Current vacancies

Consultancy Title: Safely Managed Sanitation Consultant

Division/Duty Station: Water and Sanitation Section, Programme Group, New York

Duration: 05 April 2025 to 31 January 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical inputs and support to the implementation of the LIXIL-funded six country multi-regional sanitation partnership; support the rolling out of the UNICEF Sanitation Game Plan and eight steps to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation including capacity development, and the documentation and dissemination of experiences among countries and regional offices

Scope of Work:

UNICEF launched its Game Plan to Reach Safely Managed Sanitation in 2023 with an ambitious agenda to increase upstream programming on strengthening sanitation systems and bringing in the private sector to support long-term service delivery, under the oversight of government. Aligned to this, UNICEF partnered with LIXIL in six countries under the ‘Make a Splash!’ (MaS!) partnership to support governments to strengthen sanitation markets and ensure affordable, desirable products are available where they’re most needed.

Under the supervision of Senior WASH Adviser, this consultancy will provide technical assistance for the implementation of the UNICEF-LIXIL MaS! project and support the roll out of the Sanitation Game Plan. Specifically, the purpose of the consultancy is divided into the following three areas:

• Technical assistance and guidance for the implementation of the UNICEF-LIXL MaS! project in six countries.  
• Support capacity and coordination on rolling out of UNICEF Sanitation Game Plan and eight steps to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation to countries and regional offices.
• Support monitoring, reporting and advocacy for increased private sector engagement on sanitation.

Key Tasks and Expected Results:

• Technical assistance and guidance for the implementation of UNICEF-LIXIL MaS! project in six countries:  Under the supervision of the Senior Adviser (WASH) for Sanitation and Hygiene, the consultant will provide technical support for the implementation of the LIXIL-funded six-country sanitation project. This will include support for monitoring and reporting of the partnership, as well as providing strategic guidance to regional and country offices for effective implementation of the project towards achieving the planned results. Additionally, the consultant will support the development of relevant communications materials, such as videos and briefs, and contribute to ideation processes and cross-learning opportunities as well as support coordination and liaison with all project regional and country offices. The expected result is effective technical oversight of the LIXIL-UNICEF partnership and related private sector sanitation initiatives.
• Strategic technical support to capacity and coordination on rolling out the UNICEF Sanitation Game Plan and 8-Steps to Safely Managed Sanitation across countries and regions: Under the supervision of the Senior Adviser (WASH), the consultant will support the rollout of the Sanitation Game Plan and the eight steps for universal access to safely managed sanitation. Activities include updating the Game Plan monitoring framework, documenting case studies and best practices, and strengthening UNICEF WASH staff and partners’ capacity. The consultancy also involves preparing briefing notes, policy papers, and proposals, and coordinating regional and global sanitation events. The expected result is increased global leadership and capacity of UNICEF in sanitation programming as a result of global capacity building and adoption of sanitation Game Plan and eight steps for safely managed sanitation.
• Support monitoring, reporting and advocacy for increased private sector engagement on sanitation:   This consultancy will support the monitoring, reporting and mobilization of private sector engagement for sanitation by i) support the development of new proposals and partnerships for accelerating progress on safely managed sanitation; ii) development of partnership briefing notes and presentations; and iii) support for reporting and monitoring of donor-funded sanitation initiatives. The expected result is increased engagement and private sector partnerships for sanitation

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables

Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline: 

1.  Technical assistance and guidance for the implementation of UNICEF-LIXIL MaS! project in six countries

-  One global annual report for MaS! Year 2 programme and stand-alone Executive Summary produced and disseminated

17 May 2025

-  6 CO-HQ TA/monitoring meetings facilitated for each of the six countries, 2 regional calls for Africa and Asia and one global annual review meeting designed and delivered, plus reports produced and disseminated

31 December 2025

-  A country specific technical guidance document including recommendations produced for 6 non-MAS! countries based on UNICEF’s Guidance on Market-Based Sanitation

29 August 2025

-  20 biweekly progress meetings and 4 quarterly in-person planning meetings held with partner, and meeting reports produced and disseminated

31 January 2026

-  Partnership brand guidance produced and implemented in 10 communication materials (i.e videos, briefs, etc.)

31 January 2026

2.  Support capacity and coordination on rolling out of UNICEF Sanitation Game Plan and eight steps to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation to countries and regional offices

- A set of documents including concept notes, session plans and presentation materials produced for two global conferences – AfricaSan & IWA; and 2 WASH Net meetings.

At least 3 planning meetings for the two global conferences (AfricaSan & IWA held and meeting reports produced and disseminated

31 December 2025

-  3 webinars, in two time zones, to support the roll out of the eight steps to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation to countries and regional offices delivered

27 June 2025

-  Monitoring framework for the adoption of UNICEF's Sanitation Game Plan and the eight steps to achieve universal access to safely managed sanitation to countries and regional offices updated

27 June 2025

-  At least 2 key country programme documents to provide technical recommendations on mainstreaming climate resilience in the roll out of the Sanitation Game Plan and eight steps for safely managed sanitation produced and disseminated

26 September 2025

-  4 country 'journeys' of sanitation systems strengthening experiences and SMS workshop pathways and impact documented and report disseminated

30 November 2025

-  A set of technical recommendations and capacity development report on Areawide approach to sanitation for scaling up rural sanitation in 2 UNICEF Regional Offices, 8 ASWA III countries and 5 BMGF supported countries produced

31 December 2025

3.  Support monitoring, reporting and advocacy for increased private sector engagement on sanitation

-  At least two funding proposals and two private sector partnership concept notes developed for sanitation

31 December 2025

-  At least 3 partnership briefing notes & PowerPoint presentations (with talking points) produced for resource mobilization

30 November 2025

-  1 sanitation donor report produced, and inputs made to the sanitation related UNICEF Global Annual Results Report

31 January 2026

Travel: 

• Trips for conference and Trainings (4 trips); DSA for 25 days

Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced university degree in international development, engineering, public health, Behavioural and other social sciences, communications and any other related technical or specialized field

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *: 

• At least eight years of solid responsible work experience in WASH development in developing countries. Experience working in the areas of private sector engagement, strategy development, capacity building, planning, monitoring and knowledge management will be considered an asset.
• Specialized studies in the area of market-based approaches, Communication for Development (C4D) or social and behavior change communication (SBCC) is an asset
• In-depth understanding of the shift to safely managed sanitation in the sanitation sector
• Strong communication skills (written and oral) in English are required. French, Spanish and Arabic are considered an advantage.
• Proven ability to work under tight deadlines and drive for results.
• Previous working experience with the United Nations and/or an international organization is desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal and partnership management skills.
• Demonstrated experience working in a multicultural environment and demonstrates the core values of UNICEF

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF's e-Recruitment system and

- Upload copy of academic credentials

- Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

- Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

- At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

- Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.