Re-advertisement: Senior Adviser WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Sanitation), P-5, Nairobi, Kenya #00133992

This is a re-advertisement, candidates who have already applied do not need to re-apply.

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.

The Global Programme Division (GPD) plays a central role in driving programme excellence across UNICEF. It provides global strategic leadership and policy direction, develops and monitors frameworks and standards, and ensures coherence and alignment across sectors, regions and partners. GPD generates high-impact, evidence-based solutions and serves as a hub of specialized expertise, offering technical guidance on policy reform and scalable programming.

GPD leads UNICEF’s policies, standards and negotiations for programme, ensuring the organization’s assets and priorities are aligned with and contribute to child development goals. In addition, GPD strengthens country-level implementation through integrated technical support, linking global policy with on-the-ground action to deliver results for children at scale.

As part of this structure, UNICEF has established Centres of Excellence (CoEs) to provide high-quality, demand-driven technical assistance to Country and Regional Offices, and their governments and partners. Located strategically in Nairobi, Panama, Amman and Bangkok, the CoEs bring together cross-cutting expertise across time zones. Global Programme Practices in CoEs function as a single point of entry for support, delivering tailored assistance in priority areas such as policy reform in matters that advance the wellbeing of children, at-scale programme design, public finance, workforce development and institutional strengthening, and timely humanitarian response while promoting resilient development. In so doing, the CoEs also contribute to global policy standards ensuring that UNICEF’s support is grounded in practical knowledge.

For every child, the right to a Future

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is integral to the UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026-2029, contributing to all five Impact Results, especially saving children’s lives and reducing climate and environmental risks. Access to safe, sustainable, and climate-resilient WASH services is essential for children’s health, safety, and development. UNICEF WASH operates with a dual mandate in about 100 countries, providing technical assistance across contexts-from stable to humanitarian - strengthening national systems, enabling environments, and direct service delivery, all supported by innovation, evidence, advocacy, and partnerships. Under the Strategic Plan, focus areas include accelerating access to WASH, building strong national systems to attract financing, and in fragile contexts, delivering emergency services while strengthening systems for resilience and peace.

How can you make a difference

Drive a Sanitation Revolution: Lead Global Strategy for Safe, Climate-Resilient Services for All.

The Senior Adviser, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Sanitation), is a critical leadership role responsible for advancing global access to safe, sustainable, and climate-resilient sanitation. This position provides strategic guidance to governments and UNICEF Country Offices to scale up sanitation systems, integrate climate action, and oversee key initiatives in WASH in Schools and Menstrual Health and Hygiene, with a unwavering focus on inclusion and equity.

The Senior Adviser delivers impact through the following core functions:

At-Scale System Design: Lead technical assistance to governments on scaling proven sanitation solutions, with strategic guidance on climate resilience and accessing climate finance.

WASH Planning & Readiness: Analyze national bottlenecks and conduct capacity gap assessments to strengthen WASH systems and accelerate sanitation and hygiene service delivery.

WASH System Strengthening & Sustainability: Use current data to shape national policies and leverage sector finance and mobilize resources from development partners.

Institutional Reform & Governance: Guide governments in reforming policies and institutions to improve governance and accelerate equitable access to sanitation.

Quality Improvement and Digital Solutions: Champion innovation and digital tools to enhance programme delivery, monitoring, and sector accountability.

Equitable Access: Advocate for inclusive solutions that prioritize vulnerable groups, ensuring no one is left behind.

Country Office Focal Point: Serve as a primary contact for designated country offices, co-designing tailored support plans and facilitating knowledge exchange.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  JD_Senior Adviser WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Sanitation), P-5

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in civil or environmental engineering, natural or social sciences, environmental or public health, water resource management, or another relevant technical field 
  A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in a relevant area combined with 2 additional years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. This is applicable to internal (FT, Continuing and Permanent) staff only.
• Work Experience: 10 years of relevant work experience in national and international organizations in financing, project management, consulting, technical assistance, research in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) or closely related areas is required.
• Skills: Strategic Thinking, Project Management, Team Collaboration, Interpersonal Skills.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. 

Desirables:

1. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
2. Experience implementing complex/large-scale development/humanitarian WASH projects in developing countries.
3. Experience supporting WASH governance and system strengthening for both urban and rural areas.
4. Experience implementing WASH projects or programmes in different country contexts, including lower-income countries.
5. Experience developing high level partnerships and advocacy, and representation at global/regional level.
6. Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

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
(8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

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. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

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.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing. 

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.

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

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.