Mission and objectivesUNICEF is dedicated to advancing the rights of every child, everywhere, focusing its programs, advocacy, and operations on this core mission. The organizationโs Equity Strategy is at the heart of its commitment, aiming to rectify disparities by prioritizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families. This strategy translates the commitment to children's rights into action, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and is essential for fostering sustainable growth and stability within nations.
ContextWithin its new Country Programme Document (CPD) for Ukraine, UNICEF has positioned Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as a core outcome area to ensure that children and young people live and develop in a safe, sustainable and resilient environment, with equitable access to affordable and safely managed WASH services. This outcome aligns with the Water Strategy of Ukraine until 2050 and supports UNICEFโs broader contribution to humanitarian response, early recovery and longer-term system strengthening in a conflict- and climate-affected context. WASH interventions underpin and enable progress across other programme areas, including health, education, child protection and social services, by safeguarding public health, dignity and environmental sustainability for children and their families. UNICEF Ukraineโs WASH programme takes a dual humanitarianโdevelopment approach, addressing urgent needs through the provision of critical supplies, emergency repairs and essential equipment, while simultaneously supporting recovery and resilience of national and local WASH systems. Working with the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, local authorities and service providers, the programme focuses on strengthening governance, service delivery capacity and system sustainability in line with the principles of building back better and greener. UNICEF prioritises gender-responsive, inclusive and child-friendly WASH services, promotes improved drinking water and wastewater quality from public health, energy and cost-efficiency perspectives, and advances climate-resilient and innovative technical and governance solutions. Through WASH in schools, healthcare facilities and social institutions, the programme also provides critical cross-cutting support to other programme outcomes, ensuring that children can safely access essential services even in contexts of ongoing shock and disruption. UNICEF Ukraine is expanding its emergency WASH early recovery interventions in conflict-affected oblasts, with a particular focus on restoring essential water, heating, and sanitation services for households, health care facilities (HCFs), and schools. Through various financing and other donor modalities, UNICEF supports municipal water and heating utilities (Vodokanals and District Heating Companies), hromadas, and essential public service providers to implement rapid repairs, critical infrastructure upgrades, and scalable models for resilient service delivery. The WASH Quality and Accountability Engineering Expert (UNV) will provide high-level technical oversight, guidance, and systems-strengthening support to operationalise UNICEFโs engineering supervision and risk management model across all WASH projects. The Expert will ensure consistent application of supervision standards, strengthen documentation and compliance processes, mentor national WASH officers in quality assurance practices, and support the transfer of technical know-how to enable a sustainable handover and exit at the end of the assignment. This is a short, time-bound deployment focused on establishing robust systems, building national capacity, and ensuring coherence in risk-informed project implementation. Other duties may be assigned as necessary.
Task Description1. Technical Quality Assurance and Risk Management โข Operationalise UNICEFโs LTA (Long-Term Agreement) supervision risk model to ensure consistent and correct application across all WASH infrastructure projects. โข Review design packages, BoQs, technical documentation, contractor submissions, supervision reports, and QA/QC evidence to ensure compliance with UNICEF standards and Ukrainian regulatory requirements. โข Identify systemic weaknesses or documentation gaps and recommend improvements to strengthen engineering oversight, risk controls, and accountability mechanisms. โข Develop and refine tools, templates, checklists, and workflows that enhance the quality, safety, and traceability of WASH infrastructure interventions. 2. Capacity Building, Mentorship and Knowledge Transfer โข Mentor and provide on-the-job technical coaching to national WASH officers, field engineers, and implementing partners to improve quality assurance practices, supervision methods, and engineering documentation. โข Strengthen FO staff capabilities in applying the LTA supervision model, including risk categorisation, contractor performance monitoring, defect management, and variation approval processes. โข Deliver targeted capacity-building sessions on engineering risk management, construction supervision standards, and accountability frameworks. โข Prepare a structured knowledge-transfer package to support long-term institutionalisation of supervision practices within the WASH team. 3. Develop Tools and Systems for Consistency and Harmonisation Across Projects โข Ensure harmonised implementation of LTA supervision standards across oblasts and partners, supporting national officers to apply uniform quality benchmarks. โข Facilitate cross-project learning, documenting lessons and emerging risks to inform programme adjustments. โข Provide technical inputs to monitoring missions, donor reports, and management briefs on engineering quality and risk status. โข Strengthen linkages between WASH quality assurance processes and broader programme optimisation (HACT, supply planning, emergency preparedness, recovery programming). 4. Support to the WASH team in the coordination, implementation and monitoring of projects โข Deliver a time-bound package of advisory support focused on system establishment rather than long-term implementation. โข Produce a clear exit strategy outlining: transferred tools, trained staff, sustained workflows, and recommendations for future risk-informed WASH programming. โข Provide high-level technical advice to management on engineering risk exposure and opportunities for system strengthening โข Provide technical and operational support as required for the successful completion of UNICEF WASH projects
Competencies and values- Care - Respect - Integrity - Trust - Accountability and sustainability
Living conditions and remarksAs it is a national UN Volunteer's assignment, the UN volunteer shall organize his/her accommodation by themselves. Entitlements of National UN Volunteer Expert >> USD 2076 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: โข Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA): A Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) USD 2076 (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 โEโ. โข USD 400 entry lump sum, one-time payment. Medical and life insurance: โข 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. โข 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: โข 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. โข 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. โข 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. โข 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.