WASH Officer - Hygiene Promotion

About the role

Save the Children Nigeria is recruiting a WASH Officer for Hygiene Promotion (Grade 4, national post) in Borno State, Nigeria, within the Programme Operations team. The post supports the implementation, monitoring and reporting of WASH and hygiene promotion activities under a UNOCHA-funded integrated humanitarian response. It works closely with the WASH Coordinator, the WASH Officer for Infrastructure, programme teams, implementing partners, community structures and government authorities, and integrates WASH and hygiene promotion into Health and Nutrition and Child Protection.

Key responsibilities

• Plan, implement and supervise hygiene promotion activities across project locations, integrating them into Health and Nutrition and Child Protection activities such as health service points and child-friendly spaces.
• Design and deliver inclusive, age-sensitive sessions on handwashing, safe water, household water treatment, sanitation, food hygiene, menstrual health and environmental cleanliness.
• Build the capacity of staff, partners and community hygiene promoters through training, coaching and supportive supervision, and engage community leaders, women, youth and persons with disabilities.
• Carry out or support hygiene risk assessments, baseline surveys and behavioural observations, and support emergency hygiene promotion during outbreaks, flooding and displacement.
• Assess water and sanitation needs at Nutrition and Child Protection sites, give technical input on hygiene requirements in facility design and management, and monitor the functionality and cleanliness of facilities.
• Prepare field activity plans, develop monitoring tools with the MEAL team, collect and report hygiene promotion data with appropriate disaggregation, and write weekly, monthly and ad hoc reports.
• Ensure activities are gender-sensitive, disability-inclusive and safeguarding-compliant, and maintain confidential feedback and complaints mechanisms.

Required profile

• Degree or postgraduate certificate in Public Health, Environmental Health, Water Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Social Sciences or a related field.
• At least 3 years of relevant experience, preferably in a humanitarian or recovery WASH context.
• Previous experience with local or international NGOs in humanitarian or development programmes, preferably in WASH or hygiene promotion.
• Experience implementing community-based hygiene promotion, community mobilisation and behaviour-change interventions in emergency or development settings.
• Ability to work in remote, challenging and insecure environments.

Required skills

• Field implementation, monitoring and reporting skills.
• Good understanding of community dynamics, cultural norms and participatory approaches to behaviour change.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, listening and facilitation skills.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills, and ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and electronic data collection or reporting tools.
• Desirable: familiarity with Sphere standards, WHO guidance and national WASH policies, and experience supporting community hygiene groups and hygiene kit distributions.