WASH Officer (Emergency)

Mission and objectives

UNICEF works to protect the rights of every child and support children and families in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In Ukraine, UNICEF supports conflict-affected populations through humanitarian response, early recovery and system strengthening across health, nutrition, education, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Context

UNICEF Ukraine is one of the largest and most complex UNICEF country operations globally. Since February 2022, the country has faced a severe humanitarian crisis marked by mass displacement and extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including water supply, sanitation and heating systems. UNICEF’s WASH section leads the organisation’s emergency response across six field offices and works closely with government counterparts, NGOs and the WASH Cluster.

The emergency WASH portfolio includes rehabilitation and emergency repair of damaged infrastructure, water trucking, distribution of WASH non-food items, and hygiene promotion activities, alongside a growing recovery portfolio focused on restoring services and building resilience. This assignment responds to a critical staffing need in Kyiv and will support delivery, monitoring, accountability and donor reporting for emergency WASH programming across Ukraine.

Key responsibilities

1) Emergency WASH programme implementation

• Support planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting of emergency WASH interventions in conflict-affected areas.
• Contribute to activities such as water trucking, emergency rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities, distribution of WASH NFIs, and community hygiene promotion for vulnerable populations.

2) Monitoring, reporting and analysis

• Maintain and update programme monitoring dashboards and tracking tools.
• Monitor progress against targets, financial expenditure and partner performance.
• Contribute to monthly and quarterly donor reports, situation reports, flash updates and humanitarian analyses.

3) Coordination and field support

• Coordinate with WASH Cluster partners, NGOs and government counterparts to monitor implementation, identify coverage gaps and support response deconfliction and complementarity.
• Conduct regular field missions to conflict-affected and newly accessible areas to verify outputs, assess needs, support partner monitoring and document programme results and human-interest stories.

4) Resource mobilisation and supply follow-up

• Contribute to development of project proposals, concept notes, technical assessments and donor-facing briefs for the emergency WASH portfolio.
• Compile and quality-assure 4Ws matrices, monitoring tools and WASH Cluster coordination products.
• Support procurement planning, follow-up and supply chain monitoring for WASH materials, equipment and NFIs in coordination with Supply and Logistics.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering, Public Health, Hydrology or Water Resources, Environmental Sciences, Development Studies with WASH focus, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in emergency WASH programming or humanitarian response.
• Languages: Ukrainian — Fluent (required); English — Fluent (required).
• Eligibility: Candidate must be a national/legal resident or hold refugee status in Ukraine.

Essential skills

• Experience supporting planning, monitoring and reporting of WASH interventions, including water trucking, NFI distribution, hygiene promotion or infrastructure rehabilitation.
• Experience working with NGOs, government counterparts or UN agencies on WASH or related programmes; exposure to WASH Cluster coordination is an asset.
• Experience in humanitarian data collection, monitoring and reporting, including tracking tools, 4Ws matrices and donor/situation reporting.
• Strong drafting skills in English and Ukrainian, including concise reports, briefs and correspondence.
• Good analytical skills and ability to synthesise information from multiple sources.
• Solid computer literacy, including Microsoft Office; familiarity with data management tools is an asset.

Allowances

• Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA): USD 1,717 per month (paid in UAH equivalent), including Well-Being Differentials while duty stations in Ukraine are classified “E”.
• Entry lump sum: USD 350 (one-time payment).

Medical and life insurance

• Medical insurance: Provided to the UN Volunteer (and eligible dependents, where applicable) for the duration of the assignment and normally up to one month after contract end.
• Life insurance: Coverage for the entire assignment period, with benefits payable to designated beneficiaries.

Leave entitlements

• Annual leave: 2.5 days per completed month of assignment.
• Learning leave: Up to 10 working days per 12 months, subject to approval.
• Certified sick leave: Up to 30 days per 12-month cycle.
• Uncertified sick leave: 7 working days per calendar year.