WASH Officer Hygiene Promotion Ethiopia

Responsibilities

The WASH Officer (Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion) will lead the design, implementation, and monitoring of community hygiene and sanitation activities in his/her respective refugee camp and adjacent host communities. This role is critical for reducing WASH-related public health risks through behavior change methodologies, capacity building, and strategic coordination. The officer will ensure programming adheres to humanitarian standards (Sphere, WHO, UNHCR) while integrating gender, protection, and sustainability principles.

The WASH Officer will assist the WASH Team Leader in providing technical support in the development of NRC’s WASH programming in hygiene promotion activities. He/she will also work closely with the other WASH Project Officers in water quality and water supply to ensure timely delivery of quality services and will assist the wash Team Leader in overall planning and design of (future) projects. The following is a brief description of the role.

Generic responsibilities

Below are the general responsibilities of the position:

• Design and implement hygiene promotion activities using the right Behavior Change Communication (BCC) strategies.
• Conduct KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices) surveys, baseline/endline assessments, and periodic studies to inform program design and measure impact.
• Develop context-specific IEC (Information, Education, Communication) materials for hygiene campaigns.
• Supervise sanitation infrastructure projects (e.g., latrines, waste management) to ensure sustainability and community ownership.
• Monitor WASH-related disease data to evaluate program effectiveness and adapt strategies accordingly.
• Train and mentor hygiene promoters, WASH committees, school health clubs, and incentive staff.
• Facilitate community feedback mechanisms to ensure accountability to affected populations (AAP).
• Promote inclusive participation of vulnerable groups (women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities).
• Represent NRC in WASH Sector/Sub-Cluster meetings, and actively engage with UNHCR, RRS, local authorities, NGOs, and community leaders.
• Coordinate with NRC’s Water Supply/Quality teams and other Core Competencies (CCs) for integrated programming.
• Foster partnerships to avoid duplication and maximize resource efficiency.
• Develop detailed work plans, budgets, and procurement strategies aligned with project proposals.
• Prepare timely internal/external reports (e.g., activity progress, assessment findings).
• Ensure compliance with NRC policies, donor regulations, and international standards.
• Contribute to proposal development and program strategy reviews.

Specific responsibilities

• Supervise Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion activities and resources so that they are implemented and handed over or ended in a way that promotes local capacities and sustainable operations.
• Conduct Hygiene Promotion activities in line with relevant standards, codes of conduct, and humanitarian principles.
• Take account of gender, protection, the environment, and other important cross-cutting concerns in programme design, implementation, and reporting; carry out activities in a way that reflects the needs of specific groups and individuals e.g. elderly people, minority groups, children, and people with disabilities.
• Leading community health approaches in implementing behavior change methodology for the WASH programs.
• Collect relevant health data on WASH-related illnesses to be able to monitor the impact of the public health promotion programme.
• Facilitate formation of WASH committees and school health clubs to help promote safe WASH practices
• Undertake trainings on hygiene promotion for community, refugees and the school health club members and hygiene promotion incentive staff.
• Assist in developing relevant IEC materials that will be used for training and in carrying out hygiene promotion activities within the camp.
• Assess and advise on capacity building needs within the team to ensure effective developments of the quality standards for hygiene promotion staff
• Enable effective dialogue with the affected community to allow the agency to be held to account for the quality of the WASH programme.
• Represent NRC in the Sub Clusters and in other coordination forums

Critical interfaces

Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• External: UNHCR, RRS, WASH Cluster partners, local authorities, community leaders, NGOs/INGOs.
• Internal: WASH Team Leader, Water Supply/Quality Officers, Support Departments (Logistics, Finance), other CC teams (Education).

Qualifications

1. Professional competencies:

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, Environmental Health, or related field in health sciences.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience implementing hygiene promotion in humanitarian/refugee settings.
• Fluency in Somali and English (written and spoken).
• Proven skills in BCC methodologies, KAP surveys, and community mobilization.
• Experience with Sphere Standards, UNHCR WASH guidelines, and gender-sensitive programming.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Prior experience in Dolo Ado area’s refugees’ response context.

2. Behavioral competencies

The following NRC’s competencies are essential for this position:

• Managing resources and achieving results
• Handling insecure environments
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Working with people
• Coping with change
• Planning and delivering results.

Skills Required:

• Environmental / Natural / Resource
• Health / Medical