Technical Expert for District Heating (WASH)

This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is part of UNICEF Ukraine's WASH programme, specifically supporting the District Heating stream of the National WASH Cluster's Technical Cell, established in response to the ongoing armed conflict.

UNICEF — the United Nations Children's Fund, established in 1946 — is mandated to protect the rights of every child and operates in over 190 countries. In Ukraine, UNICEF has been present since 1997 and serves as the lead agency of the WASH Cluster, a humanitarian coordination mechanism uniting over 100 implementing partners active across fifteen conflict-affected oblasts. UNICEF Ukraine's WASH programme supports emergency response, service restoration, and systems strengthening across water, sanitation, hygiene, and district heating sectors.

Now in the fourth year of full-scale armed conflict, Ukraine's district heating infrastructure faces severe and repeated damage. Years of underinvestment and ageing infrastructure, compounded by weak operations, maintenance, and governance mechanisms, had already left pre-existing vulnerabilities in the system before February 2022. The renewed wave of strikes against the Ukrainian energy sector is more powerful and more precise than the one that began in autumn 2022: approximately 9 GW of generation capacity has already been destroyed, 80% of thermal generation and 80% of wind generation have been damaged or occupied, 21% of solar generation has been damaged or occupied, and direct losses in the energy sector are estimated at USD 16.1 billion. A lack of electricity often means a lack of water and heating.

Key stakeholders include district heating companies and communal enterprises that provide heating services, the District Heating Association, the Ukraine Critical Infrastructure Association, local authorities, governmental bodies, and implementing partners active in the energy sector. Programme outcomes include strengthened institutional capacity of district heating companies, improved coordination and prioritization of support, and evidence-based short-, medium-, and long-term recovery planning for district heating infrastructure. Further information: www.unicef.org/ukraine.

UNICEF is providing support to the National WASH Cluster in Ukraine in the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to urgently repair and modernize water and heating systems. The Technical Cell of the WASH Cluster conducts numerous assessment visits and supports the coordination of over 100 simultaneous projects across fifteen oblasts, mostly in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia, to support district heating and water utilities. Accordingly, the purpose of this position is to support the functioning of the District Heating Technical Cell, coordinate emergency response efforts, communicate with district heating companies and partner organisations, provide technical expertise on heating systems, and support the development of short-, medium-, and long-term recovery plans for district heating infrastructure.

Under the direct supervision of the WASH Cluster Technical Cell Lead, the expert will be part of the Technical Cell team and will support and work closely with WASH Cluster staff, sub-national clusters, and technical working groups. The expert will:

1. Build a strong network with district heating companies and communal enterprises that provide heating services, through field missions to assess their needs and prioritization, for the perusal of the WASH Cluster and its partners;
2. Organize coordination meetings with government partners, water utilities, utility companies, local authorities, and NGOs/CSOs, and track and map district heating projects implemented in Ukraine (data collection and duplication check);
3. Provide technical insight, input, assessments, and reviews to inform the established coordinative and supportive relationship with government partners, district heating companies, vodokanals, communal enterprises, local authorities, and NGOs/CSOs, focusing on the roadmap for early recovery efforts in the heating sector;
4. Support utilities and partner organisations with prioritization according to their most critical needs and principles;
5. Facilitate communication, targeted, efficient information sharing, and solution-finding between utilities, communities, authorities, and aid organisations and donors in crises;
6. Organize coordination cluster meetings and coordination with sub-national colleagues, including preparing and presenting presentations based on field visits and assessments at WASH cluster meetings, including the District Heating Working Group, and on the most frequently requested technical solutions by district heating companies;
7. Support capacity-building activities;
8. Any other relevant task assigned by the supervisor.