Associate Programme Officer Iica

Deadline for Applications
January 12, 2026
Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)
A (least hardship)
Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
Family
Staff Member / Affiliate Type
UNOPS IICA1
Target Start Date

Terms of Reference
Operational Context:
Currently, the UNHCR operation in Brazil comprises the Country Office (CO) in Brasília, Sub-Office (SO) in Boa Vista, Field Offices (FO) in Pacaraima, Manaus, and São Paulo, and Field Unit (FU) in Belém. Each office has specific geographical coverage, and the operation continues to pursue decentralized operations management under the overall guidance of the Country Office. Since 2014, the number of forced displacements has grown dramatically and at a high pace, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this context, several countries face an unprecedented demand and, consequently, the challenge of providing responses that guarantee both adequate care with dignity and humanity, as well as the local integration of people forced to move.
Brazil maintains a generous asylum policy, particularly through the emergency response “Operação Acolhida” (a humanitarian response that includes documentation, humanitarian assistance—including shelter—and voluntary internal relocation within Brazil), which began in 2018.
The majority of refugees in Brazil have an urban profile and are formally granted access to social and economic rights such as health care, education, and work—the latter remaining the main challenge to refugees’ self-reliance. UNHCR works with partners to ensure quality protection standards for refugees and asylum seekers, providing them with comprehensive, complementary, and sustainable solutions; and promoting safe borders and emergency preparedness to better protect all people of concern.
This position closely collaborates with a number of internal and external stakeholders on fundraising initiatives; the incumbent should thus have proven experience and knowledge of partnership management, grant management and fundraising for both cash and in-kind contributions. The incumbent should also have strong capacity-building experience, performance management skills, and sound experience managing teams.
Finally, the incumbent of the position reports directly to the Deputy Representative.
Additional Strategic Responsibilities:
- Expand linkages with external relations to strengthen partnerships and resource mobilization efforts.
- Develop and maintain robust grant management and grant monitoring capacity, ensuring compliance with donor requirements and timely reporting.
- Establish a solid programme monitoring system for earmarked funds, enabling effective tracking of implementation, impact, and accountability.
The incumbent of this position is expected to have proven programme technical knowledge and multi-stakeholder management skills to support technical validation roles countrywide. The incumbent will also contribute to planning and designing operational interventions, requiring experience in multi-year strategy development and implementation as well as Results-Based Management (RBM).
It is essential that the incumbent possesses strong capacity-building experience, performance management skills, and sound experience managing teams. Experience in emergency operations and familiarity with Latin American contexts and even experience in Brazil, is desirable.
Standard Job Description:
Associate Programme Officer
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Associate Programme Officer may be based in HQ, field/regional bureau, typically reporting to and be guided by the Program officer and may supervise a small team of local staff. He/she may refer to UNHCR's Programme Manual (Chapter IV), UNHCR's corporate and regional strategic priorities, operation plans and other relevant institutional rules and regulations for further guidance.
The Associate Programme Officer will provide programmatic guidance and support with regard to the implementation of protection and solutions strategies within available resources. S/he will coordinate with the other sections/units to ensure harmonized programmatic approaches at all levels and throughout the UNHCR Operations Management Cycle. The incumbent will work in line with the overall UNHCR directions which crucially require working with partners, including with forcibly displaced and stateless persons, governmental institutions and the private sector, ensuring that programme management is approached as per UNHCR's Strategic Directions, Global Strategic Priorities (GSPs), Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), and corporate positions on SDGs.
The incumbent is expected to work in line with the multi-functional team (MFT) approach as defined within the Program Manual, ensuring the participation of relevant stakeholders in all phases of the Program Management Cycle.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable t