Desired start date: 01/03/2026
Duration of the mission: 7 months (3 rotations)
Location: Gaza
SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL (SI) is an international humanitarian aid association which, since more than 40 years, has been providing assistance to populations affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters by meeting their basic needs for food, water and shelter. Particularly committed to the fight against diseases linked to unsafe water, the leading cause of death in the world, SI's interventions provide expertise in the field of access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, but also in the essential area of food security and livelihoods. Present in 26 countries, the SI teams – 3200 people in total, made up of expatriates, national staff, permanent staff at HQ, and a few volunteers - intervene with professionalism and commitment while respecting cultural norms.
In response to the attacks of 7 October 2023, the Israeli army launched a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip, beginning with a campaign of air strikes followed by a series of ground offensives that successively hit all the enclave's governorates. The intensity of the fighting, repeated strikes and successive evacuation orders have forced more than 1.7 million people to move, sometimes several times, to sites less directly affected by the fighting. The first displacements towards the south of Gaza, and more particularly the governorate of Rafah where 1.7 million Palestinians were displaced in April 2024, were followed by the displacement of more than 1 million people towards the central part of the Gaza Strip when the offensive on Rafah was launched in May 2024.
Displaced people are living in schools, organised sites and informal sites where it is more difficult to organise assistance. The destruction by the fighting of vital infrastructure, such as health facilities, water and electricity supplies, schools and other public services, is having a major impact on the displaced and host populations.
Solidarités International has been operating in Gaza since February 2024. Despite being a new actor, SI was able to quickly start delivering and establish itself as a strong emergency responder in the WASH sector, with a focus on hard-to-reach areas not covered by other partners. Its ability to deliver, propose innovative solutions in the face of a highly restricted and restrictive operational environment allowed SI to rapidly secure funding and scale up its operations across 2025.
In Gaza strip, SI works to improve access to safe drinking water by rehabilitating or installing reverse osmosis units, distributing water via tankers and water points, and deploying mobile systems to pump water from existing wells. It also monitors water quality, provides shelter, winterization and hygiene kits to the most vulnerable households, promotes good hygiene and water management practices, and implements pilot activities in home gardening.
A year and a half in the response and with the changes in the operational environment triggered by the ceasefire brokered on 10th of October (reduced intensity of conflict, operational scale-up of humanitarian partners), SI is in the process of reviewing its positioning to remain operationally relevant, increase outreach and impact.
The organization’s work relies on strong partnerships with local Palestinian organizations such as UFA and MA’AN. Its institutional and financial partners include CDCS, Choose Love, ECHO, Althémis, and OCHA.
Around 35 staffs in total on the mission.
1 base in Gaza (25 Staffs), 1 coordination base in Jerusalem (5 staffs), 3 Staffs in West Bank.
Coordination team in Jerusalem: 1 Country Director, 1 Program Coordinator, 1 Logistic Coordinator, 1 Admin Coordinator
Program Team in Gaza: 1 Activity Manager WASH with WASH team of 16 staff, 1 Activity Manager MEAL managing a team of 3 staffs, 1 Information Management Officer.
General objective:
The WASH program manager is responsible for implementing and achieving the objectives defined in the operation proposals.
(S)he is responsible for overseeing operational teams assigned to the program.
(S)he guarantees the good performance and the quality of the programs' activities implemented, and, where appropriate, proposes adjustments or developments to ensure relevance.
The main challenges:
- SI has established operational presence in Gaza early 2024 and runs operations with national teams possessing limited humanitarian experience and seniority with the organization.
- The operational volume of the base has rapidly increased in an extremely challenging, restricted and rapidly changing operational environment, requiring constant adaptation.
- Entry of goods into Gaza strip remains extremely limited. While situation has improved since 10th of October, local markets remain poorly supplied, and international procurement greatly restricted for humanitarian partners.
- If sustained, the ceasefire brokered on 10th of October offers an opportunity to progressively transition away from pure humanitarian assistance, towards early recovery type of programming.
- Despite improvements since 10th of October, the security situation remains very fluid, and the operational environment associated with high levels of stress and difficult living conditions.
Priorities for the 2/3 first months:
The WASH Program Manager will take his/her position during the transition from current ECHO grant (end date 31/03/2025) to next, and about 9 months before the end of CDCS grant. He/she will hence have to focus in the first 3 months on:
- Finalizing monitoring activities of ongoing ECHO grant, i.e. conducting necessary surveys (PDM, endline KAP, etc.) to report on donor indicators, writing up reports including ECHO final report
- Kick-start new ECHO grant including kick-off meeting, inception plannin, preparation of monitoring tools, training of team, and engagement with relevant partners
- Ensure timely implementation of CDCS activities, monitor achievement of expected results using standard MEAL tools, maintain proper documentation of activities and report as required.
Security constraints:
Security constraints are very high in Gaza, with a context marked by high-intensity military activities including air strikes, land and naval bombardments, as well as risks associated with medium and light infantry weapons. Social tensions are also very high, linked to the war, difficult living conditions and the collapse of economic activity, leading to looting, inter-family dispute as well as criminal acts. Since the ceasefire brokered on 10th of October 2025, the security situation has improved and explosive violence (airstrikes, shelling) has sharply reduced. The situation however remains very fluid and a worsening of the situation remains a possible scenario.
DIPLOMAS AND EXPERIENCE
Experience in the humanitarian sector: 5 years
Experience on a similar position: 3-4 years
SKILLS
TECHNICAL SKILLS
1. Solid experience in WASH emergency/early recovery programming
2. Technical expertise in shelter/construction is an asset
3. Experience in water and solid waste management networks is an asset
4. Experiencing in partnership - preferably with local organizations
5. Good analytical skills and proactive, solution-oriented approach to work.
6. Experience in protracted crisis context (being able to switch between short/medium/long term solutions).
7. Pack MS Office – excellent mastery of Excel included. GIS desirable.
TRANSVERSAL SKILLS
1. Solid management skills and experience
2. Strong organizational skills
3. Strong interpersonal and communication skills
4. Ability to work under pressure
5. Ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment
6. Experience working with SI (or a similar organization) is an asset.
7. Prior experience working in Palestine is an asset.
LANGUAGES
1. Fluent in English, written and spoken.
2. Arabic is an asset.
A salaried position:
According to experience, starting from EUR 2310 gross per month (2100 base salary + 10% annual leave allowance paid monthly) and a monthly Per Diem of USD 750.
SI also covers accommodation costs and travel expenses between the expatriate's country of origin and the place of assignment.
Breaks: Rotation system at time of the job advert. 14 days out of the Gaza Strip every 8 weeks in.
Insurance package: Expatriates benefit from an insurance package which refunds all healthcare expenses (including medical and surgical expenses, dental care and ophthalmological expenses, repatriation) and a welfare system including war risks. Essential vaccination and antimalarial treatment costs are refunded.
LIVING CONDITIONS:
The position is based in Deir-el-Balah, where Solidarités International has its office and guesthouse (like most INGOs). Since the ceasefire brokered on 10th of October, living conditions have improved and markets are increasingly functional. At the time of position opening it was possible to find most basic food items in Deir el Balah market - including fruits and vegetables - although at high prices. Electricity in SI office and guest house is entirely solar-powered which, especially in winter, could be associated with temporary shortages. Despite improvements in the security and economic situations, the working environment remains associated with high levels of stress and limited opportunities to relax. There is however increasing international staff presence in Gaza hence opportunities to socialize over the weekend, within established security procedures.
Do you recognize yourself in this description? If yes, please send us your CV and cover letter!
Please note that CV-only applications will not be considered, and that the vacancy may close before the deadline.
Thank you for your understanding.
To learn more about Sl: www.solidarites.org
--
Solidarités International (SI) est déterminé à prévenir et à combattre tout type d’abus – tout acte d’exploitation, d’abus et/ou de harcèlement sexuels (SEAH) à l’encontre des membres des communautés bénéficiaires ou de ses collaborateurs et collaboratrices, atteinte aux personnes et/ou aux biens, fraude, corruption, conflit d’intérêt non déclaré, financement d’activités portant atteinte aux droits de l’homme - qui pourrait être perpétré dans le cadre de ses interventions. SI applique une tolérance zéro à l’égard de tout type d’abus, particulièrement des actes de SEAH.
Solidarités International est un employeur équitable qui combat toute forme de discrimination. SI ne demandera jamais une rétribution quelconque en vue de participer à un processus de recrutement.
Solidarités International (SI) is determined to prevent and fight all type of abuse – all act of exploitation, abuse and/or sexual harassment (SEAH) against members of beneficiary communities or collaborators, fraud, corruption, violation of persons and/or property, funding of activities harmful to human rights – that could be perpetrated in the frame of its interventions. SI implements a zero-tolerance policy regarding acts of abuse, notably acts of SEAH.
Solidarités International is an equitable employer committed to find all forms of discrimination. SI will ever ask for any remuneration to take part in a recruitment process.