National WASH Technical Consultant for the provision of technical support on water, wastewater and district heating related activities in Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 months (remote)

The purpose of this assignment is to provide expert technical support to strengthen water, wastewater, and district heating services in Kryvyi Rih, ensuring that children and families have reliable access to safe water and sanitation. Given the ongoing war in Ukraine and the destruction of critical infrastructure such as the Kakhovka dam, this assignment will focus on restoring deteriorating systems and mitigating public health risks from poor water quality and sewage treatment. The consultant will work closely with local utilities, including Kryvbass VodoKanal, and two heating service providers to enhance technical capacity and implement sustainable, long-term solutions. This will help address the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation, while aligning efforts with UNICEF's broader WASH program objectives of improving water and sanitation access for over 4.5 million people across affected areas.

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, hope

UNICEF Ukraine

Background:

Now in the third year of escalation, the ongoing war in Ukraine has had severe consequences for the well-being of the country’s children. Even before the escalation of the conflict, in February 2022, approximately 10 million people in Ukraine lacked access to centralized piped water supply, and 20 million people lacked access to centralized wastewater collection and treatment facilities (GoU, 2021). The situation remains almost the same as per the Government’s 2023 figures. Poor water quality (one-third of samples fail national standards) and inadequate sewage treatment present public health risks, including disease outbreaks, such as the suspected cholera in Mariupol and the Hepatitis A outbreak in western Ukraine. Costs have risen sharply, while demand and affordability have declined drastically.

Moreover, the water and sanitation facilities are overall old and decaying, and both drinking water supply and wastewater treatment depend on this heavily degraded infrastructure. As of 2021, around 40% of existing networks were in critical condition and almost 35% of sewage treatment facilities needed upgrades (GoU 2021). Meanwhile, climate change is predicted to make natural catastrophes in Ukraine more likely and more severe by increasing temperature, altering rainfall patterns, extending heat waves, and reducing water availability.

UNICEF together with partners is working to ensure that emergency access to safe water and sanitation is available to children and families across the country, including some of the priority and most affected areas of Dnipro, Kherson, Kharkiv, Izyum, Kryvyi Rih, Balaklia, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, where large scale rehabilitation projects were initiated in 2022 and 2023. Since 2022, a majority of the interventions are focused in the frontline area where UNICEF supports vodokanals (water utilities), municipalities, hospitals, schools and collective centers, restoring water and sanitation services and facilities, providing equipment and essential consumables such as chemicals for water treatment. Since the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and reservoir in June 2023, UNICEF is also implementing large water supply projects in Marhanets, Nikopol, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson.

Through the UNICEF Dnipro field offices, in 2024, UNICEF seeks to reach over 691,000 people with critical WASH supplies, ensure approximately 1.7 million people access safe water and sanitation services from public utilities, and ensure child-friendly, gender-sensitive and inclusion WASH facilities in 52 social institutions. Additionally, UNICEF coordinates humanitarian and development partners for WASH response and recovery, generates awareness on hygiene and environmental sustainability, supports scalable models for improved WASH service delivery and governance, engages in capacity development, and bases its infrastructure intervention on environmental and social safeguards.

Under the Dinpro AoR, Kryvyi Rih is a strategic city, with a population of 700,000, relies on Kryvbass VodoKanal for water and wastewater services, while heating is provided by two companies, Teplomeregi and Teplocentral. UNICEF providing technical and financial aid to upgrade the city's deteriorating water, wastewater and heating system. The transport and distribution network system installed almost 40 to 60 years ago, are heavily corroded due to untreated water from the Ingulets River following the destruction of the Kokhovka Reservoir. This corrosion has caused frequent pipe bursts.

To enhance technical capacities of water and heating utilities, UNICEF envision to have continuous presence in the Kryvyi Rih through national consultant deployed and based in Kryvyi city.

Purpose of assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide expert technical support to strengthen water, wastewater, and district heating services in Kryvyi Rih, ensuring that children and families have reliable access to safe water and sanitation. Given the ongoing war in Ukraine and the destruction of critical infrastructure such as the Kakhovka dam, this assignment will focus on restoring deteriorating systems and mitigating public health risks from poor water quality and sewage treatment. The consultant will work closely with local utilities, including Kryvbass VodoKanal, and two heating service providers to enhance technical capacity and implement sustainable, long-term solutions. This will help address the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation, while aligning efforts with UNICEF's broader WASH program objectives of improving water and sanitation access for over 4.5 million people across affected areas.

Key tasks/responsibilities under the assignment:

Under the supervision of the WASH specialist, the consultant will support and closely work with WASH staff for the delivery of shared or contributory results for all or part of the following areas:

• Inform with technical insight and input, technical assessments and reviews, the established coordinative and supportive relationship with Government partners, vodokanals, communal enterprises, heating companies, local authorities and NGOs/CSOs implementing the WASH programme in Ukraine, focusing on the roadmap for early recovery efforts for the sector.
• Undertake monitoring and data collection exercises and develop or inform monitoring and reporting frameworks for UNICEF WASH programme implementation as well as financial management.
• Undertake specific field missions to assess and document innovative and efficient WASH efforts in the field, with a special focus on sustainable solutions.
• Liaise with the WASH and other relevant clusters in representation of UNICEF, to identify sites requiring WASH interventions. 
• Provide technical support and expertise to supplement UNICEF WASH in different coordination and capacity development forums, when necessary.

Work assignment overview:

Travel plan: 

The Consultant is expected to have field visits for data collection and the development of case studies within Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro – 20 days.

Please provide an all-inclusive financial proposal including travels to carry out the deliverables listed above.

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

Education: 

• Master’s Degree or higher in one of the following fields: engineering (preferably Civil, Mechanical, Electrical domain) or other technical disciplines relevant to the fields of WASH and energy, from an accredited academic institution.
• A Bachelor’s degree in engineering with more than 8 years’ experience will also be considered.

Professional experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience, at the national and/or international levels, in WASH and energy and/or other directly related technical fields is required.
• Experience in planning and implementation of civil design construction and WASH projects will be considered an advantage.
• Experience in development and humanitarian work, especially in emergency response, will be considered an advantage.
• Work experience with other UN agencies in WASH will be considered an advantage.

Languages: 

• English: Upper-intermediate [B2];
• Ukrainian: Proficient/Native [C2].

Skills and competencies: 

• Strong understanding on the project cycle management (especially monitoring and evaluation steps), technical supervision and financial management and planning.
• Good understanding on review and analysis of technical documents.
• Good understanding on legislation and regulations of government of Ukraine regarding contracting and construction of infrastructure projects.
• Good understanding and skills on communication with different stakeholders (local authorities, contractors, consulting firms, NGO/CSO).
• Good understanding of the humanitarian approach and of UNICEF’s mandate.
• Ability to perform several tasks in a timely manner with a focus on quality.
• Communicate key messages to different audiences.

Technical competencies:

• Sound understanding on water supply and sanitation technologies and processes, as well as WASH infrastructure and rehabilitation, including drinking water treatment (surface and groundwater) and wastewater treatment biological and chemical processes)
• Proficient knowledge of MS Excel, MS Word and MS PowerPoint.
• The ability to lead assessment processes and/or technical working groups is an asset.

Functional competencies:

• Analyzing [ II]
• Applying Technical Expertise [ II]
• Planning and Organizing [II]
• Financial management

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 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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:  

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.