Mission and objectives

UNICEF is supporting health, nutrition, HIV prevention, education, access to safe drinking water, sanitation and protection for children and families caught in the conflict.

Context

UNICEF works across 190 countries and territories to reach the children and young people who are most at risk and most in need. We work to save their lives. To protect their rights. To keep them safe from harm. To give them a childhood in which they are protected, healthy, and educated. To give them a fair chance to fulfil their potential, so that someday, they can build a better world. The full-scale war in Ukraine has caused widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, including water supply, wastewater treatment and district heating systems. Recurrent missile and drone attacks, prolonged power outages, population displacement and winter conditions have severely affected the continuity, safety and quality of essential services, increasing public health risks for children and vulnerable populations. In response, UNICEF Ukraine’s WASH programme has transitioned from short-term emergency interventions toward a hybrid humanitarian–resilience model. The programme combines urgent repairs and winterization with medium-term investments in system resilience, energy efficiency, decentralization and utility capacity strengthening. In the West region of Ukraine, UNICEF supports municipal water and heating utilities, local authorities and implementing partners to restore and sustain services for households, health facilities, schools and collective centres. The scale, technical complexity and geographic dispersion of WASH and heating interventions require strong field-level assessment, monitoring, quality assurance and reporting capacity. To strengthen humanitarian efforts, the UNICEF Lviv Field Office seeks to engage a UNV National Specialist – Local WASH Expert who will provide hands‑on technical support for needs assessments, monitoring the implementation of life‑saving WASH and heating interventions, and preparing completion reports to ensure accountability to affected communities.

Task Description

Under the supervision of the WASH Officer, UNICEF Lviv Field Office, the UNV National Specialist (WASH Engineer) will carry out the following tasks: 1. Support to WASH Assessments and Planning with Humanitarian Focus: - Conduct field assessments of water supply, wastewater/sanitation and district heating in strike-affected locations throughout the Lviv Field Office AOR, ensuring rapid identification of urgent needs for emergency interventions. - Support the identification of critical technical gaps, risks and priorities for restoring and maintaining WASH infrastructure, including winterization measures and actions required to safeguard continuity of essential services for affected communities. - Support the preparation and review of technical scopes of work, basic Bills of Quantities (BoQs) and cost estimates in coordination with UNICEF engineers and implementing partners. - Coordinate timely procurement, distribution, and monitoring of WASH supplies to ensure uninterrupted support to affected populations and program activities. 2. Implementations, Monitoring and Quality Support of Humanitarian Response: - Support the monitoring of partner‑implemented WASH interventions to ensure they meaningfully address the needs, safety, and dignity of affected populations, including tracking progress, conducting basic quality assurance, and confirming alignment with agreed technical and humanitarian standards. - Participate in field monitoring and joint missions to assess the impact of WASH activities on communities, documenting key observations, good practices, gaps, and required follow‑up actions to strengthen service delivery and community outcomes. - Proactively identify and flag emerging technical concerns, delays, or risks that could affect people’s access to safe water, sanitation, or hygiene services, and contribute to developing practical, protective, and timely corrective measures together with the UNICEF WASH team. 3. Documentation, Accountability and Reporting of Humanitarian Response: - Support the collection and verification of field-level documentation - including photographs, checklists, and partner reports - to ensure that assistance provided to affected communities is accurately captured and reflects their needs and priorities. - Assist in documenting completed activities and handover processes in line with UNICEF procedures, helping ensure transparency, accountability, and continuity of services for affected children and families. - Contribute to the preparation of monitoring updates, summaries, and inputs for internal and donor reporting, highlighting progress, challenges, and the humanitarian impact of interventions on the most vulnerable populations. 4. Coordination and Day-to-Day Operational Support: - Support coordination with implementing partners, local authorities and service providers as required. - Provide day-to-day operational and technical support to the WASH team, including follow-up on action points and information requests. - Participate in coordination meetings and technical discussions relevant to WASH programme implementation.

Competencies and values

- Care - Respect - Integrity - Trust - Accountability - Sustainability

Living conditions and remarks

As it is a national UN Volunteer's assignment, the UN volunteer shall organize his/her accommodation by themselves. Entitlements of National UN Volunteer Specialist >> USD 1690 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 1690 (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.