Overview
The Regional Programme Specialist manages a portfolio of grants across Latin America, Africa, and the Arab States regions, contributing to the UN Trust Fund's grant-making, accompaniment, monitoring, capacity development, learning, and partnership functions. The role provides strategic and technical support to grantee partners throughout the grant lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead technical accompaniment, capacity strengthening, and quality assurance for EVAW/G grant programmes.
- Identify programme design, implementation, and institutional capacity gaps and provide tailored technical guidance.
- Strengthen grantee institutional capacity and organizational resilience.
- Promote feminist learning, partner-centred accompaniment, and adaptive management.
- Develop and disseminate technical guidance, tools, and learning resources.
- Manage and monitor regional grants portfolios across the full grant lifecycle.
- Monitor and assess grantee performance through systematic review of reports, consultations, and missions.
- Ensure grant implementation complies with UN Trust Fund policies and UN Women procedures.
- Coordinate with Programme and Finance Associates, UN Women Regional and Country Offices, and other stakeholders.
- Support risk management and portfolio oversight by assisting grantee partners in identifying, managing, and mitigating risks.
- Maintain accurate records of active and closed grants.
- Contribute to portfolio-level analysis and oversight.
- Contribute to grant selection, appraisal, and quality assurance processes.
- Conduct technical appraisal and analysis of applicant proposals.
- Provide technical review and partner accompaniment throughout grant appraisal and project inception.
- Undertake or review implementing partner assessments.
- Support coordination and engagement with Regional Programme Advisory Committees, UN Women Offices, and civil society partners.
- Facilitate capacity development, learning, and regional partnerships.
- Design, facilitate, and contribute to regional and global capacity development initiatives.
- Analyze grantee reports, monitoring findings, and portfolio data to identify trends and lessons learned.
- Contribute to regional and thematic analyses, portfolio reviews, and strategic reporting.
- Undertake monitoring and support missions and engage with stakeholders.
- Support the documentation and dissemination of grantee experiences and practice-based knowledge.
Required Experience
At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in programme management, including programme design, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building in the area of ending violence against women is required. Experience in working directly with civil society and women’s organizations, in the area of ending violence against women and girls is required. Experience setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme monitoring is required. Experience in programme design, monitoring, reporting, and results-based management is required. Experience managing complex multi-country portfolios and working across diverse operational contexts, including crisis-affected or fragile settings, is desirable. Experience providing technical assistance and institutional strengthening support to civil society organizations is highly desirable. Experience in grant-making, proposal appraisal, due diligence, and risk management processes is desirable. Experience coordinating with UN Women offices, UN agencies, donors, and inter-agency stakeholders is desirable. Experience contributing to knowledge generation, evaluation, learning, or evidence synthesis processes is desirable. International experience is desirable.
Qualifications
Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender Studies or related field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A project/programme management certification would be an added advantage.
