General Background

Tanzania has been a consistent and generous host to millions of refugees over the years, mainly in the northern region of Kigoma. The existing refugee settlements were established in the mid-90s to welcome the influx of refugees from DRC, out of which more than 65,000 still reside in Nyarugusu site after more than 22 years. In the last three years the political tensions in Burundi has seen thousands of Burundians flee to Tanzania. Nyarugusu was soon to shelter thousands of Burundian refugees, swelling the camp population to over three times its capacity and making Nyarugusu one of the largest and most overcrowded camps in the world. This necessitated the opening of two former refugee camps – Nduta, in October 2015 and Mtendeli in January 2016. The shelter strategy in Kigoma region is oriented to cover the needs of all refugees living in the three camps, with special focus on the most vulnerable groups. Tanzania UNHCR country operation is currently also in process of deploying more than 3000 Refugee Housing Units (RHUs) across the three sites. The RHU is an innovative shelter solution, designed as a result of a research and development process undertaken by the Better Shelter SA and UNHCR, with the support of IKEA Foundation. After extensive field testing and beneficiary feedback assessment of the initial prototype, a production model for volume mobilization was developed and is now in process of deployment in several UNHCR field operations.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office, the incumbent will be expected to fulfill the following tasks:

• Support the development of guidelines and technical drawings related to shelter solutions and communal facilities
• Support the shelter technical clearance and update implementation designs and bill of quantities
• Assist the mobilization, training, implementation and institutionalization of the Refugee Housing Unit
• Support in the research and development of RHU upgrading with locally procurable materials
• Support in the shelter related monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities
• Support the development of shelter training materials, particularly in the areas of standardized technical documentation and designs
• Support the section’s administrative duties and undertake any other duties as per supervisor’s request.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The incumbent is expected to supervise, monitor and support the achievement of the following indicators in 2019;

• Increase of the households living in adequate shelters in Nyarugusu Refugee Camps from 55% to 65% of the population through construction of 600 transitional shelters and assembly of 1,000 Refugee housing Units
• # of transitional shelters planned for construction during the period is 600 (Nyarugusu Refugee Camp)
• # of Refugee Housing Units (RHU) planned for assembly across the three camps during the period of assignment is 3,000 units

Qualifications and Experience

a. Education

• Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture
• Postgraduate degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture would be an advantage

b. Work Experience

• Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience
• Prior experience in the humanitarian sector would be an advantage
• Prior experience in UNHCR would be an advantage

c. Key Competencies

• Knowledge of humanitarian settlement planning 
• Training experiences, preferably in shelter
• Computer literacy in CAD, Graphic design software, MS Office
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and be a team player