Emergency Shelter Assistance Specialist

Volunteering Admin Engineering

Overview

Assist with emergency shelter assistance for displaced populations in Ukraine

You have:

• Capable to use MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook etc).
• Good technical knowledge about construction materials and ability to read and understand regulations/procedures in English.
• Capacity to deal with multi-tasks environment and efficiently contribute to the multinational teams work.
• Willingness and ability to focus on the war-affected population needs as the main priority of the emergency shelter assistance.
• Open to travelling around Ukraine as might be required for the job tasks.

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994 and substantially increased its presence and response after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significatively expanded to deliver the emergency response.

The country office is located in the capital, Kyiv, and sub- and field offices are currently located in Dnipro, Kyiv, L’viv, Odesa and Kharkiv. The war in Ukraine has caused death and suffering on a dramatic scale. In 2025, more than 12.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. Some 3.7 million people are internally displaced, while around 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine are recorded across Europe and beyond. Some 75,000 people, including some of the most vulnerable notable older people and people with disabilities, live in collective sites spread across the country. Ukraine also hosts asylum-seekers and refugees and is home to thousands of people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness. The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, with the energy sector being particularly targeted, has made life extremely challenging for millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and has severely disrupted access to electricity, water, heating as well as critical services, including healthcare, education and social protection services. Humanitarian access continues to be hampered, particularly in frontline areas as well as to areas under temporary occupation of the Russian Federation. Civilians remain exposed to serious risks to their physical security and integrity, particularly in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The risk of GBV, including sexual violence, continues to prevail, alongside family separations, loss of housing and properties, as well as identity and civil documentation.

Currently, UNHCR has MOUs with five-line ministries, the First Lady’s foundation as well as the Office of the Ombudsman, 19 regional state administrations and agreements with 14 partners to deliver assistance and support the localization of the response. Under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, UNHCR operates as part of the Inter-agency humanitarian response, working in close coordination with local authorities and humanitarian partners.

UNHCR is leading three clusters - Protection, Shelter and NFIs, and CCCM. The strategic orientation of UNHCR’s response is to reach people, particularly those with specific vulnerabilities, who remain in frontline and heavily affected areas with immediate relief while supporting displaced people and those who have remained in their homes, or returned, with protection advice, housing support, livelihoods advice and cash assistance to enable their recovery and attainment of durable solutions.

As the war continues, new urgent humanitarian needs are created every day, alongside protracted ones and peoples’ and communities’ efforts to recover and rebuild their lives in war-torn communities. Among the IDPs and refugees from Ukraine, the majority express a hope and desire to return to their homes as soon as the security situation allows. The protection needs of the population thus need to be analysed and addressed both from a humanitarian as well as from an early recovery and durable solutions perspective, with UNHCR playing a leading role in this work.

Technical Guidance

• Assist in data collection and keeping the up to date trackers on weekly and/or ad-hoc requests from partners and/or UNHCR Field offices for deliveries of ESK and ESM • Preparation of consolidated weekly/ad-hoc requests for ESK and ESM deliveries as the draft for the hiring manager to certify and forward to the logistics for actual shipments • Preparing draft payment requests to arrange payments to UNHCR suppliers for the construction materials (constituting ESK and ESM) delivered to UNHCR warehouse (including accumulation of the relevant supporting documentation from suppliers and UNHCR logistics focal points). • Monitoring completeness and compliance of the documents uploaded by the implementing partners to UNHCR online server (sharepoint) as required by UNHCR SOP • Communicate with focal points at UNHCR Field offices (FO) to plan and coordinate own or his/her manager field visits for post-distribution monitoring. • Benchmarking and providing the hiring manager with the feedback on the correlation of data reported by partners at the different reporting platforms of UNHCR (Activity Info, RAIS+ etc) and the distribution reports uploaded by partners to UNHCR online servers . • Support the technical evaluation of the provided proposals from the bidders for procurement of construction materials for ESKs/ESMs • Support processing of the weekly and ad-hoc requests and their tracking for securing shipments of ESK and ESM to partners in case the manager absence (i.e. during his sick or annual leaves).

Coordination

• Provide technical support to UNHCR Country office focal point covering emergency shelter assistance in (whenever required) coordination with focal points at field offices and logistics manager(s) at the country and field offices.

Collaboration

• Assist in the preparation of draft weekly and ad-hoc requests for shipments of ESK and ESM from UNHCR to partners and/or UNHCR field offices and warehouses
• Assist in the preparation of draft payment requests (including the collection of supporting documentation).
• Initial review of the technical proposals from the bidders for the supply of construction materials for ESK/ESM in terms of their compliance with UNHCR bidding requirements.
• Perform other related duties as required by the manager.

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management • Ability to prioritise targets and schedule implementation

• Essential: Capable to use MS Office applications (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook etc). Good technical knowledge about construction materials and ability to read and understand regulations/procedures in English.

• Desirable: Capacity to deal with multi-tasks environment and efficiently contribute to the multinational teams work. Willingness and ability to focus on the war-affected population needs as the main priority of the emergency shelter assistance. Open to travelling around Ukraine as might be required for the job tasks

As it is a national UN Volunteer's assignment, the UN volunteer shall organize his/her accommodation by themselves.

Entitlements of National UN Volunteer

The contract lasts for the period indicated in the vacancy with the possibility of extensions subject to availability of funding, operational necessity, and satisfactory performance. However, there is no expectation of renewal of the assignment. This is a full-time contract.

Allowances: • Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA): A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) USD 1587 (equivalent in UAH) is provided monthly to cover housing, utilities, and normal cost of living expenses. This includes Well-Being Differentials for the period while the ICSC applies hardship classification to duty stations in Ukraine as “E”. • USD 400 entry lump sum, one-time payment.

Medical and life insurance: • Medical insurance: The UN Volunteer and eligible PFU dependents will receive UNV provided medical insurance coverage. Coverage for UN Volunteers begins from the Commencement of Service and normally ceases one month after the last day of the UN Volunteer Contract date. • Life Insurance: UN Volunteers are covered by life insurance for the duration of the UN Volunteer assignment. If a UN Volunteer dies during the UN Volunteer assignment, the eligible designated beneficiaries will be entitled to receive a life insurance lump sum.

Leave entitlements: • Annual leave:  UN Volunteers accrue an entitlement to 2.5 days of Annual Leave per completed month of the UN Volunteer assignment. Unused accrued Annual Leave up to a maximum of 30 days is carried over in case of a contract extension within the same UN Volunteer assignment. Unused accrued Annual Leave may not be carried over in case of reassignment or a new assignment. • Learning leave: Subject to supervisor approval and exigencies of service, UN Volunteers may request up to ten working days of Learning Leave per consecutive 12 months of the UN Volunteer assignment, starting with the Commencement of Service date, provided the Learning Leave is used within the contract period. • Certified Sick Leave: UN Volunteers are entitled to up to 30 days of certified sick leave based on a 12-month cycle. This amount is reset every 12-month cycle. • Uncertified Sick Leave: UN Volunteers receive seven days of uncertified sick leave working days in a calendar year. This amount will be reset at the established interval period.

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unv.org