Sanitation and Hygiene Market Specialist at United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Role Purpose

• The Sanitation and Hygiene Market Specialist plays a critical technical role in shaping and delivering SHF’s approach to sanitation and hygiene markets. Working within the Technical Team and reporting to the Global Lead, Sanitation and MH, the role focuses on market-shaping interventions, business model development, and innovative financing solutions to expand access to sanitation and hygiene in low- and middle-income countries.

Functions / Key Results Expected

• Strategic and Technical Contribution
• Contribute to the evolution of SHF’s market-based approaches for sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health.
• Identify opportunities and entry points to strengthen the sanitation economy, including City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS), waste-to-value and circular economy initiatives, incubation and acceleration platforms, and the interface between the toilet economy and menstrual hygiene marketplace.
• Promote gender-smart and climate-smart approaches and highlight women’s economic role and empowerment across the sanitation and hygiene value chain.
• Identify root causes of sanitation and hygiene market shortcomings and propose viable pathways to overcome them.
• Market-Shaping and Business Model Implementation
• Provide technical inputs for market assessments, investment cases, and financing strategies.
• Contribute to the identification of investable propositions that can unlock sanitation and hygiene markets at scale.
• Support linkages between financing ecosystems and programmatic interventions, ensuring market-shaping actions are embedded in SHF-supported programmes.
• Provide technical inputs on catalytic financing and support to programmatic grants related to sanitation and hygiene markets.
• Evidence, Knowledge, and Innovation
• Capture and disseminate evidence, lessons learned, and good practices from SHF-supported sanitation and hygiene market interventions.
• Support monitoring and reporting on sanitation and hygiene economy-related indicators, benchmarks, and outcomes.
• Develop knowledge products, toolkits, and guidance on market-based sanitation and hygiene approaches.
• Contribute to SHF’s communications and advocacy by providing data and insights on market impacts.
• Planning, Contract, and Risk Management
• Contribute to annual workplans, milestones and monitoring processes.
• Support procurement planning, drafting technical terms of reference, and managing resulting contracts.
• Identify and maintain sanitation and hygiene-related programmatic and financial risks, with risk registers and mitigation plans.
• Support audit activities as required.
• Outreach, Partnerships, and Representation
• Establish and maintain strong technical relationships with governments, private sector actors, implementing partners, and financing institutions.
• Represent SHF in technical fora, meetings, and events, positioning the Fund as a leader in sanitation and hygiene markets.
• Facilitate partnerships with private sector entities, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to unlock market opportunities.
• Undertake international travel and advisory missions as required.

Impact of Results:

• The work of the Sanitation and Hygiene Market Specialist will position SHF as a global leader in developing the sanitation and hygiene economy. Through technical expertise, market-shaping interventions, and strategic partnerships, the role will expand opportunities for sustainable sanitation and hygiene services, enhance women’s economic empowerment, and unlock investable propositions for scale-up in low- and middle-income countries.

Education Requirements
Required

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in economics, business administration, public health, environmental engineering, international development, or related fields with 7 years of relevant experience OR
• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any of the above or related fields with 5 years of relevant experience is required

Required
Experience Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in sanitation, hygiene, or related market-based approaches is required
• Experience in private sector engagement, financing strategies, or investment facilitation in development contexts is required.
• Track record of designing or implementing market-shaping interventions in low- and middle-income countries is required.

Desired

• Experience with menstrual health, gender empowerment, climate-smart or circular economy approaches is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with innovative financing mechanisms or global health/development funds is an asset.