Emergency Specialist, (P3), Colombo, Sri Lanka #135794 (duration 03 months)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, 

Emergency response coordination and oversight

1. Provides day-to-day coordination and oversight of UNICEF’s Humanitarian Priorities Plan (HPP) response to Cyclone Ditwah, ensuring coherence across programme sections, operations and field locations.
2. Coordinates the implementation of agreed emergency priorities, ensuring UNICEF interventions are aligned, mutually reinforcing and responsive to evolving needs affecting children and families.
3. Supports UNICEF’s responsibilities as sector lead and/or co-lead, ensuring effective engagement in humanitarian coordination mechanisms and close operational coordination with other clusters, particularly the Shelter cluster, as required.
4. Acts as UNICEF’s internal coordination focal point for the emergency response, supporting timely decision-making, issue escalation and resolution in a fast-moving operational environment.
5. Works closely with OCHA and inter-agency coordination structures to ensure UNICEF inputs are timely, consistent and accurately reflected in inter-agency planning, situation analysis and reporting.

Supply tracking, reporting and accountability

6. Supports coordination and tracking of emergency supplies and key response inputs, working with supply, operations and programme sections to identify delivery bottlenecks, mitigate delays and ensure alignment with programme priorities.
7. Coordinates emergency reporting, including Situation Reports (SitReps/CITREPs), donor updates and internal reporting, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and consistency of information reflecting field realities, beneficiary reach, gaps and emerging risks.
8. Ensures systematic consolidation of inputs from field teams and programme sections to support evidence-based reporting, monitoring and course correction of the emergency response.

Field coordination and delivery support

9. Supports coordination of UNICEF’s field presence during the emergency phase, ensuring field activities inform and align with agreed humanitarian priorities and delivery plans from January to April or as required by the evolving context.
10. Undertakes field visits as required to support coordination, monitor implementation progress, identify constraints and strengthen links between field teams, programme sections and central planning and reporting processes.

Partnerships and humanitarian–development nexus

11. Maintains effective coordination and liaison with government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs and partners in support of UNICEF’s humanitarian response and sector coordination commitments.
12. Works closely with the Deputy Representative and senior management to support coherence across the humanitarian–development nexus, helping identify transition priorities, handover points and follow-on actions to ensure continuity from emergency response to recovery and longer-term programming.

 

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: [Full JD_EmergencySpecialist_Sri Lanka_Jan2026]

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education:

  Advanced University degree in one of the following fields: social sciences, public administration, international law, public health, nutrition, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines. Preferably a combination of management, administration, and relevant technical fields.

• Work Experience: At least 5 years of relevant progressively responsible professional work experience at the national and international levels in programme/project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and administration.

  Developing country work experience (for IP)

  Specialized training/experience in emergency response management highly desirable 

• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others 

(8) Nurtures, Leads and Manages people

 

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility jobs-near-me.org UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable [Insert candidates from targeted underrepresented groups] are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

UNICEF staff members holding fixed-term, continuing, or permanent appointments who are considered to be on abolished post status may apply for this temporary position and, if selected with a start date before 31 December 2025, may take it up as a temporary assignment, in line with UNICEF guidance on separation due to the abolition of posts or staff reduction. They will retain their fixed-term entitlements but will not hold a lien to their abolished post. For other scenarios where a Temporary Assignment may be possible, please refer to Additional guidance on IP to IP temporary assignments after completion of the full TOD.pdf (accessible to internal staff only).

The conditions of a temporary assignment, including relocation entitlements, will depend on the status of the staff member’s original appointment and may be limited in accordance with applicable UNICEF policies, procedures, and practices in force.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.