Project Officer

Over the past few years, Afghanistan has witnessed a relative improvement in security and stability across much of the country. This has allowed humanitarian actors like INTERSOS to maintain uninterrupted access and expand services in areas that were previously hard to reach. Despite this progress, the humanitarian situation remains critical, with millions of Afghans continuing to face acute vulnerabilities due to prolonged economic hardship, natural disasters, and limited access to essential services.

In 2025, more than half of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance, with food insecurity, child malnutrition, and displacement remaining key concerns. Natural disasters, such as floods and recent earthquakes, have further compounded the needs of already struggling communities.

INTERSOS continues to operate through a community-based approach with field bases in Kabul, Kandahar, and Zabul, delivering primary healthcare, nutrition, and protection services with a focus on women, children, and persons with disabilities. The organization enjoys strong community acceptance and collaborates closely with relevant national authorities, including maintaining the full participation of female staff in all activities.

While the operational environment is largely stable and conducive, funding shortfalls and systemic barriers such as restrictions on financial flows and administrative bottlenecks continue to impact the scope and scale of humanitarian response. Sustained support is crucial to ensure the continuity of life-saving services and to address the urgent needs of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations.

Under the direct line management of Programme Manager (PgM) the Project Officer coordinates the implementation, monitoring, and reporting of a multisector project (Health, Nutrition, Protection & DRR) funded by institutional donors (ECHO/AICS/DRA/GF/etc). The Project Officer ensures effective planning across provinces and sectors, and high-quality reporting, while technical quality and field line management remain with technical and field managers, and overall donor accountability with the Programme Manager (PgM) collaboration with Head of Programme (HoP) and Grant and Reporting Manager (GRM).

Key Responsibilities

1)      Project Planning and Start-Up

Ø  The Officer leads development and regular updating of the detailed project implementation plan (DIP) for all components (Health, Nutrition, Protection & DRR) with clear timelines, responsibilities, and geographic coverage.

Ø  They work with technical managers (TMM/TNM/TPM/MWAM/MAM, etc) and Field Managers to ensure feasibility of the plan, integration between sectors, and alignment with the log frame and donor contract.

Ø  They support start-up workshops and ensure that all teams understand the project scope, targets, cross-cutting commitments (safeguarding, gender, accountability), and reporting requirements.

2)      Day-to-Day Coordination (No Direct Line Management)

Ø  The Officer facilitates day-to-day coordination between technical teams and province teams.

Ø  They organize regular project follow-up meetings (e.g weekly & monthly), review progress against the DIP, and agree on corrective action points.

Ø  They anticipate bottlenecks (e.g access, staffing, supplies) and flag issues to the Programme Manager when they require higher-level decision or negotiation.

3)      Budget Monitoring and Procurement Follow-up

Ø  In close collaboration with finance and logistics, the Officer tracks project expenditures per budget line and per component (sector/province etc).

Ø  They identify under/over-spending trends, support forecasts, and alert the Programme Manager in time to make adjustments.

Ø  They help ensure that procurement plans match the implementation schedule, and that critical supplies for health/nutrition/protection and DRR activities are ordered and delivered on time.

4)      Risk, Issue, and Changes Management (as key input for periodic Project Review)

Ø  The Officer maintains the project risks and issue log covering operational (access, security, supply chain), contextual, safeguarding, and compliance risks.

Ø  They coordinate with Field managers and technical managers to update mitigation measures and follow-up implementation.

Ø  When significant changes are needed (retarget, budget re-allocation, timeline adjustment, activation of crisis modifier), they flag to PgM and draft change request documentation and justification for the Programme Manager which will be submitted to HoP and Grant and Reporting Manager (GRM).

5)      MEAL and Quality Assurance Support

Ø  In collaboration with MEAL and technical managers the Officer ensures that the project ITT is integrated into the project routine (Monthly PAT) monitoring and reporting.

Ø  He/she supports planning of assessments, baselines/endlines, PDMs, and protection risk analyses, and ensures that monitoring and evaluation findings are discussed with teams and feed into project adjustments.

Ø  He/she helps to ensure CFRM are in place and functioning in close collaboration with accountability team, and that serious issues are escalated appropriately.

6)      Reporting and Documentation (as per the Donor & organizational requirements)

Ø  The Officer consolidates narrative and quantitative inputs from field team (respective provinces of the project), MEAL, and technical managers into high quality internal and external reports (monthly/quarterly/ internal update for project review workshop, donor interim and final reports).

Ø  He/She ensures consistency between narrative, log frame, indicators, and financial information, and that cross-cutting issues (protection mainstreaming, gender, age, disability, AAP) are adequately reflected.

Ø  He/She maintains structured project documentation (workplans, meeting minutes, reports, evidence) in line with donor and internal archiving standards.

7)      External and Internal Representation (Delegated)

Ø  When delegated by the Programme Manager (PgM), He/She participates in internal coordination meetings (regional coordination, sectoral meetings) and relevant external forums (Clusters/working groups, local authorities, partners) at project level.

Ø  He/She presents project progress and constraints clearly, collects relevant information affecting implementation, and brings back key points and decisions to the Programme Manager and technical/field manager.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Social Sciences, Development, or related field.
• Master’s degree is an added advantage.

Experience

• Minimum 4–6 years of relevant experience in humanitarian programming.
• Demonstrated experience in area-based or multi-sector programming.
• Proven experience with at least one of the following donors:
  • ECHO,
  • BMGF / health-focused donors,
  • Shelter-focused programming (ShelterBox or similar).
• Strong experience in Afghanistan or comparable high-risk contexts.

1.  Key Competencies

• Strong field coordination and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to operate in volatile, access-constrained environments.
• Excellent analytical and reporting capacity (not just descriptive).
• Strong stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills.
• Ability to translate strategy into field-level action.
• High level of adaptability and decision-making under pressure.

Respected Applicants, please visit the link below and fill in the required information.

https://forms.gle/dnHJTpXgVi685Jnj7

Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted with and called for a test/Interview.

Qualified People with Physical Disabilities and Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply