See the full terms of reference here: https://plan-international.org/uploads/sites/56/2026/07/TDR_Especialista-Shelter-NFI-y-WASH_Plan_Venezuela.pdf
Organization: Plan International
Position: Shelter, NFIs & WASH Specialist
Duration: 6 months
Location: Venezuela – Caracas, with travel to intervention areas as needed and depending on
security conditions (On-site)
Contract Type: Temporary contract / consultancy, depending on applicable modality
Estimated Start Date: As soon as possible
1. Context:
Plan International requires specialized technical assistance to strengthen the leadership, positioning, and
programmatic quality of its humanitarian response in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors within the context of the emergency
caused by the earthquakes in Venezuela. The position will be responsible for providing
technical support to ongoing interventions and supporting the continuous updating of sectoral and
integrated response strategies, ensuring their alignment with the evolving context, the needs of affected communities
, and humanitarian coordination priorities. The response encompasses actions ranging from
immediate life-saving assistance and meeting basic needs to early recovery processes,
rehabilitation of essential services, community strengthening, and resilience building, with a special emphasis
on the protection, health, well-being, and dignity of children and adolescents affected by displacement,
loss of housing, and disruption of basic services.
Additionally, the position will contribute to strengthening Plan International’s strategic positioning in the
Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors, promoting the recognition of these sectors as fundamental elements
for the comprehensive protection and recovery of children in disaster contexts. The incumbent will also lead
the organization’s technical participation in sectoral coordination forums, foster strategic alliances with
humanitarian actors and implementing partners, and support resource mobilization and the technical design of new
proposals. This position is expected to contribute to consolidating an integrated, complementary, and
evidence-based response that expands coverage, improves the quality of interventions, and facilitates a gradual transition
from emergency response to sustainable community recovery and resilience processes.
2. Job Objective:
To provide leadership and specialized technical assistance in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors to ensure the
programmatic, technical, and operational quality of Plan International’s humanitarian response to the earthquakes in Venezuela,
guaranteeing timely, integrated, and evidence-based interventions that address identified humanitarian needs
. This position will contribute to the organization’s strategic positioning in both
sectors, strengthen humanitarian coordination, manage partnerships, and mobilize resources,
promoting solutions that effectively address immediate needs, early recovery, and resilience
in affected communities, with a focus on the protection, well-being, and dignity of children
and adolescents.
3. Main Responsibilities
• Lead the technical and strategic guidance of the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors, ensuring the quality,
relevance, complementarity, and alignment of interventions with identified humanitarian needs
and response priorities.
Plan International | Terms of Reference
Document for internal/external publication – Shelter, NFIs, and WASH Specialist, Venezuela
• Validate, update, and strengthen the Shelter/NFI and WASH sector strategies, as well as the
integrated approaches to response, early recovery, and resilience, ensuring their continuous adaptation to the evolving
context and identified humanitarian gaps.
• Conduct ongoing technical monitoring of projects and activities, verifying the quality of
design, implementation, monitoring, compliance with standards, and achievement of results in the sectors under their
responsibility.
• Provide specialized technical support and strengthen the capacities of implementing partners to
ensure the quality, relevance, standards compliance, and sustainability of Shelter,
NFIs, and WASH interventions. Lead and oversee sectoral technical assessments, needs analyses,
damage assessments, habitability evaluations, WASH infrastructure, temporary shelter, and early recovery assessments,
generating programmatic recommendations for strategic decision-making.
• Ensure that Shelter, NFIs, and WASH interventions effectively integrate considerations of
protection, child protection, gender, inclusion, disability, risk management, PSEAH, and accountability
to affected populations.
• Represent Plan International in sectoral and technical humanitarian coordination spaces, including the
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster, the Temporary Shelter and
Infrastructure Thematic Group, and other relevant coordination mechanisms, promoting effective collaboration between the
humanitarian architecture and implementing partners, and maintaining established coordination agreements between the
humanitarian architecture and the government.
• Promote Plan International’s strategic positioning in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors, highlighting
the importance of these sectors for the protection, health, well-being, dignity, and recovery of children and
adolescents affected by disasters.
• Identify opportunities for programmatic complementarity with humanitarian actors and implementing partners.
International organizations, the private sector, and communities, fostering strategic alliances that strengthen the
coverage, quality, and impact of the response.
• Support the technical development of proposals, concept notes, financing strategies, and
resource mobilization processes, ensuring technical quality, operational feasibility, and alignment with
identified humanitarian priorities.
• Develop and review logical frameworks, budgets, indicators, monitoring plans,
implementation timelines, and quality assurance tools for Shelter, NFIs, and WASH interventions.
• Conduct on-site monitoring and supervision missions to verify progress, identify gaps, risks, and
opportunities for improvement, defining corrective actions that strengthen the effectiveness and quality of the response.
• Ensure programmatic and operational integration among Shelter, NFIs, WASH, Child Protection in
Emergencies, Education in Emergencies, and other relevant sectors, promoting multisectoral responses
focused on the needs of the affected population.
• Monitor technical, operational, environmental, structural, access, security, safety, quality, and
compliance risks that may affect the achievement of results, proposing mitigation and adaptive management measures.
• Consolidate technical analyses, specialized reports, sector updates, lessons learned, and
strategic recommendations to support decision-making, adaptive response management, and
institutional positioning.
• Lead knowledge generation and management processes, including the documentation of best practices,
lessons learned, and intervention models that contribute to strengthening future
humanitarian responses.
• Contribute to defining transition strategies between emergency response, early recovery,
and resilient recovery, promoting sustainable solutions that reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen
communities’ capacity to prepare for and respond to future adverse events.
• Ensure that all interventions under their responsibility meet
Plan International’s programmatic, technical, and operational quality standards, guaranteeing evidence-based implementation that addresses
results and identified humanitarian needs.
4. Expected Deliverables
• Comprehensive work plan for technical assistance, including strategic priorities, timeline,
expected results, monitoring mechanisms, sectoral coordination activities, and
technical support actions in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors.
• Revised and updated sectoral strategies for Shelter, NFIs, and WASH, including technical recommendations
to strengthen the response, early recovery, and resilience of affected communities.
Plan International | Terms of Reference
Document for internal/external publication – Shelter, NFIs, and WASH Specialist, Venezuela
• Periodic technical monitoring and quality assurance reports for ongoing projects, including
progress, results, identified gaps, risks, challenges, and recommendations for decision-making and
continuous improvement.
• Consolidated matrix of sectoral monitoring and context analysis, including geographic coverage,
interventions, progress, indicators, humanitarian gaps, risks, stakeholders, and opportunities for
complementarity.
• Field mission reports, technical evaluations, and monitoring and supervision of implementing partners, including
findings, corrective actions, and recommendations to strengthen the programmatic and operational quality of
interventions.
• Technical reports, strategic inputs, and specialized contributions for sectoral coordination and
institutional positioning in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors.
• Technical proposals, concept notes, and sectoral contributions for resource mobilization and
program development processes, aligned with identified humanitarian needs and response priorities
.
• Roadmaps and technical recommendations to strengthen coordination between the
emergency response, early recovery, and resilient recovery phases.
• Consolidated record of agreements, commitments, and follow-up actions resulting from
coordination processes with implementing partners, humanitarian actors, and relevant sectoral bodies.
• Final technical assistance report consolidating key results, sectoral progress,
lessons learned, identified challenges, institutional positioning achievements, and
strategic recommendations to strengthen future interventions in Shelter, NFIs, and WASH.
5. Required Profile
Education
• University degree in Civil Engineering, Sanitary Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Civil Works Engineering, or
related disciplines focused on infrastructure, water, sanitation, and shelter.
• Postgraduate studies or supplementary training in humanitarian action, disaster risk management,
project management, water and sanitation, shelter, early recovery, humanitarian coordination, or
related areas will be considered an asset.
• Training in humanitarian standards, Sphere, shelter, WASH, protection, safeguarding, PSEAH, AAP,
humanitarian information management, or partner capacity building will be considered an advantage.
Experience
• Minimum of ten (10) years of relevant professional experience in infrastructure, construction, housing, water and
sanitation, or emergency and disaster risk management, of which at least five (5) years must
be specifically in technical or leadership roles in humanitarian action within the
shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors.
• Demonstrated experience in the design, implementation, monitoring, and technical supervision of humanitarian projects
in emergency, early recovery, and resilience contexts.
• Experience in needs assessments, damage analysis, habitability, WASH infrastructure,
temporary shelter, infrastructure rehabilitation, and recovery solutions.
• Experience working with national or local partner organizations using localization,
capacity building, and program quality assurance approaches.
• Proven experience in technical participation and representation in sectoral humanitarian coordination mechanisms
, including spaces related to Shelter, NFIs, and WASH.
• Experience in the technical development of proposals, program design, resource mobilization, and
humanitarian donor relations.
• Desirable prior experience in earthquake response, population displacement, complex contexts,
large-scale crises, or protracted emergencies.
• Experience working with national and international humanitarian organizations,
humanitarian coordination mechanisms, sectoral platforms, and inter-agency spaces for emergency coordination and response
.
Competencies
• Technical and strategic leadership to guide, position, and strengthen Shelter, NFI, and WASH interventions
in emergency, early recovery, and resilience contexts.
Plan International | Terms of Reference
Document for Internal/External Publication – Shelter Specialist, NFIs and WASH, Venezuela
• Strong ability to analyze complex humanitarian contexts, identify priorities, and translate
technical evidence into programmatic and operational decisions that improve the quality, coverage, and impact of the response.
• Ability to lead coordination processes, institutional representation, and collaboration with
implementing partners, humanitarian actors, and sectoral bodies, promoting complementary and
integrated responses.
• Strong planning, organizational, and multi-priority management skills, ensuring the achievement
of results, quality standards, and strategic objectives in dynamic and high-pressure operational environments.
• Ability to supervise, support, and provide technical strength to implementing partners, promoting
continuous improvement, knowledge management, and programmatic and operational quality assurance.
• Negotiation, influence, and alliance-building skills that contribute to institutional positioning,
resource mobilization, and strengthening of the humanitarian response.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, ability to prepare technical documents, strategic analyses,
proposals, reports, and knowledge management products.
• Knowledge and application of humanitarian standards, protection principles, safeguards, PSEAH (Protection, Security, Environment, and Humanitarian Affairs), gender,
inclusion, disability, accountability to affected populations, and disaster risk management.
• Ability to work autonomously, in a results-oriented and solutions-based manner, maintaining high
standards of technical and professional quality.
• Proficiency in analytical tools, information management, project monitoring and tracking, including
Microsoft Office, collaborative platforms, and data collection and analysis systems.
• Availability for frequent field travel and to provide direct technical support in
emergency-affected areas.
6. Safeguarding and Conduct
The selected candidate must strictly adhere to Plan International’s policies on safeguarding,
child protection, PSEAH, code of conduct, data protection, conflict of interest, and fraud prevention.
They must promote a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for children, adolescents, communities, teams,
and partner organizations.
7. Success Criteria
• Strengthened technical and programmatic quality in Shelter, NFIs, and WASH interventions, ensuring
relevant, timely responses aligned with identified humanitarian needs.
• Strengthened technical positioning of Plan International in the Shelter, NFIs, and WASH sectors through
active and recognized participation in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
• Effective coordination with implementing partners and key stakeholders, promoting complementarity,
gap coverage, and integrated responses.
• Generation of high-quality technical analyses and proposals that contribute to decision-making, continuous improvement
, and resource mobilization.
• Compliance with quality, protection, safeguarding, PSEAH, inclusion, and accountability standards in
all interventions under its responsibility.
How to apply
Interested candidates should send their resume before July 31st to Rafael.Arias@plan-international.org