Vacancy Announcement : Wash Officer (institutional support and Climate), NOB, Fixed-Term, Amman, Jordan country Office

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.

And we never give up.

For every child, innovation.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is leader in the region for the rights of its children. Working closely with the Government of Jordan, civil society, the private sector and communities, UNICEF Jordan Country Office aims to sustain results achieved for children to date, and strive to further improve policies, national institutions and programmes, for the well-being of every child in Jordan, in line with Jordan's Vision 2025 and the National Human Resources Development Strategy (2016-2025) towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Our programmes focus on improving the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the Kingdom, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or background. Our main pillars include: Child Protection; Education; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; Adolescent and Youth Engagement; Health and Nutrition; Social Protection; and Operations.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Wash. The Wash Officer provides technical and operational support for the design, planning, and implementation of WASH and climate-related behaviour change and improved practices, in support to the humanitarian development transition and strengthening of the social cohesion component of the programme. Specific responsibilities are highlighted below:

Strategy design for strengthened institutional support to Government on WASH and climate

• Conduct a systematic analysis of national systems and institutional capacities of WASH and Environment sector Government stakeholders to enhance evidence-based information for developing and planning of the institutional support and systems’ strengthening component of the UNICEF WASH programme.
• Lead the development of a harmonized strategy for institutional support and systems’ strengthening and to ensure optimum impact, scale, sustainability and achievements/results, identifying UNICEF’s specific added value in relation to other WASH / Environment / Climate sector stakeholders’ current support to Government.

Programme implementation, monitoring and delivery of results

• Identify and/or recommend specific areas for UNICEF’s support in institutional and systems’ strengthening to Government for improved sustainable access to resilient WASH services for most vulnerable populations at community and institutional level; and support the development of related annual work plan outputs, activities and priorities.
• Lead the implementation of activities for technical support to Government and systems’ strengthening towards climate resilient WASH services, including development and management of implementation arrangements (partnerships, contracts others), preparation of materials and documentation, performing administrative and financial transactions, complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support progress towards UNICEF WASH programme outcome and output results.
• Support the development of a monitoring framework and tools for activities, outputs and results on institutional support and systems’ strengthening. Identify and share information on implementation issues, provide solutions on routine programme implementation and alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level interventions and/or decisions.
• Prepare progress reports / provide inputs on the accomplishments, bottlenecks and lessons learnt for overall WASH section reports to management, donors and partners. Keep records of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative, and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to enable timely resolution by management and / or stakeholders.

Advocacy, coordination and partnership building

• Support the design and rollout of advocacy and communication initiatives, activities and materials related to WASH and climate awareness, including advocacy to Government, donors and other relevant stakeholders, as well as community mobilization and engagement, in line with UNICEF Jordan WASH and climate advocacy priorities.
• Support coordination across WASH partners, participation and contribution into coordination fora related to institutional support and climate, including water-energy-food nexus under the UNSDCF; and represent UNICEF WASH programme as necessary.
• Build and sustain close working partnerships with Government counterparts and other sector partners (NGOs, UN, etc.) for the implementation of institutional and systems’ strengthening support and the integration of climate resilience, adaptation to climate change and water-food-energy nexus into national programmes and strategies.
• As part of the overall fundraising and advocacy activities, support the development of materials to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fundraising on issues related to institutional and systems’ strengthening, climate resilience and adaptation to climate change.

Evidence generation, innovation and knowledge management

• In collaboration with Government and other stakeholders, including UN Agencies, support the identification to evidence and information gaps with a focus on climate resilience, adaptation to climate change and water-energy-food-nexus, and recommend specific actions to address them based on UNICEF’s mandate and comparative advantage.
• Leveraging on previous UNICEF work, support the identification of opportunities for WASH and climate related research and innovation, in support to Government’s strategies and national commitments.
• Support the identification, preparation and dissemination of learning / knowledge management products related to WASH, climate resilience and adaptation to climate change. Support the development of policy papers, briefs and other strategic materials for JCO management, donors and other strategic engagement with stakeholders.

Humanitarian WASH preparedness and response

• As required, support UNICEF Jordan and WASH section in the planning and implementation of humanitarian related interventions to cover WASH emergency needs, including development and management of implementation arrangements specific to the emergency response.

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

• Education: University degree in one of the following fields is required: civil / sanitary / environmental engineering, behaviour change communication, or WASH and another relevant technical field, including public health, civil and sanitary engineering, with demonstrated experience in social behaviour change communication, community mobilization and the use of participatory approaches.
• ****Experience:**** A minimum of 2 years’ experience in WASH, climate resilience and adaptation / mitigation / DRR related areas, with experience in support to Government institutions. Demonstrated skills and experience in national systems’ strengthening and institutional support, programme planning, implementation and monitoring, and effective management of staff, partnerships and contracts. in addition, the experience of working with Government institutions and technical assistance at the national level and local level. Also, experience working in the UN or other international development organization an asset.
• Language: Fluency in written and oral English and Arabic is required.

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: https://uni.cf/UNICEFValues

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.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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 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.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable are encouraged to apply.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government 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.