Consultant for the Composition of the Technical Advisory Group, Office of Innovation, Sustainable WASH Hub, 2 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 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 innovation portfolio is reviewed and new solutions sourced annually, to ensure that the focus solutions reflect current, cutting-edge innovations in the WASH sector.
The WASH Hub’s Technical Advisory Group will play a strong advisory role to the Hub and especially to the portfolio – drawing experts from academia, donors and development partners, implementing agencies, foundations, and the private sector, to contribute to the success of the Hub’s investment and the ability for WASH innovation to make accelerated impact on children’s lives.

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, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, aims to source, pilot 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. One of the key global challenges that the Hub will address through exploration and scale of innovative solutions will be tackling foreseen climate change impacts on WASH services and delivery access. The Hub will also support research and innovation on the links between climate change and water, sanitation and hygiene.

The Hub will bring together a passionate community of strategic partners including children and young people, academia, private entrepreneurs, public policy makers, social development and humanitarian actors, and our global UNICEF WASH / CEED and innovation colleagues in 150+ countries. Collectively we will co-create, advocate, enable, convene, and motivate for innovative sustainable solutions to long-standing barriers and emerging opportunities for a WASH secure and climate resilient future for every child.

UNICEF has identified problems that, if solved, will unlock faster progress towards SDG 6. Innovation is key to co-creating new solutions to problems like lack of handwashing stations, leaks in water networks, climate-resilient sanitation services, remote monitoring of water or wastewater systems, remote sensing and other technologies for locating water sources in water scarce environments, fecal sludge management in humanitarian settings, absence of adequate sanitation products and accessible menstrual health information for women and girls.

The WASH Hub’s Technical Advisory Group will play a strong advisory role to the Hub and especially to the portfolio – drawing experts from academia, donors and development partners, implementing agencies, foundations, and the private sector, to contribute to the success of the Hub’s investment and the ability for WASH innovation to make accelerated impact on children’s lives.

How can you make a difference? 

The WASH innovation hub is seeking an experienced consultant to support with defining the modality of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the role the group would play in enabling the WAS innovation hub to address scaling of innovation solutions. It is expected that the consultant will:

1. Review and summarise the modalities of the Sustainable WASH innovation hub and how a TAG would support the Wash hubs goals and objectives.
2. Outline the WASH hubs technical needs for support for the work under the portfolio of projects, as well as the wider objectives of capacity building and connecting, to define the TAGs purpose
3. Propose the composition for the TAG, both skill sets and individuals/companies, to be represented

Your main responsibilities will be:

1. Desktop review of Sustainable WASH innovation hub modalities and governance to understand and define TAG requirements and modality.
2. Define technical needs for support.
3. Identify and recommend potential individuals and organizations to comprise the TAG based on the distilled technical needs, ensuring diversity, expertise, and relevance across thematic areas such as technology innovation, sustainability, equity, and scalability
4. Present findings and recommendations to the Hub, highlighting the rationale behind the recommended composition of the TAG.

For more in-depth information, please refer to the terms of reference:  ToR TAG composition.pdf

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Engineering, Environmental Science, Public Health, 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 organizational management, institutional change and reform, designing and managing advisory boards, strategy development or policy implementation.
• Experience of the WASH sector ecosystem and demonstrable knowledge of key players and organizations with solid experience moving technical solutions to scale in a development context
• Knowledge of the following areas is considered as an asset:
  • Public Policy or Program Management: Knowledge of public policy or program management can be valuable for understanding the broader context of WASH initiatives, including policy frameworks, funding mechanisms, and program implementation strategies.
  • Research and Analysis Skills: Strong research and analytical skills are essential for reviewing and summarizing the modalities of the Sustainable WASH Innovation Hub, conducting a landscape analysis of key stakeholders, and distilling technical needs for support.
• 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. 

Travel:

• There is no travel expectation with this role.

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:

• Interest applicant is required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee.  Please see the financial proposal template.  Consultancy Financial Offer template.docx
• 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 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. 

Contact: For any queries, please contact: [email protected]