Your next impact‑driven career move starts here! *Lead high‑impact, child‑focused construction projects built on quality, innovation, and sustainability. *Help create safe, inclusive, and climate‑resilient facilities that meet UNICEF’s global standards. *Drive smart decisions through expert planning, procurement support, and on‑site monitoring that delivers real results for children. Apply now and be part of building a better future for every child! The post is based in Damascus, covering Damascus and Rural Damascus with frequent missions to Central and Southern governorates
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.
At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.
UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.
Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.
For every child, the right to opportunity.
Since the onset of the protracted crisis, Syria has experienced extensive damage to public infrastructure, severely affecting access to essential services for children and their families. UNICEF Syria implements a range of construction projects aimed at restoring and improving critical public service infrastructure, particularly in the Education, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Health sectors. These interventions form a core component of UNICEF’s mandate to support the continuity, recovery and resilience of basic services, contributing to improved learning environments, safer water and sanitation systems, and strengthened primary healthcare and nutrition service delivery.
How can you make a difference?
The Construction Officer reports to the Construction Manager as per the Country Office (CO) set-up and is responsible for providing technical support to construction activities of the country office. The technical support on construction projects includes planning, support to procurement, as well as monitoring of construction works on site ensuring that projects are in full compliance with UNICEF’s global standards, policies and procedures, and that they achieve high levels of quality, relevance, efficiency, sustainability and value for money. In line with UNICEF’s priorities, all construction interventions supported by the incumbent shall systematically integrate key cross-cutting considerations, including:
- Disability inclusion and universal accessibility, ensuring that facilities are safe, inclusive and usable for all children, caregivers and service providers.
- Climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability, to reduce environmental footprints and enhance the resilience of infrastructure to climate-related risks.
- Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS), to identify, prevent, mitigate and manage potential adverse environmental and social impacts throughout the project lifecycle.
The post is based in Damascus, covering Damascus and Rural Damascus with frequent missions to Central and Southern governorates.
The incumbent collaborates closely with UNICEF Programme/ Operations in defining construction interventions to meet programmatic needs and achieve results for children.
The incumbent assists the Construction Manager in managing construction-related inputs from field offices. This includes facilitating timely information sharing, consolidating and analysing project data, and preparing regular summary reports on progress, challenges, risks and compliance, in order to support evidence-based decision-making and effective programme management.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
- Preparation of construction annual workplan
- Collaboration with UNICEF Programmes/Operations and coordination with Government counterparts
- Preparation of design and technical documents
- Support to procurement process
- Monitoring of construction projects
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: 
TOR Construction Officer TA NOB Damascus.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Minimum requirements:
- Education: A university degree is required in in civil engineering, construction engineering, architecture or other relevant area
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Work Experience:
- A minimum of two (2) years of relevant experience, at the national and/or international levels, in project monitoring, site supervision, quality assurance and/or other directly-related technical fields is required.
- Understanding of development and humanitarian work is required.
- Emergency experience an advantage.
- Professional experience with a United Nations agency, international NGO, or other humanitarian/development organization is an asset.
- Experience in integrating cross-cutting priorities such as disability inclusion, climate change adaptation, environmental and social safeguards (ESS), and social protection considerations into project design and implementation is desirable.
- Experience related to energy-efficient buildings and innovative construction technologies is considered a strong asset.
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Skills
- Good analytical skill and negotiating skills;
- Ability to manage and monitor the effective use of resources;
- Ability to supervise and direct a team of professional and support staff working on construction projects;
- Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious working relationships, both within and outside the organization;
- Fast learner, adapts and responds to change, tolerates ambiguity;
- Ability to contribute to formulation of strategies and policies;
- Good knowledge of latest developments and technology in construction industry;
- Good understanding of construction project cycles, from programme needs assessment, through planning, procurement and contracting, monitoring the execution of work and evaluation of project outcomes;
- Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Arabic is required.
Desirables: A master’s degree in engineering and/or specialization in energy-efficient buildings and innovative technologies applied to the construction sector will be considered a strong asset
For every Child, you demonstrate...
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
(1) Builds and maintains partnerships
(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
(3) Drive to achieve results for impact
(4) Innovates and embraces change
(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity
(6) Thinks and acts strategically
(7) Works collaboratively with others
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.
UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.
UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.
Remarks:
As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.
UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.
Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.
Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.
All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.
Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.