Plan International
WASH in Emergencies Specialist - Roster Recruitment
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The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.
We won’t stop until we are all equal.
Purpose of the Emergency Roster
The Emergency Roster is a database of pre-selected, deployable internal and external candidates with the appropriate skills and experience to support emergency preparedness, response, early recovery and transition programming.
The roster ensures that Plan International can mobilise appropriately skilled personnel to the right place, at the right time, in response to sudden-onset, protracted or escalating emergencies.
Roster Members are expected to be available to deploy within 72 hours of confirmation, or as soon as an entry visa and travel clearance are obtained. Deployment duration will vary according to operational need and may include remote, in-country or regional support.
Context and Dimensions of Role
The Emergency WASH Specialist will deploy, often at short notice, to support a Country Office or regional response to establish, strengthen or recover safe, inclusive and gender-responsive WASH services during emergencies.
The post-holder will provide technical leadership and operational support across the emergency programme cycle, including rapid assessments, response design, implementation oversight, coordination, proposal development, quality assurance, monitoring, capacity strengthening and transition planning.
The Specialist will ensure that WASH interventions respond to the differentiated needs and protection risks of girls, adolescent girls, young women, boys, persons with disabilities, older people and other groups facing exclusion. The role will work closely with Health, Protection, Education, Shelter, Supply Chain, Finance, MERL, Safeguarding and Accountability teams.
The Specialist may represent Plan International in WASH Cluster meetings, technical working groups, inter-agency coordination forums and discussions with government authorities, donors, UN agencies, local partners and other stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Emergency Assessment, Analysis and Response Design
- Lead or support rapid WASH needs assessments, technical assessments, service mapping and market assessments in line with Plan International tools and humanitarian standards.
- Analyse WASH risks, service gaps, disease transmission risks, gender and protection concerns, accessibility barriers and priority needs of affected populations.
- Support the development of evidence-based emergency WASH response strategies, workplans, response plans and budgets.
- Ensure that programme design is aligned with Sphere Standards, the Core Humanitarian Standard, national standards, cluster guidance and relevant public-health requirements.
- Identify opportunities for integrated programming with Health, Nutrition, Protection, Education, Shelter and Cash and Voucher Assistance interventions.
Technical Leadership and Programme Quality
- Provide technical oversight for emergency water supply interventions, including water-source assessment, water trucking, water treatment, chlorination, household water treatment, water-quality monitoring, storage, distribution systems and water-point rehabilitation.
- Provide technical guidance on emergency sanitation, including household, communal, institutional and school sanitation, excreta management, drainage, solid-waste management and vector-control measures.
- Support hygiene-promotion and social and behaviour change activities, including handwashing, safe water handling, household water treatment, menstrual health and hygiene, and community engagement approaches.
- Provide technical guidance on WASH in health-care facilities, infection prevention and control, outbreak preparedness and response, including cholera, Ebola and other public-health emergencies where relevant.
- Review and support the development of technical drawings, Bills of Quantities, specifications, scopes of work, technical evaluation criteria and contractor deliverables.
- Ensure that infrastructure and service interventions are safe, technically appropriate, accessible, climate-informed and feasible for operation and maintenance by communities, local authorities or service providers.
- Establish or strengthen practical quality-assurance mechanisms, including water-quality testing, construction supervision, functionality monitoring, hygiene-promotion monitoring and post-distribution monitoring.
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Emergency Start-Up, Operations and Delivery Support
- Support Country Offices to establish emergency WASH response systems, including technical workplans, supply plans, activity trackers, monitoring tools, reporting templates and risk registers.
- Work closely with Supply Chain and Procurement teams to support procurement planning, technical specifications, supplier engagement, quality checks and delivery follow-up.
- Support field teams to establish appropriate systems for stock management, distribution tracking, water-quality monitoring, facility operation and maintenance, complaints handling and community feedback.
- Provide hands-on support during the initial phase of an emergency response, including field visits, technical troubleshooting, start-up planning and mentoring of WASH staff.
- Identify operational bottlenecks, implementation risks and corrective actions, and communicate these promptly to relevant management and programme teams.
Coordination, Representation and Partnerships
- Represent Plan International in national and sub-national WASH Cluster meetings, technical working groups, inter-agency coordination platforms and sector coordination mechanisms as requested.
- Ensure timely submission of 3Ws/4Ws, activity updates, technical information and response data to relevant coordination platforms.
- Maintain constructive working relationships with government authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, service providers, local partners and community structures.
- Support coordination with Health, Protection, Education, Shelter and other sectors to promote integrated, safe and accountable responses.
- Contribute to technical discussions, advocacy messages and coordination products that advance the quality, inclusion and sustainability of emergency WASH services.
Programme Development, Reporting and Resource Mobilisation
- Contribute to the development of emergency concept notes, proposals, budgets, logframes, technical narratives and donor reports.
- Ensure that WASH proposals are technically sound, realistic, costed appropriately and responsive to assessed needs.
- Support the development of monitoring frameworks, indicators, targets, reporting systems and learning products.
- Review programme reports and provide technical input on progress, challenges, adaptations, risks and lessons learned.
- Contribute to after-action reviews, response evaluations, learning workshops and preparedness planning processes.
Gender, Inclusion, Safeguarding and Accountability
- Ensure that all emergency WASH interventions address the specific needs, safety concerns and priorities of girls, adolescent girls and young women.
- Promote disability inclusion, age inclusion, menstrual health and hygiene, protection-sensitive design and equitable access to services.
- Ensure meaningful participation of women, girls, boys, men, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups in assessments, planning, implementation and monitoring.
- Support the integration of community feedback and complaints mechanisms into WASH interventions.
- Uphold Plan International’s safeguarding, child-protection, anti-harassment and code-of-conduct requirements at all times.
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Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Essential Experience
- Progressively responsible experience in WASH programming, including solid experience in humanitarian or emergency-response settings.
- Demonstrated experience in emergency WASH assessments, programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
- Proven technical experience in emergency water supply, water treatment, water-quality monitoring, sanitation, hygiene promotion and WASH infrastructure.
- Experience supporting public-health emergency responses, including outbreaks, displacement, conflict, flooding, drought or other humanitarian crises.
- Experience developing technical specifications, Bills of Quantities, scopes of work, procurement documentation and contractor supervision arrangements.
- Experience in donor proposal development, budgeting and reporting.
- Experience representing an organisation with clusters, government authorities, UN agencies, donors, NGOs and other external stakeholders.
- Experience managing, mentoring or strengthening the capacity of WASH staff and local partners.
- Experience working in complex, insecure or resource-constrained environments.
Essential Knowledge
- Strong knowledge of Sphere Standards, the Core Humanitarian Standard and relevant WASH Cluster guidance.
- Strong understanding of the Humanitarian Programme Cycle and humanitarian coordination architecture.
- Sound understanding of gender, child protection, safeguarding, accountability to affected populations and disability inclusion in WASH programming.
- Good understanding of public-health principles, disease prevention, outbreak response and WASH-related health risks.
- Familiarity with humanitarian procurement, logistics, programme-quality systems and monitoring approaches.
Essential Skills
- Strong technical and analytical skills in emergency WASH programming.
- Ability to rapidly assess complex situations and develop practical, context-appropriate response options.
- Strong proposal-writing, report-writing and budget-development skills.
- Strong interpersonal, coordination, negotiation and representation skills.
- Ability to work independently, prioritise effectively and make sound decisions under pressure.
- Strong team-management, mentoring and capacity-strengthening skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively across technical, operational and programme teams.
- Strong computer literacy, including Microsoft Office applications and data-management tools.
Languages
- Full professional proficiency in English is essential.
- Full professional working proficiency in Spanish is essential for this roster.
- Professional working proficiency in French, Arabic or Portuguese is desirable.
Availability and Working Conditions
- Must be available to deploy within 72 hours of confirmation, or as soon as visa and travel clearance are obtained.
- Must be willing and able to travel and work in challenging, insecure, remote or resource-constrained environments.
- May be required to work outside normal working hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays, in order to meet emergency-response requirements.
- Deployment duration may vary according to operational needs.
Level of Contact with Children
Mid Contact: The role may involve periodic interaction with children and young people during assessments, monitoring visits, community consultations, school visits and programme activities. The post-holder must comply fully with Plan
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