sector.

•    Proficiency in the dominant language of the assigned cluster (IsiZulu, Sepedi, or Siswati) in addition to English.

5. Competencies

•    Strong practical problem-solving under field conditions with limited supervision.

•    Disciplined documentation and data-recording habits — inspection reports, job cards, water quality logs.

•    Safety-conscious working practices around electrical, confined-space, and working-at-height hazards.

•    Respectful, patient engagement with rural communities and community operators, consistent with ForAfrika's community-ownership ethos.

Planning and route-management skills for multi-site inspection circuits across a dispersed portfolio.

6. Key Working Relationships

•    Internal: WASH Programme Manager (SA), WASH Specialist, Civil Engineer, fellow Field Engineers (including the floating engineer), Community Mobilisation Officers, DMEAL team, Finance and Logistics Officer, Global WASH Technical Advisor (GSO).

•    External: community pump operators and Water Management Committees, DWS-listed certified solar technical partners Mvula Borehole Drilling (Pty) Ltd, SANAS-accredited laboratories, Water Services Authorities, and Water supply system technical counterparts.

3. Key Responsibilities

3.1 Technical condition assessment

•    Conduct the site-by-site technical condition assessment across the assigned cluster within the first three months: pump, controller, panels, batteries, tank and tower, distribution network, valves and fittings, and civil structure.

•    Participate in joint site visits with Water supply system contractor including asset register verification, documentation review, and monitoring dashboard familiarisation.

•    Support country team activities: tiered water quality field testing, sanitary surveys at risk-flagged sites, GPS verification, and yield measurement at sites with missing yield records.

•    Contribute technical findings which need to be confirmed by Month 3, and identify end-of-life components for replacement under the Year 1 Replacement Capex Reserve.

•    Execute Tier C remediation works at named priority sites under the 48-hour remediation initiation protocol and support the portfolio-wide water quality baseline assessment within 90 days of operational kickoff.

3.2 Preventive and reactive maintenance

•    Perform quarterly full-system inspections at all assigned sites: borehole yield testing, pump efficiency assessment, solar panel output measurement, battery and charge controller checks, chlorination system verification, structural inspection of concrete towers, and water committee performance review.

•    Deliver reactive repairs in line with the tiered service-impact protocol: critical failures; reduced-service issues within five working days; minor issues at the next quarterly inspection.

•    Diagnose faults using Water supply system contractor remote monitoring telemetry and support the shift from schedule-driven to condition-based, predictive maintenance at monitored sites.

•    Escalate manufacturer-level pump servicing, borehole rehabilitation, and solar system overhauls to DWS-listed certified solar technical partners and supervise their work on site against service-level agreements.

•    Prioritise Parent-site maintenance within the cluster maintenance model, recognising that Parent borehole failures cascade to hydraulically dependent Child sites

•    Manage cluster-level spare parts inventories at Hub anchor locations, forecast consumables and coordinate replenishment with the Finance and Logistics Officer.

3.3 Water quality monitoring and compliance

•    Conduct monthly water quality field testing at all assigned sites using portable field kits and maintain calibration of field instruments.

•    Collect and dispatch quarterly bacteriological samples (E. coli, total coliforms) to SANAS-accredited laboratories and apply elevated (monthly) sampling frequency at sites until restored.

•    Verify automated inline chlorination performance (0.2–0.5 mg/L free chlorine residual at the most distant standpipe) and adjust dosing as required.

•    Maintain water quality records in the programme database, flag non-compliance against SANS 241:2015 immediately, and initiate corrective action plans in coordination with the WASH Programme Manager.

3.4 Community technical capacity building

•    Train and mentor community pump operators in daily system checks, monthly pump performance logging, and water quality field testing, cross-referencing operator logs with remote monitoring telemetry.

•    Deliver pump-attendant training cohorts and support the certification pathway from community operator toward established standard for community-hired technicians.

3.5 Documentation, reporting and coordination

•    Complete site inspection reports, maintenance job cards, and asset register updates in the field management system after every visit.

•    Contribute technical data to monthly cluster reports, the MEAL dashboard, and quarterly donor reports, in coordination with the DMEAL team.

•    Coordinate site visit scheduling with Community Mobilisation Officers so that maintenance activities are communicated to and coordinated with communities.

•    Support the pump overhaul cycle for 2018-vintage systems and solar system overhauls for remaining vintage systems 

•    Support Water Management Committees with technical inputs to O&M planning, tariff-setting consultations and Capital Sinking Fund calibration against component lifecycles (5/7/10/20 years).

•    Contribute technical content to site-level O&M manuals any other documentation.

ForAfrika is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, safeguarding, and the protection of children and vulnerable adults. All appointments are subject to satisfactory background and reference checks and to adherence to ForAfrika's Code of Conduct, Safeguarding Policy, and PSEA commitments.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following by clicking on this link: https://forafrika.simplify.hr/vacancy/41tl5f