Stretch Assignment - Emergency Manager, P4, Maiduguri, Nigeria

The Maiduguri Field Office operates in a complex humanitarian environment marked by protracted displacement, recurrent disease outbreaks, humanitarian access constraints, and the transition of sector coordination responsibilities to government counterparts. The office must simultaneously support emergency preparedness, sustain the cholera response, advance sector transition priorities, manage multiple donor-funded emergency programmes, and develop new resource mobilization opportunities.

Given these competing priorities, the Field Office requires a two-month surge deployment of an Emergency Manager to maintain operational readiness, strengthen response capacity, and support timely management decisions

The deployment will strengthen emergency preparedness and contingency planning, support implementation of the cholera response and Rapid Response Mechanism activities, enhance humanitarian coordination and engagement with key stakeholders, ensure effective oversight of emergency programme implementation and donor commitments, and contribute to the development of new funding proposals. This temporary capacity will help the field office address critical humanitarian priorities, support the continuity of emergency operations, and ensure that UNICEF remains well-positioned to respond effectively to the evolving needs of vulnerable children and communities across Northeast Nigeria.

The objective of this stretch assignment is to provide temporary senior emergency management capacity to the Maiduguri Field Office to strengthen preparedness, coordination, response oversight, donor accountability, and continuity of emergency operations during the assignment period.

The Emergency Manager will provide strategic leadership, coordination, oversight, and management support. Programme implementation, technical sector leadership, financial authorization, and formal supervisory authority will remain with the relevant UNICEF programme, operations, and management functions unless expressly delegated by the Chief of Field Office.

• Advise the management on emerging humanitarian risks, response priorities, operational implications, and options for programme adaptation. 
• Lead regular cross-sector emergency management reviews that bring together programme and operations functions, track priority actions, escalate constraints, and support timely management decisions.

• Lead strategic analysis of hazards and humanitarian risks affecting children in Northeast Nigeria, with emphasis on armed conflict, floods, public health emergencies, displacement, and malnutrition, and translate findings into prioritized preparedness actions. 
• Lead engagement with Borno and Yobe State Emergency Management Agencies and relevant partners to update and operationalize multi-hazard contingency plans for the flood season. 
• Ensure preparedness actions, accountabilities, triggers, and gaps are documented and monitored through a concise management dashboard or action tracker. 

• Provide strategic oversight of UNICEF's contribution to the cholera response in Borno State, ensuring coherent planning, coordination, monitoring, and management reporting in collaboration with Health, WASH, C4D/RCCE, Supply, Operations, and other relevant teams. 
• Review response coverage, timeliness, quality, risks, supply availability, partner performance, and funding gaps, and recommend corrective action or programme adaptation. 
• Ensure timely production of concise situation updates, emergency briefings, decision notes, and response performance summaries for Field Office and Country Office management. 

• Provide strategic oversight and follow-up for implementation of transition plans for WASH, Nutrition, Education, and Child Protection Area of Responsibility coordination functions, with clear milestones, risks, accountabilities, and sustainability measures. 
• Represent UNICEF, as delegated, in the Inter-Sector Working Group, Humanitarian Access Working Group, and other inter-agency or government coordination mechanisms, and ensure that agreed actions are communicated and followed up internally. 
• Lead humanitarian access and context monitoring, identify implications for children and UNICEF-supported programmes, and recommend principled, conflict-sensitive, and risk-informed programme adaptation measures. 
• Strengthen strategic engagement with government authorities, United Nations agencies, donors, NGOs, civil society organizations, and affected-community representatives to advance child-centred humanitarian priorities. 

• Provide management oversight of emergency grants and donor-funded projects, including NHF/US, CERF, FCDO, and other active emergency funding streams, with attention to results, implementation pace, risks, compliance, and corrective action. 
• Ensure timely, accurate, and evidence-based donor reporting, with particular attention to NHF/US and CERF grant commitments and deadlines. 
• Review emergency cost-centre allocations, commitments, expenditure, and forecast needs; identify variances and funding risks; and advise the Chief of Field Office on resource allocation and prioritization. 
• Oversee assurance activities and performance monitoring for implementing partners delivering Rapid Response Mechanism interventions and ensure systematic follow-up of findings and agreed actions. 

• Lead development and quality assurance of proposals and concept notes for the second tranche of the NHF/US grant and other viable emergency funding opportunities arising during the assignment. 
• Support senior-level donor engagement and prepare concise investment cases, advocacy messages, talking points, and evidence on humanitarian needs, results, gaps, and priorities. 
• Coordinate timely technical, financial, partnership, and operational inputs to emergency proposals, ensuring alignment with assessed needs, UNICEF priorities, implementation capacity, risk management requirements, and donor conditions. 
• Strengthen partnerships with government counterparts, United Nations agencies, donors, NGOs, and civil society organizations to mobilize collective action and resources for child-centred humanitarian response. 

1

Strategic risk and management brief 

Consolidated analysis of priority humanitarian risks, operational implications, response options, and recommended management decisions. 

2

Preparedness and readiness action plan 

Updated priority actions for flood and other key risks, including ownership, triggers, gaps, prepositioned supplies, partner readiness, and follow-up arrangements. 

3

Cholera and RRM oversight package 

Management review of response status, coverage, bottlenecks, partner performance, financing, supply readiness, and corrective actions. 

4

Sector transition status review 

Consolidated progress assessment for WASH, Nutrition, Education, and Child Protection AoR transitions, including milestones, key risks, and recommended next steps. 

5

Emergency portfolio and financial review 

Grant implementation, reporting, assurance, budget utilization, expenditure forecast, key variances, and management actions for priority emergency funding. 

6

Resource mobilization outputs 

Quality-assured NHF/US second-tranche proposal package and other concept notes or donor materials required during the assignment. 

7

Handover and continuity plan 

Final management brief documenting achievements, outstanding decisions, risks, owners, deadlines, and a follow-up plan

Deliverables should be discussed with the Chief of Field Office at the start of the assignment, reviewed through regular management check-ins, and finalized before the end of the deployment to support continuity and follow-up.

• Priority management decisions are supported by timely, evidence-based risk, context, access, programme, and financial analysis. 

• Preparedness, cholera response, RRM, sector transition, grant management, and resource mobilization have clear ownership and documented follow-up. 

• Donor reports and proposal inputs falling within the assignment period meet agreed quality and timeliness requirements. 

• Key programme, partnership, assurance, financial, and operational risks are identified, escalated, and accompanied by practical mitigation actions. 
• Government, inter-agency, donor, and partner engagements are followed by clear internal actions and accountability. 
• A complete handover package enables continuity of priority work after the deployment. 

1. Education: Advanced university degree in Public Health, Social Sciences, Disaster Risk Management, Humanitarian Affairs, International Relations, Development Studies, Public Administration, or another field relevant to emergency preparedness and response. First university degree with additional two-years of relevant work experience is acceptable in lieu of an advanced university degree.
2. Work Experience: Eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience at national and international levels in programme or project development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and administration, with significant emphasis on analysis and advice on the needs of children and women affected by emergencies.
3. Additional qualification: knowledge of UNICEF programmes and activities; fluency in English.

The successful candidate should demonstrate strong emergency leadership, sound judgement under pressure, ability to coordinate across functions and partners, familiarity with humanitarian coordination systems, and capacity to produce clear analytical products for senior management within short timelines.

The mission assignment will be for two months, from 15 September to 15 November 2026.

The Emergency Manager will be supervised by the Chief of Field Office and will be based in Maiduguri, with expected field missions to local government areas where UNICEF is implementing emergency responses.

Funding arrangement
This is a temporary development opportunity and there will be no changes to the staff member’s status (position number, level, etc.).

The Office will cover the ticket for economy class travel and 100% of the UN DSA rate during the first 30 days, and 50% DSA for the remaining time.

Interested UNICEF staff should discuss this opportunity with their supervisor and seek the approval of their management before applying.

Candidates considered potentially well-matched for the stretch assignment will be contacted for an informal interview. Supervisors may also be contacted for references.

Advertised: 27 Aug 2026 W. Central Africa Standard Time
Applications close: 03 Sep 2026 W. Central Africa Standard Time

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