Job Summary: Under the overall authority of the Officer-in-Charge of UNESCO Office in Kabul and immediate supervision of the Head of Education Unit of UNESCO Office in Kabul, the consultant will lead education sector resource mobilization efforts as well as support the smooth implementation of education programme and project activities.

Duties: Specifically, the consultant will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities:

1. Donor Engagement & Proposal Development

• Lead engagement and participate in regular meetings with current and prospective donors to build rapport, present achievements, and share funding needs.
• Develop high-quality proposals, concept notes, and project documents aligned with programme priorities and donor requirements.
• Draft and submit project proposals, ensuring compliance with UNESCO priorities, standards and donor guidelines
• Prepare and support donor meetings, including conceptualizing presentations and preparing briefing materials.

2. Donor Relations & Communication

• Organize and manage donor engagements, including field visits, to promote UNESCO programmes and share programme impacts.
• Coordinate closely with communications teams to enhance donor visibility.
• Conduct ongoing research and outreach to partners and donors to identify funding opportunities within identified priority areas.

3. Strategic Planning & Collaboration with Programme Teams

• Support implementing units in aligning project proposals with identified programme and resource mobilization priorities, and donor priorities.
• Regularly liaise with education programme team leads to stay informed about programme updates, facilitating timely and relevant donor communications.
• Maintain and update the resource mobilization plan and pipeline, including strategic goals and objectives for resource mobilization, and overview of engagement with partners and donors.
• Facilitate resource mobilization working group and participate in relevant programme and donor meetings to provide resource mobilization updates and insights.

4. Support implementation of education programme and project activities

• Provide technical guidance to Planning Monitoring and Coordination Team (PMC) and support procurement processes in support of programme implementation as per workplan and procurement plan.

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the consultant is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender analysis and mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial):

–

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in the field of education, business administration, social sciences, development studies or related area.

Work experience:

• At least ten years of relevant work experience in education programme implementation; and
• At least five years of experience in resource mobilization, donor relations, or a related field, preferably within UN or NGO sectors.
• A sound understanding of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach in programming.

Skills/Competencies:

• Excellent understanding of development partners’ expectations and trends in the education sector;
• Excellent project management skills, including results-based management, financial management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting;
• Strong sensitivity and adaptability in post-conflict countries and diversity (culture, gender, religion, race, and nationality);
• Excellent coordination and organizational skills;
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to draft clearly and concisely;
• Ability to work effectively in a team and to maintain effective working relationships in a multicultural environment;
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships;
• Ability to work under pressure, manage heavy workloads, and meet tight deadlines, paying close attention to detail and quality of work; and
• Strong IT skills, including good knowledge of standard office software and online collaboration tools.

Languages

• Fluency in English (spoken and written) is required.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

Work Experience

• Relevant work experience in the UN; and Previous work experience in crisis-affected contexts, particularly Afghanistan.

Skills/Competencies

• Knowledge of UNESCO’s mission and action in the position’s field.

Languages

• Knowledge of the national languages of Afghanistan (Dari and/or Pashto).