Technical Specialist: Water

The Technical Specialist: Water & Sanitation is responsible for ensuring that infrastructure investments in the water and
sanitation sector are technically sound, environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, and financially viable. This role
blends sector expertise with financial acumen to support loan origination, due diligence, and portfolio management. In
addition, provide expert technical guidance and sector-specific insights to support the development, appraisal, and
monitoring of water and sanitation projects financed and/or delivered by the DBSA. The aim is to enhance the quality,
sustainability, and impact of investments in the sector, ensuring alignment with the institution’s development mandate.

**Key Responsibilities**:
**Key Performance Areas**:
Technical Advisory and Expertise

analysis and implementation support for projects and initiatives.
- Stay current on emerging technologies, policy developments, and global best practices to ensure cutting-edge
insights and continuous improvement in project delivery.
- Diagnose complex sector challenges and identify opportunities, designing context-appropriate, sustainable, and
cost-effective solutions to support project preparation and implementation.
- Promote institutional learning by leading or contributing to training sessions, technical consultations, and
knowledge-sharing initiatives with internal teams and external stakeholders.
- Drive technical excellence and innovation in the sector, reinforcing the Bank’s position as a leader in sustainable
and resilient infrastructure development.
- Collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders to gather insights, build consensus, and
ensure technical alignment across project stages.

Investments and Programmes

approaches to deliver value to both the client and the DBSA.
- Enhance the bankability of transactions by identifying and mitigating technical and sector specific risks, working
collaboratively with Credit Risk, Country Risk Officers, and other relevant units across the Bank.
- Support the preparation of potential investments by delivering innovative and sustainable infrastructure solutions
that inform project scoping, feasibility studies, and business planning.
- Conceptualise and contribute to the design of new products and services aligned with DBSA mandate and
proactively identifying and guiding the DBSA toward emerging sector opportunities.
- Assess the sector impact of proposed DBSA investment transactions across South Africa the African region,
including:

- Appraising the macro macro and sector-specific market environment.
- Assessing the impact of sectoral policy, legislation, strategy, and tariff regimes
- Analysing sector risks and developing appropriate mitigation measures
- Demonstrating the economic rationale of projects through demand/supply analysis and cost-benefit
assessments.
- Validating the technical feasibility / assumptions and projections including design assumptions, technology
options, operations, and maintenance plans
- Providing structuring recommendations to support investment approvals by internal decision-making
committees.
- Developing sector-specific conditions to be embedded with investment structures.
- Monitor and evaluate the sectoral outcomes and impact of DBSA’s water and sanitation investment portfolio.
- Track compliance within agreed sector conditionalities and mitigation measures, recommending timely corrective
actions in cases of deviation or underperformance.

Sector Governance

- Present sector research findings on business and product development, sector targets, and investment strategies
to the Investment Committee and Board of Directors.
- Develop, implement, and review sector strategies, guidelines, and technical frameworks to embed Generally
Accepted Industry Practice (GIIP) in DBSA investment decision making.

Clients, Governments and Finance Partnerships

- Provide credible sectoral advice to the DBSA, its clients and sector role players including private and public sector
investors, businesses, and client-country governments.
- Influence relevant sectoral investment decision making structures including DBSA, national government, SOCs,
sector fora, Regional Economic Communities (e.g. SADC, IIPSA) to enhance sectoral infrastructure investments.
- Interface with finance partners locally, regionally, and internationally to catalyse sustainable financing, align and
incorporate GIIP, the Sustainable Development Goals and global, regional, and local sector policy frameworks into
DBSA operations and investment decision making.
- Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to align expectations and gather insights and ensure successful
engagements.

Innovation and Continuous Improvement

- Champion innovation and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within their area of expertise.
- Identify opportunities to enhance processes, products, or services, leveraging technical knowledge, creativity, and
industry insigh