Consultant – WASH Innovation Capacity Development Strategy, Office of Innovation, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4 months (remote)

Consultant Medical & Health Human Resources Innovation

Overview

Develop an innovation capacity development strategy for the WASH Hub.

You have:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in WASH, innovation, strategic management, business administration, entrepreneurship, education, human-centred design, or another relevant discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience in innovation, service design, human-centred design, UX design, strategic planning, or organisational capacity development.
• Demonstrated experience developing organizational strategies, capacity development frameworks, or learning systems and support organisational change processes within complex institutions.
• Experience working with WASH sector partners, INGOs, UN agencies, and governments is desirable.
• Knowledge of blended financing, innovative finance mechanisms, and market-based scaling approaches is considered a strong advantage.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Understanding of WASH systems, sector approaches, and climate-resilient WASH programming is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of another UN official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, the right to innovate

For more than 70 years, UNICEF has championed innovation to advance the rights and wellbeing of every child. This commitment continues through the Sustainable WASH Innovation Hub, based in Copenhagen, where we bring new approaches, bold partnerships, and impactful technologies to the forefront of the global WASH agenda. Emerging from UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and now proudly part of the Global WASH Practice within the UNICEF Center of Excellence for WASH, the Hub is uniquely positioned to accelerate promising solutions across UNICEF’s extensive global network and that of our partners.

At the intersection of cutting‑edge thinking and large‑scale development challenges, the WASH Innovation Hub serves as a bridge—connecting UNICEF’s deep field experience with the agility of start‑ups, the creativity of researchers, the vision of entrepreneurs, and the lived expertise of communities. This convergence of perspectives drives our mission: to transform how WASH challenges are understood, tackled, and ultimately solved.

The Hub also aims to builds capacity by equipping governments, local businesses, and UNICEF teams with the knowledge and tools to implement and scale innovative WASH services, along with innovative and blended financing mechanisms to complement existing resources and bridge critical funding gaps. With a presence in over 100 countries, UNICEF’s WASH network is the largest of its kind, providing a strong foundation for the Hub’s work in scaling innovation within the sector. This approach is designed to support innovation in WASH and innovative financing broadly, extending beyond the Hub’s own portfolio.

How can you make a difference?

The Consultant will contribute to the objectives of the WASH Hub by developing an innovation capacity development strategy. This will be done through consultations with WASH Hub colleagues and other key players, including UNICEF country, regional offices other HQ divisions, key sector actors including INGOs, UN Agencies and private sector and the WASH Hub Technical and Strategic Advisory Groups made up of key global WASH actors such as academia, development partners, INGOs, UN, private sector and government.

Specifically the consultant will develop a Capacity Building Strategy:

1. Inception Phase
2. Diagnostic Phase Including Consultation & Analysis
3. Strategy Development
4. Final Strategy & Implementation Components

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Capacity Development Strategy ToR .pdf

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

****Education:**** Advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in WASH, innovation, strategic management, business administration, entrepreneurship, education, human‑centred design, or another relevant discipline.

*A first university degree combined with two additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree

Work Experience:

• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience in innovation, service design, human‑centred design, UX design, strategic planning, or organisational capacity development
• Demonstrated experience developing organizational strategies, capacity development frameworks, or learning systems and support organisational change processes within complex institutions
• Experience working with WASH sector partners, INGOs, UN agencies, and governments is desirable, reflecting the multi‑stakeholder engagement required to shape capacity pathways
• Knowledge of blended financing, innovative finance mechanisms, and market‑based scaling approaches is considered a strong advantage, aligning with Hub priorities around scaling transformative WASH solutions.

Skills****:

• Strong research and analytical skills with a proven ability to synthesise complex inputs into clear, actionable strategy documents.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of producing concise, high‑quality outputs for leadership and partners.
• Strong skills in facilitation, relationship management, and cross‑cultural communication, especially in LMIC contexts.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.
• Understanding of WASH systems, sector approaches, and climate‑resilient WASH programming is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of another UN official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed 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.

How to apply:

• Interested applicants are required to submit both a technical and a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template. Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
• Include examples of prior strategy development work (either as attachments or links) in the technical proposal to facilitate technical assessment
• Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 months ago - Updated 3 months ago - Source: unicef.org