Consultancy – Engineering & Construction Works Engineer for laboratories and rooms for healthcare waste management technologies.(Open to Somalia National only)

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, Health 

www.unicef.org/somalia

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of work:

Globally, COVID19 pandemic has negative impact on the overall health and socio-economic situation and Somalia is not an exception, the situation in Somalia is exacerbated by the droughts, conflicts, and lack of political instability, the pandemic has also hampered the already broken healthcare system, services and facilities including services targeted to disease programmes of Malaria, EPI, HIV/AIDs, and TB that GF supports,

In 2022, UNICEF received funding from the Global Fund to support the Ministry of Somalia to effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the entire country and impacted food security and the use of health and nutrition services. The grant was specifically designed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the three main diseases funded by the Global Fund – HIV, TB and malaria – while strengthening key pillars of the health system to enable a robust and effective response to the pandemic and other outbreaks. Key areas of support include strengthening surveillance systems, laboratory and diagnostics, infection prevention and control, and health worker protection beyond PPE, medical oxygen, respiratory care, and therapeutics and health product management systems. UNICEF is the main recipient of the funds, with WHO, WVI and WARDI as sub-recipients. The programme was due to end in December 2023, but extended to December 2025 to allow the country to reinvest unused funds and savings. Key areas for reinvestments are the improvement in diagnostics capacities by upgrading the national reference laboratory to biosafety level 3 and improvement in healthcare waste management by installing thirteen (13) environmentally friendly healthcare waste management technologies.

This exciting opportunity will allow you to be part of UNICEF’s life-changing work as you will provide technical supervision to the planned renovation works of the national reference laboratory and rooms for 13 healthcare waste management technologies. Under the supervision of health specialist and technical backstopping of a construction engineer, you will be responsible for providing the necessary technical support including supervision and coordination of works for the planned renovation/construction of laboratories and healthcare waste management technologies.

During your assignment, your primary responsibilities will play a crucial role in achieving transformative outcomes for children. You will excel professionally by focusing on the following key areas, among others:

a) Conduct site readiness assessment in healthcare waste management sites and support the Ministry of Health in selection of appropriate sites.

b) Develop BOQ and designs for renovation work for healthcare waste management technology rooms.

c) Supervise the renovation work for rooms for healthcare waste management technologies ensuring works continue as per agreed work plan and set quality metrices are met.

d) Oversee the installation, testing, and commissioning of healthcare waste management technologies, and ensure comprehensive training for users.

e) Supervise and report on initial survey and mobilization for the national Laboratory construction/renovation.

f) Carry out supervision and Quality control of substructure work for both laboratories.

g) Carry out supervision and Quality control of superstructure work of the national reference laboratory.

h) Support in supervision and quality control of fittings and finishes.

i) Provide technical support and oversight in the testing, commissioning, and training of laboratory users.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone: Deliverables/Outputs: Timeline Conduct site readiness assessment in healthcare waste management sites and support the ministry of Health in selection of appropriate sites. Detailed assessment report submitted. 25th September 2024 Develop BOQs and designs for renovation work for healthcare waste management technology rooms. Detailed BOQs and designs developed. 22 October 2024 Supervise the renovation work for rooms for healthcare waste management technologies ensuring works continue as per the agreed work plan and set quality metrics are met. Renovation works completed. 23 November 2024 Oversee the installation, testing, and commissioning of healthcare waste management technologies, and ensure comprehensive training for users. Technologies installed and functional. 27 December 2024 Supervise and report on initial survey and mobilization for Laboratory construction/renovation. Monitoring reports submitted. 22 January 2025 Carry out supervision and Quality control of substructure work the national reference laboratory. Substructure completed. 24 March 2025 Carry out supervision and Quality control of superstructure work of the national reference laboratory. Works for superstructure finalized. 28 May 2025 Support in supervision and quality control of fittings and finishes. Fittings and finishes work completed. 27 July 2025 Provide technical support and oversight in the testing, commissioning, and training of laboratory users. Upgraded laboratory teste, commissioned and users trained. 20 August 2025

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

• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s) is required in either civil engineering, construction engineering, architecture, architectural studies, or other relevant area, or a relevant first-level university degree (Bachelor’s) in conjunction with a valid relevant professional certification is required.
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience, at the national level, in project management, site supervision, quality assurance and/or other directly related technical fields is required.
• ▪ Understanding of development and humanitarian work.
• ▪ Emergency experience is an advantage.
• ▪ Previous work in Somalia especially with government entities is essential.
• ▪ Good written and oral communication skills.
• ▪ Excellent project management skills and experience
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset. 
• Oral and written fluency in English is essential; Somali language skills are highly desirable. 

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. 

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