WASH Manager, P-4, Damascus, Syria

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 113,531 USD and 146,374 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

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.

UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

For every child, hope

UNICEF Syria was established in 1970 and has been working with partners to help empower children to fully claim and enjoy their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF works with partners across Syria to deliver supplies, services and expertise in areas of Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation for every child. UNICEF also provides humanitarian assistance when needed.

Syria continues to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Unprecedented humanitarian needs are compounded by displacement inside the country and across its borders, extensive destruction of civilian and social services infrastructure, devastating impacts on the economy, and most importantly, the breakdown of the social fabric that stitched the country together for decades.

Today, 90% of people in Syria live in poverty, most are unable to make ends meet or bring food to the table. Families have had their resources depleted, with limited employment opportunities, skyrocketing prices, and shortage of basic supplies. For most people, the current socio-economic challenges represent some of the harshest and most challenging circumstances they have faced since the beginning of the crisis 11 years ago.

In 2023, 15.1 million people need humanitarian assistance. This is the highest number of people in need ever recorded in Syria since 2011. The number of children in need - more than 6.5 million – has increased by seven per cent in the past year alone. This is largely due the ongoing conflict, continued displacements, the unprecedented economic crisis, deepening poverty, and unemployment. The COVID-19 pandemic, the hike in price of commodities triggered by the overall global economic situation and the impact of sanctions are further compounding the dire situation.

For information of the work of our organization, please visit our website: UNICEF Syria

How can you make a difference?

A sector that achieved a universal, high quality services to Syrians, has been suffering over the past 12 years as a result of a protracted crisis. UNICEF has not been looking only into an emergency kind of response but looking forward into an era of early recovery and development in a region that is known for its scarce water resources and hardly hit by climate change. Being part of the WASH team and rising up to the different challenges avail a lifetime professional opportunity to learn and contribute to the wellbeing of Syrian children and population at large.

Purpose of the Job

The WASH Manager reports to the Chief WASH for general guidance and direction. The Manager supports the Chief 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.

Key Functions, accountabilities and related duties/ tasks:

1. Management support to the Chief of WASH

• Advise the Chief of WASH in establishing the annual work plan and annual workplan outputs, activities and developmental priorities of WASH section staff, determining priorities and performance measurements. Monitor workplan implementation, to ensure that WASH output results are achieved to schedule and performance standards. Report critical issues to the Chief of WASH for timely action. • Provide technical advice to WASH section staff on all aspects of programming and implementation. • Perform the full duties of the Chief of WASH in his/her absence.

2. Programme development and planning

• Draft the WASH inputs for the situation analysis. Provide comprehensive and current data to inform WASH policy and programme development, planning, management and implementation. Keep abreast of WASH sector developments, for maximum efficiency and effectiveness in WASH programme design, management and implementation. • Work collaboratively with colleagues and partners to discuss national WASH priorities, resources, strategies and methodologies to ensure the most strategic use of the collective resources of external support agencies. • Participate in strategic WASH programme planning discussions and the formulation of the WASH outcome and output results, related indicators, baselines, targets and means of verification, ensuring alignment with the UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s global WASH strategy and the country programme as well as government plans and priorities, and the role of other WASH external support agencies. • Prepare WASH donor proposals, ensuring alignment with the WASH output results in the country programme.

3. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

• Draft documentation for programme reviews and analytical statements on progress and constraints of WASH outcome and output results. • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes for the achievement of the WASH output results. Ensure effective collaboration with other UNICEF sectors, where needed. • With other external support agencies, analyze national government WASH sector programmes and projects, with a focus on WASH outcomes (behaviors), using bottleneck analysis tools available in the sector (WASH-BAT, CSOs, SDAs). • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other partners and prepare reports for the Chief of WASH/CSD and CO management. • Monitor, report and certify 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 issues to the Chief of WASH/CSD, for timely resolution. • Prepare sectoral progress reports for management, donors and partners.

4. Advisory services and technical support

• Participate in strategic discussions to influence national WASH policies and strategies, including the reduction of inequalities, contributing to global sector learning. • Advise senior officials in government, NGOs, UN agencies and WASH sector donor agencies on WASH policies, strategies and best practices. • Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic materials for use by management, donors, UNICEF regional offices and headquarters. • Plan for the use of technical experts from the Regional Office and HQ, as and where appropriate in the WASH programme, through remote support and on-site visits.

5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships with government counterparts, UN agencies, donor agencies, WASH institutions, NGOs, research institutes and the private sector to stimulate coordination and collaboration. • Support analysis of national budgets for WASH, cost analysis and value-for-money studies, to advocate for improvements in sector efficiency. • Produce materials for WASH programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fund-raising. • Participate in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the planning and agenda setting. • Interact with global and regional initiatives and partnerships for WASH.

6. Humanitarian WASH preparedness and response

• Manage all aspects of UNICEF’s preparedness for WASH in emergencies. • Ensure the coordination arrangements for humanitarian WASH are in place, for instant robust coordination in case of an emergency. • Ensure that all UNICEF WASH staff are familiar with UNICEF’s procedures for responding in an emergency. • Take up leadership/managerial role in an emergency response and early recovery, as and when the need arises.

7. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Manage the implementation, monitoring and documentation of WASH action research and innovation (technical or systems), ensuring rigorous monitoring and wide sharing of results. • Prepare learning/knowledge products, covering innovative approaches and good practices, to support overall WASH sector development. • Support the professional development of UNICEF WASH staff, to ensure our sector capacity remains up-to-date with latest developments. • Initiate and contribute to the systematic assessment of WASH sector capacity gap analysis, in collaboration with government and other stakeholders, and support the design of initiatives to strengthen capacities systematically. • Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: engineering, public health, social sciences, behavior change communication, sanitary engineering or another relevant technical field. Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree are required. • Relevant graduate or post-graduate courses in engineering will be an asset.

Experience:

• DEVELOPMENTAL: A minimum of eight years of managerial professional experience in WASH-related programmes for developing countries is required. One year of deployment in a developing country is required. • Candidates with urban WASH professional experience will have a strong advantage. • HUMANITARIAN: At least six months of work in humanitarian situations, including one three-month deployment mission (with UN-Govt-INGO), is required.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

Required Technical Knowledge

• Expert knowledge of three components and basic knowledge of the remaining five components.

1. Rural water supply for low- and middle-income countries - including water safety, sustainability 2. Rural sanitation for low- and middle-income countries, incl sustainability; applying CATS principles 3. Urban sanitation for low- and middle-income countries, incl sustainability 4. Handwashing with soap 5. WASH-in-Schools and Health Centres 6. Menstrual hygiene management 7. National government WASH policies, plans and strategies 8. Analysis of national budgets and expenditure for basic WASH, and related advocacy

• In-depth knowledge of both below components

1. Humanitarian WASH - preparedness 2. Humanitarian WASH - response and recovery

• In-depth knowledge of concept and UNICEF role.

1. Humanitarian WASH – coordinating the response

• Expert knowledge of two components and basic knowledge of the other two components.

1. Programme/project management 2. Capacity development 3. Knowledge management 4. Monitoring and evaluation

• In-depth knowledge of both below components

1. Human rights and WASH 2. Gender equality and WASH

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

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2), Builds and maintains partnerships (2), Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (2), Drive to achieve results for impact (2), Innovates and embraces change (2), Manages ambiguity and complexity (2), Thinks and acts strategically (2), Works collaboratively with others (2).

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

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.

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

UNICEF Syria is non-family duty station with E hardship classification.