Technical Lead

Technical Lead

Contract type: Fixed term | Full time – 37.5 hours per week

Location: WaterAid Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka.

Salary: Monthly gross salary BDT 210,000/- with excellent benefits (Flexible for deserving candidates with strong track record and demonstrated credentials)

Change starts with water. Change starts with you.

Every day, millions of people live without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid exists to change that – for everyone, everywhere. Join us, and your energy will help unlock people's potential and create a fairer future.

About WaterAid

We're a global federation driven by one vision: a world where everyone, everywhere has clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. Powered by our values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation, we work alongside communities, partners and supporters to make change happen.

About the role

The Technical Lead plays a pivotal role in shaping and advancing WaterAid Bangladesh's technical excellence in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). This position is responsible for driving innovation, ensuring quality assurance, and developing context specific, sustainable, inclusive, and climate-resilient WASH solutions. The role involves leading technical design and review processes, fostering knowledge generation, and strengthening institutional systems to support impactful programme delivery. Through strategic thinking, technical leadership, and collaboration, this position is expected to contribute to WaterAid's mission of transforming lives by making safe water, sanitation, and hygiene accessible to everyone, everywhere.

In this role, you will:

1. Technical Design Development & Innovation

• Lead development of climate-resilient, context-specific WASH technologies aligned with WaterAid's strategy.
• Promote emerging technologies and accredit innovative WASH solutions.

2. Design Review & Systems Enhancement

• Provide expert review of technical designs for quality and safety.
• Ensure adherence to WaterAid's Quality Programme Standards and sustainability framework.
• Maintain and update technical manuals, policies, and protocols.
• Lead periodic reviews to improve efficiency, performance, and sustainability.
• Support monitoring and evaluation with technical insights.
• Ensure consistent application of technical standards across programmes.

3. Project Ideation & Development

• Support proposal development with technically sound project designs.
• Use lessons from pilots and research to shape new projects.
• Contribute to strategic planning with strong technical feasibility inputs.

4. Studies, Knowledge Management & Capacity Building

• Lead technical studies, assessments, and action research.
• Document and share learnings and innovations through publications and forums.
• Strengthen technical capacity of staff and partners via training and mentoring.
• Organise learning events on climate-resilient and inclusive WASH design.
• Engage youth to develop future WASH leaders.

5. Strategic Partnerships & Leadership

• Influence national WASH policies and guidelines.
• Build and manage partnerships with academic and technical institutions.
• Represent WaterAid in national/international forums and alliances.
• Collaborate with WaterAid UK and regional teams for shared technical solutions.

To be successful, you will need:

Education: BSc in Civil, Environmental, Water Resources Engineering with a master's in engineering, Environment, or Development field.

Experience: Minimum eight years of relevant working experience in the similar field with reputed organisation/s, or in academia.

Knowledge: Demonstrates a strong understanding of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) issues in both national and global contexts, with proven experience in independently designing WASH infrastructure and providing strategic technical guidance.

Skills: Skilled in using computer-aided design and analytical tools such as CAD and GIS to support data-driven, context-specific solutions.

Competencies

• Possesses excellent communication skills in both Bangla and English, complemented by strong interpersonal, facilitation, and presentation abilities.
• Exhibits proactive leadership, creativity, and a positive attitude, with the ability to manage teams, solve problems effectively, and work independently under pressure.
• Highly organized, with strong planning and prioritization capabilities, a commitment to integrity, and a consistent focus on delivering results within tight deadlines.

View the full job description here
Closing date: Applications close 05:00 PM BD time on 13 October2025. Interviews may be scheduled on a rolling basis, and the role may close earlier if a suitable candidate is found.

How to apply: Click Apply to answer the Pre-screening questions and upload your CV only.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in my application?
At WaterAid, we strongly advise against using AI technology at any stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure a fair and transparent process that provides every applicant with an equal opportunity to succeed. We value hearing about your unique experiences and perspectives in your application, and, if shortlisted, during the interview as well.

Pre‑employment screening
To apply for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to local law and WaterAid's Safer Recruitment.

Our benefits
Festival bonus, provident fund, gratuity, life insurance for self, health insurance for self, spouse and children, cell phone allowances etc. are applicable as per policy provision.

Our Global Commitment:

Our People Promise

We will work with passion and focus to make sure everyone everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values. 

Equal Opportunities

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status. This includes, but is not limited to, race, ethnicity, caste, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability status, neurodiversity, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation. 

Safeguarding

We are committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero- tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks). 

Together, we'll change the world through water.

Join us and be part of the change