Deputy Executive Director (Programme)

Role purpose

The Deputy Executive Director (Programme), along with the Deputy Executive Director (Management), is one of the two most senior members of the UNFPA leadership team working under the leadership of and in close collaboration with the UNFPA Executive Director. In support of UNFPA’s mandate and programmes, the Deputy Executive Director (Programme) is responsible for technical and strategic leadership, management and communication of the UNFPA programme and humanitarian response. The position also has responsibilities for building and maintaining partnerships with the UN and bilateral agencies and other partners on specific programme themes.

The Deputy Executive Director (Programme) holds the rank of United Nations Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and leads a senior management team of eight Directors at the D-2 level. The Deputy Executive Director (Programme) proactively engages in UNFPA’s strategic direction to help implement the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Normative leadership: Uphold UNFPA’s normative role and mandate on sexual and reproductive health and rights and role as custodian of the International Conference on Population and Development.
• Strategic direction of the programme and humanitarian portfolio: Provide strategic direction and leadership across all of UNFPA’s programmatic functions, including humanitarian response. Supervise a senior leadership team of Directors (currently, the Director of the Programme Division, the Humanitarian Response Division, and six Regional Directors) to ensure the seamless integration of policy, strategy, technical expertise, and evidence-based programming to advance UNFPA’s mandate in development and humanitarian settings and to ensure more coherent approaches across the humanitarian-development-peace continuum.
• Strategic Plan and Vision: Lead the organization’s programmatic contributions and oversee implementation overall of the new UNFPA Strategic Plan, 2026-2029, driving its vision for resilience and renewal. Ensure the successful implementation of its four interconnected outcomes, including through country programme documents: ending the unmet need for family planning; ending preventable maternal deaths; ending gender-based violence and harmful practices; and adapting to demographic change through rights-based policies.
• Investment and Financing: Champion and lead the strategic shift from traditional funding models to funding and leveraging sustainable financing and investment.
• Demographic Foresight and Normative Leadership: Lead the organization’s agenda on demographic change, ensuring that demographic intelligence and foresight inform rights-based policies and national development strategies. Uphold UNFPA’s normative role in advancing the ICPD Programme of Action.

Programme Execution and Oversight

• Programme Quality and Impact: Direct UNFPA’s work to achieve enhanced impact in programming at both country and regional levels. Improve the quality and control of country programmes by robustly strengthening systems, processes, and oversight structures to build resilience in a polycrisis world.
• Programme and Humanitarian Coherence and Direction: Ensure that all relevant organizational units provide cutting-edge, integrated technical and policy guidance across the organization, in both development and humanitarian settings. Guide Regional Directors’ visions to ensure effective oversight and quality assurance of programming, clarifying and strengthening accountabilities between regional, headquarters, and country levels.
• Risk Management: Oversee programmatic performance and lead the development of related risk mitigation strategies. Support country teams as needed, and through regional offices, with strategic decision-making and programme alignment with the organization’s core mission.
• Humanitarian Mainstreaming and Leadership: Oversee UNFPA’s humanitarian response strategy, policies, and implementation. Ensure that the response to humanitarian crises, transition, and recovery is effectively mainstreamed within the organization’s programming and strategic positioning, with a focus on the Humanitarian-Development-Peacebuilding continuum.

Partnerships, Representation, and Resource Mobilization

• High-Level Representation: Represent UNFPA at the highest levels of policy dialogue on programming and humanitarian matters with Executive Board Members, Member States, major international partners, and civil society organizations. Represent UNFPA at relevant meetings of the UN Sustainable Development Group, the High-Level Committee on Programming and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).
• Coalition Building and Sustainable Financing: Lead technical, strategy, and advocacy coalition-building to drive the mobilization of diverse and sustainable financing for transformative investments, expanding beyond traditional ODA.
• Strategic Partnerships: Build strong partnerships with governments, international financial institutions, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector to expand and diversify funding. Leverage innovative best practices to build new and non-traditional financial partnerships to maximize investments in sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Team and Organizational Leadership

• Talent Development: Systematically strengthen the capabilities of the senior programme leadership team and developing direct reports.
• Change Management: Work closely with the Deputy Executive Director (Management) on change management initiatives that support UNFPA’s programme aims.
• Empowerment and Culture: Ensure clarity in roles, accountability, and decision-making, empowering the senior leadership team and country office heads to deliver results at a high level. Foster a culture of collaboration, adaptation, and innovation, strengthening relationships among headquarters programmatic units, Regional Offices, and Country Offices.
• Safeguarding: Model highest standards of ethical behaviour and zero tolerance for any wrongdoing.
• Support other activities, initiatives and priorities as determined and guided by the Executive Director.