Consultant - Development of WASH Innovation Scaling Strategy, Office of Innovation, Sustainable WASH Hub, 4 months (Remote)

The vision of the UNICEF Sustainable WASH Innovation Hub (WASH Hub) is to be a global home for building, accelerating and scaling transformational climate resilient solutions for a WASH secure future of universal and equitable access to safely managed services, addressing the full ambition of the SDG6. UNICEF’s innovation portfolio approach focuses our innovation efforts on the most challenging problems UNICEF is trying to solve for and with children and young people. It does so by identifying targeted, strategic innovative solutions – with potential to have a significant impact and for which capacity is in place for rapid scaling up – and facilitating their accelerated progress to scale. The WASH Hub supports and builds capacity within UNICEF country offices to facilitate successful scaling of WASH innovations, in-country and globally. The Consultant will support the WASH Hub by developing a strategy for scaling WASH innovations, outlining the pathway, approach and key considerations for moving demonstration projects to multi-country and multi-region scale.

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, Innovate

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives. The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.

The Sustainable WASH Innovation Hub brings together a passionate global community of strategic partners including children and young people, academia, private entrepreneurs, public policy makers, social development and humanitarian actors, and other UNICEF colleagues in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. The Hub, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, aims to source, accelerate and scale transformational and frontier climate resilient innovations that respond to key programmatic challenges that, if solved, will unlock faster progress for a water secure future for children and young people.

The WASH portfolio is the home of typically 4-7 solutions that the Hub is currently working with to achieve this goal. It is reviewed and new solutions sourced annually, to ensure that the focus solutions reflect current, cutting-edge innovations in the WASH sector. Focus is on solutions addressing the largest challenges and with the greatest potential for impact and demand. The Hub works closely with UNICEF country and regional teams and external partners to accelerate and scale these solutions, reiterating and contextually adapting the innovation as necessary.

How can you make a difference? 

The Consultant will contribute to the objectives of the WASH Hub by developing a scaling strategy for WASH innovation, outlining the approach and pathways to scale for potentially transformative solutions. This will be done through consultations with WASH Hub colleagues and other key players, including UNICEF country, regional offices other HQ divisions, key sector actors including INGOs, UN Agencies and private sector and the WASH Hub Technical and Strategic Advisory Groups made up of key global WASH actors such as academia, development partners, INGOs, UN, private sector and government.

Specifically, the consultant will:

1. Consolidate and document the current approach to scaling in the WASH Hub
2. Review this approach in light of available best practice and develop an overarching Scaling Strategy for the WASH Hub, incorporating pathways to scale for different types of innovations (including those considering system strengthening, enabling environment and technical approaches and products)
3. Develop templates for scaling pathways, identifying the key elements of the pathway that need to be addressed to provide a successful pathway, including an analysis of key opportunities, challenges and constraints
4. Provide case studies using two of the current portfolio solutions demonstrating the pathway to scale for each project solution, detailing the vision, milestones, risks and considerations

Description of assignment

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in WASH, entrepreneurship, business administration, strategic management or other relevant field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in innovation or supporting investments in a portfolio approach to reach ambitious, defined scale.
• Demonstrable experience of strategy development, knowledge management and strategic planning at an organizational level.
• Demonstrable experience of implementing strategic change within an organization within complex systems
• Strong research, analysis and concise report writing skills.
• Understanding of WASH approaches and systems is a strong asset.
• Understanding of different contexts and experience working in developing countries.
• Knowledge of international development, technology for development and key challenges affecting children in developing countries desired.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

How to apply:

• Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template.
• Applications without a financial proposal will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

 To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. AtIn UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

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.

Remarks:  

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

Contact: For any queries, please contact: swe-ooi-recruitments@unicef.org