Job description

Humanitarian and Field Coordination Specialist

The Position:

Under the overall direction of the UNFPA Representative and the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative, the Humanitarian and Field Coordinator Specialist (HFCS) serves as the primary interlocutor between the Country Office (CO) and the sub-national Field Hubs. The incumbent is responsible for the strategic leadership of UNFPA’s humanitarian response while ensuring the operational effectiveness of the three Field Hubs. A critical component of this role is championing the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus, ensuring that emergency interventions in Reproductive Health (SRH) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) transition seamlessly into sustainable development and peace-building frameworks and ensuring management of Implementing Partners (IPs) at the sub-national level.

How you  an make a difference:

The UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026–2029 serves as the organization’s final push to achieve the 2030 Agenda, centering its mission on four primary outcomes. It continues to prioritize the "three transformative results"-ending the unmet need for family planning, eliminating preventable maternal deaths, and stopping gender-based violence and harmful practices. A pivotal addition to this cycle is a fourth outcome focused on demographic resilience, which seeks to help nations navigate complex population shifts, such as aging and urbanization, while ensuring that individual rights and reproductive choices remain at the heart of national policies.

To accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the plan shifts toward a more integrated approach that bridges humanitarian, development, and peace efforts. By leveraging advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence, UNFPA aims to pinpoint and support those "furthest behind," directly contributing to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality). This strategic framework emphasizes sustainable financing and localized agility, ensuring that even in climate-vulnerable or conflict-affected regions, the global community remains on track to fulfill the promise of the 2030 goals.

Job Purpose:

The HFCS will lead the Humanitarian Response Unit (HRU) and provide management oversight to UNFPA’s sub-national structures. The role is designed to decentralize technical excellence, ensuring that Field Hubs are not just operational outposts but strategic centers that synchronize humanitarian action with early recovery. By fostering a "Nexus approach," the incumbent ensures that UNFPA’s presence in flashpoint states contributes to long-term resilience and local capacity building.

Responsibilities:

The Humanitarian and Field Coordinator Specialist will be responsible for: 

  1. Field Hub Coordination & Sub-National Leadership
  • Coordinate the operational and programmatic work of the three UNFPA Field Hubs, ensuring alignment with the Country Programme Document (CPD) and the humanitarian response plan.
  • Supervise Field Hub Leads, providing technical and managerial guidance to ensure consistent service delivery across diverse geographical locations (e.g., Bentiu, Malakal, etc.).
  • Strengthen the "Field Hub Model" by improving communication loops between Juba and the field, ensuring that field-level challenges inform national-level policy and vice versa.
  1. HDP Nexus Championing & Strategic Integration
  • Lead the practical application of the HDP Nexus within the Field Hubs, moving beyond "siloed" emergency aid to programs that strengthen national health systems and social cohesion.
  • Identify opportunities for "Peace" integration within SRH and GBV programming, ensuring that service delivery contributes to conflict sensitivity and community resilience.

  • Facilitate the transition of emergency interventions into regular country programming, ensuring that "lessons from the field" (e.g., Bentiu Hub) are scaled nationally.

            2. Humanitarian Programme Management & Technical Oversight

  • Direct the Humanitarian Response Unit (HRU), overseeing the planning and implementation of emergency SRH and GBV interventions.
  • Ensure the implementation of the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH and ensure GBV sub-cluster functions are robust at the sub-national level.
  • Oversee commodity security, specifically the "Consumption-based Supply of RH Kits," to prevent stock-outs in complex emergency settings.

      3. Representation, Advocacy & Partnership

  • Represent UNFPA in the Inter-Sectoral Working Group (ISWG) and support senior management in the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT).
  • Foster strategic alliances with local authorities, NGOs, and UN agencies at the hub level to advocate for the prioritization of women and girls in the humanitarian-development continuum.

  • Lead resource mobilization by developing high-quality proposals (e.g., CERF, SSHF/CHF) that emphasize both immediate life-saving needs and Nexus-oriented sustainability.

     4.Strategic IP Management & Oversight

  • Lead operationalization of IP Management at the field level, ensuring proper implementation and HDP Nexus alignment.
  • Conduct regular technical capacity assessments of IPs in the hubs to identify gaps in SRH, GBV, and financial management, and implement remedial capacity-building plans.
  • Ensure IP Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Oversee the submission of timely and quality Work Plans (WPs), FACE forms, and progress reports from field-based partners.
  • Performance Monitoring: Establish a rigorous field-based monitoring system to verify that IP deliverables meet UNFPA’s quality standards and contribute to the "Three Transformative Results."

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education: 

Master's  degree in Public Health, International Development, Social Sciences, or Medical Sciences.

Knowledge and Experience: 

  • At least 7 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in humanitarian programming, with a focus on SRH and GBV.
  • Proven experience in Field Coordination or managing sub-national offices in complex, conflict-affected environments.
  • Demonstrated expertise in the HDP Nexus, specifically in transitioning emergency programs to development frameworks.
  • Strong track record in people management and leading multi-disciplinary teams across remote locations.

Languages: 

Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages, preferably Arabic is desirable. 

Required Competencies:

Values:

  • Exemplifying integrity, 
  • Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system, 
  • Embracing cultural diversity, 
  • Embracing change            

Core Competencies: 

  • Achieving Results
  • Being Accountable
  • Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen
  • Thinking analytically and strategically
  • Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships
  • Communicating for Impact

Functional Competencies:

  • Strategic IP Management & Capacity Building
  • Field Hub Operational Excellence
  • HDP Nexus Implementation
  • Resource Mobilization & Proposal Development
  • Results-based Programme Management

Compensation and Benefits: 

This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.

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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.