Closing Date: 22 December 2025
UNITAR is recruiting for a Senior Program Specialist – P4: Apply Now
Overall Job Purpose:
The focus of the job is to support the implementation of existing projects, identify new funding sources and engage directly in resource mobilization activities in order to diversify the program’s funding base in order to expand the range of services and programs delivered. Provide substantive support for strategic planning and coordination of partnerships. Engage with donors in Türkiye, Middle East and Central Asia, and other regions including Africa and the Americas to implement existing projects. Coordinate the submission of project proposals for European calls and international institutions. Coordinate all the masters programs and expand the masters portfolio within the Division for People.
Senior Program Specialist (P4) Accountabilities:
Under the direct supervision of the Director of the Division for People, the Senior Program Specialist – P4 will be responsible for the following activities:
- Support the strategic planning and coordination of existing and new partnerships to mobilize resources for SDPU by:
- Identifying and pursuing new funding opportunities, actively sourcing diverse funding streams to enhance the program’s financial base and expand the variety of services and initiatives offered.
- Contributing to the development of new approaches, methodologies and policies for innovative projects, transforming them into formal project documents and funding proposals to attract potential donors and partners.
- Supporting the negotiation and finalization of partnerships, contributing to securing voluntary contributions and partnership agreements, ensuring the effective monitoring of activity implementation, tracking progress, managing work plans and budgets, and ensuring the timely submission of both narrative and financial reports.
- Cultivating relationships with key stakeholders, building and maintaining strong connections with international organizations, governments, research bodies, specialized centers, local authority associations, private sector entities, and NGOs, to identify potential areas for capacity-building, propose new initiatives, and tailor specialized content.
- Facilitating UN interagency collaboration, coordinating efforts to enhance cooperation within the UN system, focusing on social and economic development.
- Coordinating bilateral and multilateral fund engagements, regularly communicating with donor representatives and coordinating outreach strategies to enhance collaboration between internal and external stakeholders.
- Creating, maintaining and updating detailed donor and fund profiles, participate in donor meetings, analyze donor priorities, operational methods, and funding calls to identify aligned opportunities that support the Division for People’s objectives.
- Tracking donor interactions and proposal progress, systematically monitoring donor engagements, funding dialogues, and proposal submissions to ensure a coordinated approach across the institution.
- Analyzing funding proposals for securing extra-budgetary resources, ensuring alignment with institutional goals.
- Monitoring and reporting on resource utilization for particularly the CIFAL Global Network, Human Rights Experts Program, the UNITAR Global Water Academy, and the Program of Health and Development and masters programs. This includes analyzing institutional data on resource mobilization, partnerships, projects and supporting the population of dashboards and development of visuals.
- Coordinating the preparation and submission of project proposals for European and international institutional calls, working with a team of experts from diverse institutions (academia, local governments, etc.) to design and submit collaborative proposals, for the SDPU.
- Identifying diverse sources of funding to ensure the financial sustainability of CIFAL Global Network, Human Rights Experts Program, the UNITAR Global Water Academy, and the Program of Health and Development.
- Contributing to the Local 2030 agenda through capacity-building for local authorities, youth, women, and vulnerable communities.
- Coordinate activities and team members in project implementation by:
- Providing necessary supervision and technical advice to Fellows, Consultants, Individual Contractors, and trainees working on new and existing programmatic areas.
- Reviewing progress reports on projects, identifying issues to address, initiating corrective actions for successful delivery, and ensuring follow-up actions.
- Tracking development of partner dialogues, results, and events, and developing development partner updates.
- Extending collaboration with new partners at the local, governmental, and business levels to enhance the dissemination and outreach of projects.
- Building and strengthening networks with governmental agencies, business sectors, and local governments to implement SDPU’s programs, particularly the CIFAL Global Network, Human Rights Experts Program, the UNITAR Global Water Academy, and the Program of Health and Development and coordinate their dissemination with these institutions.
- Coordinate activities related to the existing master’s degrees of SDPU and create new joint master’s degrees with potential partner higher education institutions by:
- Increasing the number, thematic variety, and geographical reach of existing master’s degrees by collaborating with higher education institutions specializing in sustainable development to offer dual diploma programs for graduate studies (master’s and PhD levels).
- Contributing to the development of new joint master’s programs with higher education institutions and governments.
- Enhancing collaborations with governmental agencies (e.g., Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Education) to develop specific master’s degrees (e.g., Executive master’s degrees) tailored and implemented jointly by the Division and the partnering governmental agency.
- Collaborating with the business sector to create mini diploma programs (e.g., Mini MBAs).
- Other tasks include:
- Coordinate collaboration with governmental agencies, business sectors, and local governments to implement the ESG program and its dissemination with these institutions.
- Prepare and present written outputs including training background papers, and studies, evaluations, inputs to publications, and public relations information on the assigned projects including online information and catalogues, to enhance its visibility and contribute to fundraising efforts.
- Participate in the organization and implementation of the other training activities of the Division and undertake outreach activities through organizing training workshops, seminars, and making presentations on topics/activities as assigned by the Director in order to provide substantial support in all aspects of activities serving diverse target audiences.
Work implies frequent interaction with the following:
- Members of the Division, staff in other departments, units and sections within UNITAR;
- Representatives and officials in national governments, local authorities and regional associations;
- Counterparts, senior officers and staff in other UN agencies, academia, private sector, non- governmental and civil society organizations;
- Directors and technical staff of UNITAR’s network of affiliated training centers (CIFAL Global Network)
- Members and partners of the UN Water System Wide Strategy for enhanced affiliation of UNITAR Global Water Academy, and with potential national and local authorities to expand partnerships of the Academy.
- Authorities to efficient implementation and expansion of the Human Rights Training Program for the SDPU.
Results Expected:
- Efficient and effective execution of capacity development activities utilizing knowledge management methodologies, management processes, and adequate methodological approaches and strategies.
- Production of training contents in accordance with approved quality standards criteria.
- Establishment of new donors for program expansion and maintenance of effective relationships with existing and new donors and partners.
- Effective interagency coordination with other parts of the UN for joint delivery of training services in the context of social development and inclusion.
- Coordination of activities related to funding (project proposals design and discussions with potential donors, pledging, agreements, work plans, budget, evaluation reports, etc.).
Minimum requirements
Education: Advanced university degree in social and political sciences, international relations or related field. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral qualification in a relevant academic field would be highly desirable.
Experience: A minimum of seven years of professional experience related to academia and research. Work experience must include the development of partnerships, creation of training content and curricula, resource mobilization with international organizations, project design, planning, implementation, and reporting on results in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Executive experience leading teams and partners is required. Experience with diverse stakeholder groups representing different sectors of society, including governmental, academic, private sector, and media, is essential.
Experience with institutional development is required, as is managing teams in the design and implementation of training and capacity building. Experience in creating executive and postgraduate training programmes, founding and directing training and research initiatives, entrepreneurial platforms, and research centers is required. Experience with managing or working with global networks or regional capacity-building initiatives or similar academic networks will be highly beneficial. Prior experience working in academic environments or higher education institutions would be an asset, especially in areas related to joint degree programmes, research collaborations, or executive education. Working experience in developing countries is highly desirable.
Language: Excellent knowledge of English and Turkish (both oral and written).
Other skills: Academic and research excellence; proven leadership in academic and administrative roles within a major university, successful coordination and management of large- scale research projects and international collaborations, long-standing experience in teaching and mentoring at various levels including, academic and governmental experience in global educational or training programs that are linked to SDGs. Understanding of the United Nations’ reform agenda and the UN´s call on gender equality and women´s empowerment, youth empowerment and digital compact is desirable. Experience in digitalization and the application of new technologies in training programs would be beneficial, given the increasing focus on digital literacy and remote learning solutions in SDPU’s training initiatives.
Special Notice:
UNITAR is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Qualified women, individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups, and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.
English and French are the two working languages of UNITAR. Priority will be given to the applicants from the under-represented regions at UNITAR.
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