WASH Manager at United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: WASH Manager

Job No.: 591108
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Level: P-4
Contract type: Temporary Appointment
Categories: WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

Background

• The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the Organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations.
• The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action.
• For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated.
• There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give more children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.
• This is why the focus on equity is so vital.
• It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Purpose for the Job

• The WASH Manager reports to the Chief of Field Office (CFO) at P5 level for general guidance and direction and the Chief of WASH at the Country Office for technical guidance and direction.
• The Manager supports the CFO in managing the WASH section, and in leading the development, preparation, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the WASH programme within the country programme.
• The Manager provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes, to ensure the achievement of the WASH-related output results in the country programme.
• The Manager provides authoritative advisory services to government and sector support agencies, and interacts with government at senior levels and with senior staff in the International Development Banks.
• The Manager will also co-lead the WASH Cluster in NE Nigeria, with a transitional localization agenda, with neutral equitable and transparent coordination, decision-making, prioritization, and partner engagement to foster trust and uphold the cluster’s accountability to all partners and affected populations.

Responsibilities

• Management support to the Chief of Field Office
• Programme development and planning
• Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
• Advisory services and technical support
• Advocacy, networking and partnership building
• Humanitarian WASH: Sector co-lead, preparedness and response
• Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building.

Requirements

• An Advanced University Degree in one of the following fields is required: Geology, Public Health, Social Sciences, Behavior Change Communication, Sanitary Engineering, or another relevant technical field.
• Developmental:  A minimum of eight years of professional experience in WASH-related programmes for developing countries is required.
• One year of deployment in a developing country is required.
• Humanitarian: At least six months of proven experience in emergency preparedness and response. 
• Experience in protracted humanitarian situations, including one three-month deployment mission (with UN-Govt-INGO), is required, ideally with cluster coordination experience.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language(Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba) is an asset.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are:

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others 
• Nurtures, leads and manages people.

Application Closing Date
4th March, 2026.