Job Highlight

This role supports the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) in strengthening sanitation governance and market systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. It helps governments develop and implement policies, regulations, and frameworks that promote private sector participation, structured financing, and sustainable service delivery. Working with government counterparts and partners, the role provides advisory and capacity-building support, guiding the development of tools and recommendations for policy reform and financing mechanisms. The position contributes to building inclusive, well-governed sanitation markets that advance public health, economic growth, and climate resilience.

About the Region

The UNOPS Africa Regional Office, based in Nairobi, Kenya, oversees the delivery of over 250 projects across 40 countries, with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings. Supported by more than 1,000 personnel across five multi-country offices—spanning North, West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa—the office advances national priorities through strategic initiatives in Climate Action, Health, Infrastructure, Peace and Security, Middle-Income Country Support, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The Regional Office provides strategic leadership, operational support, and oversight in key areas including Partnerships, Communications, Management and Oversight, Infrastructure and Project Management, Health and Safety, and Security. By promoting excellence in project delivery, fostering knowledge sharing, and driving continuous improvement, the office contributes to sustainable infrastructure, transparent resource management, and a better quality of life for communities across the continent.

About the Country/Multi-Country Office

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development. UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management, and human resources. UNOPS is the legal and administrative host of the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, with hosting arrangements managed by the Geneva Office.

Working with Us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce - a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage the recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Job Specific Context

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF)

Operational since 2021, The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is dedicated to improving access to sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health (MH) through market-based approaches. SHF works with Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to build robust and climate-resilient sanitation economies and MH markets through catalytic financing. We do this by working in partnership with governments, development partners, development financing institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to tackle barriers to inclusive growth and accelerate sustainable markets. We put women and girls - their choice and agency - at the center of our approach, with gender responsiveness being integrated into the design and delivery of sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health products and services, thereby contributing to human, social, and economic development outcomes. By promoting circular and sustainable sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health value chains, we support climate mitigation and adaptation and minimize environmental impact.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is a project of UNOPS.

Role Purpose

SHF aims to structurally increase access to sanitation and hygiene by strengthening markets in LMICs. Through the framework of rules, regulations, policies, and taxes, governments play a pivotal and leading role in building sustainable and well-functioning markets. SHF works side-by-side with national governments and public institutions through the provision of Technical Assistance (TA) to develop an in-depth understanding of the state of these national markets, identify market failures, gaps, opportunities, and sector potential, highlight how government rules and regulations interact with the market, what the status of private sector engagement and financing is at country level, and develop a range of recommendations for regulatory reforms, policies and interventions designed to strengthen these markets and improve delivery of sanitation and hygiene services at scale. While the context in each country may differ, the approach to understanding how these markets operate and which interventions are required has to be the same in its design and execution. As a global fund, a consistent approach is crucial to ensure the comparability of findings and to identify market trends over time and across country contexts.

Reporting to the Technical Services Unit Manager and being briefed by the SHF Deputy Executive Director, and on a day-to-day basis working closely with the Sanitation and Hygiene Markets Specialist, and wider SHF country and technical team, this role will undertake the operationalization and implementation of SHF’s government technical assistance work stream. This will require collaboration with external stakeholders, partners, and third-party service providers.

The assignment will:

• Oversee operationalization of the framework and provide guidelines on how to most effectively leverage the tools and frameworks in SHF’s engagement countries
• Advise SHF on country-related sanitation policy development and reform, institutional and governance analysis, and regulatory framework design and enforcement mechanisms in alignment with SDG targets and climate adaptation
• Provide guidance to SHF regarding public sector capacity building and inter-agency coordination mechanisms.
• The role may require occasional official travel during the implementation of the technical assistance tools and frameworks in SHF engagement countries
• Through this work, the role will support SHF’s mission to catalyze the sanitation economy in a tailored and sustainable way.

Functions / Key Results Expected

1. The role will

• Advise and undertake the development of the deliverables as per SHF government technical assistance offering.
• Fully discuss expectations and agree with the SHF on a work plan and timeframe to execute the implementation of SHF government technical assistance frameworks and methodologies in the implementation countries.
• Interview relevant experts and professionals to source information and insights that will assist the process; where other stakeholders are doing complementary work, agree with SHF on how to proceed with alignment, avoidance of any duplication of effort, and ensure complementarity.
• Consider a range of factors that are needed for government technical assistance tools.
• Leverage

• Advise and undertake the development of the deliverables as per SHF government technical assistance offering.
• Fully discuss expectations and agree with the SHF on a work plan and timeframe to execute the implementation of SHF government technical assistance frameworks and methodologies in the implementation countries.
• Interview relevant experts and professionals to source information and insights that will assist the process; where other stakeholders are doing complementary work, agree with SHF on how to proceed with alignment, avoidance of any duplication of effort, and ensure complementarity.
• Consider a range of factors that are needed for government technical assistance tools.
• Leverage