Donor Relations Officer, Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh

General

Description of assignment title: Donor Relations Officer

Assignment country: Bangladesh

Duty stations: Cox's Bazaar

Work location: On UN premises

Expected start date: 08/25/2026

Duration: 12 months(with possibility of extension)Long-term benefits and allowances

Sustainable Development Goal: 17. Partnerships for the goals

Host entity: UNICEF

Modality: Onsite

Type: International

Volunteer category: Expert UCoS from Apr2026

Work schedule: Full-time

Number of Assignments: 1

Details

Mission and objectives:

• UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
• UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
• UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.
• UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families.
• UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities.

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• UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care.
• UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority.
• UNICEF aims, through its country programmes, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities.
• UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Context:

• UNICEF Bangladesh has scaled up its programming considerably in response to the 2018 Rohingya crisis and more recently the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, with commensurate increases in funding needs.
• The capacity of the office to raise and manage these additional funds, as well as ensure adequate funding for the existing and upcoming new country programme, has been strengthened by the setting up of a Partnerships Unit reporting to the Deputy Representative. This team has contributed to diversifying significantly the overall public and private donor portfolio, successfully increasing annual revenue from an average of approximately $60m per year over the course of the last CPD (Country Ptogramme Document) until 2017 to over $150m in recent years. The need for ongoing technical support and sustained attention to contribution management will be extended well into future years. Continued and timely donor reporting will be critical to maintaining both the humanitarian response as well as delivering the large-scale ongoing development programme.
• Working as a key member of the resource mobilization and partnerships team, this role is based in Dhaka and will collaborate closely with the programme sections and the Cox's Bazar team; and ensure funding needs are supported, whilst safeguarding overall quality in fundraising activities, systems and processes. Continued resource mobilization and timely donor support is critical to enable UNICEF to deliver at scale.
• For this reason, donor proposals, reports and other programmatic documents must be delivered at a high standard, in line with organizational standards and benchmarks, and aligned with donor expectations. The incumbent will be instrumental in ensuring quality donor reporting and grant management, in close coordination with the programme teams, the donor relations specialist, and the wider Partnerships Unit. Failure to deliver on our donor agreements, especially donor quality reporting, donor coordination and contract management will put the totality of the Country Programme and the humanitarian and development interventions at risk of being under-funded. This in turn will impair the ability of UNICEF Bangladesh to delivery results for children. The results affect ultimately credibility, reputation and success of UNICEF.

Task description:

• Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Chief Partnerships or their designated mandated representative(s), and working closely with the Partnerships Unit, the Communications Team and Programme Sections, the UN Volunteer Donor Relations Officer will:
• Update and maintain information on all donor and programme reporting requirements and templates.
• Provide section chiefs and field offices with regular updates on these requirements and follow-up as required to ensure the timely inputs, clearance and submissions of proposals and reports to donors.
• Work with relevant sections and field offices in the preparation of high-quality concept notes, funding proposals and donor reports by standardizing formats, contents and ensuring adherence to donor requirements.
• Provide quality assurance of proposals and reports. This includes gathering of information, consolidation, editing, layout and branding of all required proposals and reports which include ad hoc proposals, donor interim and final reports and specific thematic reports.
• Ensure donor reporting and proposal SOPs (Standard Operating Procedure) are followed.
• Ensure the templates, donor conditions and final version of concept notes and reports are properly saved in the donor SharePoint folder and easily accessible to programme colleagues.
• In close collaboration with the External Communications section, ensure that the necessary visibility requirements are communicated to the sections and collected timely for reporting and other such purposes. Ensure inclusion of human-interest material in donor proposals and reports.
• Support sections on the submission of grant extensions and programme change requests to donors. Ensure the revised plans and related information is saved on the grant SharePoint folder.
• In close collaboration with the Budget Unit, monitor funds utilization, grant expiry, etc, and ensure programmes are implementing in alignment with donor conditions.
• Conduct research and maintain up-to-date information on donors for UNICEF Bangladesh's advocacy and resource mobilization information and use.
• Update and prepare briefing notes and presentations for the donor meetings and field visits as required.
• Coordinate donor engagements - meetings and technical calls - under the direction of the Partnerships Unit.
• Support the development of internal and external briefing documents.
• Provide training and technical assistance, as required, to staff and partners to improve the overall quality and consistency concept notes, proposals and reports.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to ensure the success of the team, including support with other types of reports.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 - 80

Required experience: 7 years

Nationality: Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Assignment requirements

Relevant experience:

• 7 years

Languages:

• English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level:

• Master's degree in international relations, political science, communications, or areas related to public policy, international development.

Competencies and values:

• Core Values
• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Sustainability
• Core Competencies
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness
• Works Collaboratively with others
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Thinks and Acts Strategically
• Drives to achieve impactful results
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Functional Competencies
• Analysing
• Persuading and influencing
• Entrepreneurial Thinking

Skills and experience:

• At least 7 years of professional work experience at the national and/or international level in external relations, fundraising, grant management or other relevant programmes; experience working in the UN or other international development organization is an asset.
• Advanced ability to express ideas and concepts clearly and concisely orally as well as in writing
• Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills.
• Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and approaches of communications for development.
• Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.
• Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment.
• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.
• Have affinity with or interest in child rights, development and volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

Area(s) of expertise:

• Partnerships, resource mobilisation

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