Union Aid (UA) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political humanitarian and development organization established by Dr. Toryalay Nassery (an Afghan scholar) in July 1979 in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was formed in response to the influx of refugees from Afghanistan and was the first/pioneer organization to serve the Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Union Aid implemented its activities mainly in refugee camps that later became villages, which was one of the biggest refugee camps in the world at that time.

UA initiated its activities in Afghanistan in the 1981 and gradually expanded its services all over Afghanistan.

UA started its activities with two doctors and two paramedical staff that gradually expanded to various programs, including:

Health Care & Nutrition: Establishment and management of hospitals and clinics, maternal and child health services, nutrition programs, family planning, as well as full sponsorship and specialized treatment of patients in European countries including Germany, Spain and Italy.

Food Security: Distribution of food items throughout the country.

Education: Literacy initiatives, school management, scholarships for students, and teacher training programs.

Livelihoods & Vocational Skills: Technical training, handicraft production, and employment generation activities to strengthen self-reliance.

WASH & Shelter: Provision of clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion, and emergency shelters.

Emergency Response: Life-saving interventions including food and non-food distributions, winter relief packages, and rapid health responses during crises.

Agriculture & Environment: Tree plantation and afforestation initiatives to support sustainability and environmental resilience.

Protection: Women empowerment projects, orphanage centers, and demining project.

Cash Assistance: Continuous financial support for needy families and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

These programs have been made successfully implemented with the strong support of donors including German Government, German donors, UN agencies, Canadian government, International organizations and individuals.

Over the past several decades, Union Aid has played a significant role in improving the lives of tens of millions of Afghans and strengthening thousands of communities throughout Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Position Summary:

Under the overall leadership of the Executive Director, the Program Advisor provides high-level technical, strategic, and programmatic guidance across Union Aid projects. The role ensures that projects are designed, implemented, monitored, and reported according to national standards, donor requirements, and best practices. The Advisor produces high quality, evidence based, and results oriented reports on organizational and projects progress. The Program Advisor leads technical quality assurance, provides strategic advice, supports organizational learning and organizational innovation, and mentors program and relevant technical staff to strengthen program quality and reporting. The role contributes to strengthening Union Aid’s reputation, effectiveness, and accountability.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Technical Guidance

• Provide expert advice to project teams and management on program design, workplans, and technical implementation.
• Provide oversight across the full project lifecycle (design, implementation, monitoring, closure), ensuring milestones, deliverables, and compliance are tracked and met.
• Support development and refinement of project activities, major and minor tasks, and their alignment with indicators and targets.
• Ensure all activities comply with national standards, ensuring that current health-related projects comply with MoPH and BPHS standards
• Review and guide supportive supervision plans, including scheduled and random field visits.
• Review existing UA policies and procedures, provide recommendations for improvement, and ensure alignment with donor, national, sector standards and overall organizational strategic path.

2. Program Quality & Improvement

• Monitor program quality and results across all projects.
• Conduct periodic field visits, technical assessments, and data reviews to identify strengths, gaps, and areas for improvement.
• Ensure activities produce measurable results and align with project indicators.
• Analyze project performance data and provide actionable recommendations for improvement.
• Collaborate with M&E/MEAL teams to verify data quality and ensure reporting accurately reflects field performance

3. Strategic Planning & Organizational Development

• Support the Executive Director in developing and reviewing strategic plans, operational frameworks, and organizational goals.
• Contribute to or Lead initiatives that promote innovation, organizational learning, and continuous improvement.
• Conduct trend analysis and provide insights to inform strategic programming and resource allocation.
• Identify emerging needs and opportunities in the humanitarian and development sectors.
• Document lessons learned, best practices, evaluations, and produce internal guidance or policy-oriented briefs to integrate learning into program design and organizational strategy.
• Provide evidence-based inputs to sectoral forums and policy discussions to advocate for program priorities and best practices.

4. Proposal Development & Donor Engagement

• Support the identification of new funding opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
• Prepare technical inputs, concept notes, and feasibility analyses for potential donor proposals.
• Contribute to and lead proposal development, logframes, and accurate budgeting that reflects field realities.
• Contribute to donor mapping, fundraising strategies, and maintaining a pipeline of potential funding opportunities.

5. Capacity Building & Mentorship

• Train program, M&E/MEAL and other relevant staff on project management, results-based management, reporting, and technical standards.
• Facilitate internal training sessions or coordinate external experts as needed.
• Mentor Project staff on planning, supervision, reporting, and technical implementation.
• Promote knowledge sharing and a learning culture across Union Aid.

6. Reporting & Documentation Support

• Review technical content of all project reports, donor submissions, and program documentation before submission to the Executive Director.
• Prepare donor reports ensuring technical accuracy and alignment with project data collaborating with relevant teams before submission to the Executive Director.
• Ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with organizational and donor standards.
• Prepare success stories and other reports to support organizational learning.

7. Representation & Coordination

• Represent Union Aid externally as delegated by the Executive Director in coordination meetings, forums, and technical discussions.
• Maintain effective communication and coordination with management teams, project staff, donors, partners, and government authorities.
• Advocate for program priorities and ensure organizational interests are well represented.

8. Compliance, Quality Assurance, and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with Union Aid policies, donor regulations, and reporting guidelines.
• Monitor risks related to program implementation and advise leadership on mitigation measures.
• Uphold quality assurance standards across project documentation, data systems, and reporting processes.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree preferred in Public Health, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Project Management, Public/Business Administration, or a related fields.
• (Bachelor’s degree with more than 7 years of experience is also acceptable).

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in program management, monitoring & evaluation, or advisory roles within NGOs/INGOs/UN agencies.
• Strong understanding of health programming, results-based management, donor reporting, and national standards (BPHS/EPHS) is preferred.
• Demonstrated multi-sectoral experience in at least four of the following sectors: Health, Nutrition, Food Security, Livelihoods, WASH, Education, Protection, Women Empowerment, and Emergency Response.
• Experience with UN agencies or large INGOs is preferred.

Additional Assets:

• Proven experience in strategic planning, program design, and capacity building.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills in English.
• Proficiency in Dari and Pashto (reading, writing, speaking) is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and guide project staff.
• Experience in external representation, donor liaison, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
• Ability to work effectively under high-pressure and time-limited conditions.
• Proven Excellent Proposal writing skills including narrative portion, logframes and budget.

Core Competencies

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving
• Leadership and mentorship
• Technical expertise in health and development programs
• Results orientation and quality assurance
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities

Union Aid has a zero tolerance policy with regard to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Union Aid‘s personnel against the people they serve. All forms of sexual exploitation and abuse are incompatible with the universally accepted norms, values, principles and standards that underpin Union Aid. Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is the responsibility of everyone and all selected candidates will be required to comply with the Union Aid’s PSEA Policy at all times. Selected candidates will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks against their past behavior related to sexual exploitation and abuse, and may be required to provide additional information further on in the selection process.

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• Aplications received after the closing date will not be considered
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