Water and Sanitation Jobs in International Development

Water and Sanitation Jobs in International Development

WASH — Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene — is consistently one of the most active hiring sectors in international development and humanitarian response. With 2 billion people still lacking safe drinking water and 3.6 billion lacking safely managed sanitation, demand for WASH programming and the professionals who deliver it remains high and growing.

The WASH Sector: What It Covers

WASH programming encompasses three interconnected areas:

Water supply

Providing access to clean water through boreholes, hand pumps, piped systems, gravity-fed schemes, water trucking, and household water treatment. Ranges from emergency trucking in crises to long-term urban utility development.

Sanitation

Constructing and promoting appropriate sanitation facilities — from emergency latrines in displacement settings to citywide sewerage systems and faecal sludge management. Also includes open defecation free (ODF) community certification programmes.

Hygiene promotion

Behavioural change programming to ensure communities adopt safe hygiene practices — handwashing with soap, menstrual hygiene management, food hygiene. Often delivered alongside water and sanitation infrastructure.

Types of WASH Roles

Technical / Engineering

• WASH Engineer: designs and oversees water and sanitation systems
• Hydrogeologist: water resource assessment, borehole siting and testing
• Water Quality Officer: laboratory testing, treatment, and monitoring

Programme Management

• WASH Programme Officer/Manager: plans and manages WASH programmes, donor reporting, partner coordination
• WASH Cluster Coordinator: coordinates WASH actors across the humanitarian system (UNICEF leads the WASH Cluster)

Community Engagement

• Hygiene Promotion Officer: designs and implements hygiene behaviour change programmes
• CLTS (Community-Led Total Sanitation) Facilitator: community mobilisation for ODF achievement

Urban WASH

• Urban Sanitation Specialist: city-level WASH planning, utility reform, faecal sludge management
• WASH Finance Specialist: tariff analysis, utility financial management, WASH sector financing

Major Employers

UNICEF: leads the global WASH Cluster; recruits WASH specialists at P2–P4 across country offices and HQ

UNHCR: WASH programming in refugee settlements — high demand for engineers and officers

ICRC: WASH is a core function of ICRC's humanitarian response; recruits WASH engineers and delegates

Oxfam: one of the most prominent INGO WASH employers with long-standing expertise in emergency WASH

WHH (Welthungerhilfe), ACF, NRC, IRC: all maintain significant WASH programmes

World Bank, ADB, AfDB: finance large urban water and sanitation infrastructure projects; hire technical specialists and recruit consultants for project preparation and supervision

Qualifications

Engineering roles typically require a degree in civil, environmental, or water resources engineering. Programme roles often accept backgrounds in public health, development studies, or environmental science, combined with field experience. Sphere Standards and WASH Cluster coordination training are expected for humanitarian roles.

Find WASH Jobs on DevProcure

DevProcure aggregates WASH vacancies from UNICEF, UNHCR, ICRC, Oxfam, and 200+ other sources daily. Filter by "WASH" or "water sanitation" to find roles across both humanitarian and development contexts. Set up a free email alert for new WASH opportunities in your target region.