Programme Management - Senior Officer

The Asia Pacific Regional Office, based in Bangkok, Thailand, provides strategic leadership and oversight for UNOPS operations across 17 countries, ensuring high performance, operational excellence, and alignment with organizational goals. Operations currently span Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands. Across these countries, we work closely with key stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and maximize impact through five main operating units: Afghanistan (AFCO), Myanmar (MMCO), South Asia Multi-Country Office (SAMCO), East Asia and Pacific Multi-Country Office (EAPMCO), and the Asia Regional Health Cluster (ARHC). Through these entities, we provide agile, client-focused service delivery across diverse sectors - including infrastructure, health, procurement, and project management - supporting the implementation of sustainable development solutions across the region.

UNOPS Myanmar is one of UNOPS’ leading offices in Asia, acting as the fund manager for some of the largest development programmes in the country. In addition, UNOPS is the Principal Recipient for the Global Fund in Myanmar and for the Global Fund’s regional artemisinin-resistance initiative towards the elimination of Malaria, which works to accelerate progress toward malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong sub-region. UNOPS provides procurement, infrastructure, and project management services to a wide range of organizations in the country, including international development partners, other UN agencies, NGOs, and INGOs. UNOPS plays a critical role in ensuring that the quality of services provided to its partners meets stringent requirements of speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

LIFT is embarking on a new strategic period for 2024-2028. The LIFT 2024-2028 Strategy builds on the achievements of LIFT's experience as well as recent adaptations and learning in the face of a changing and dynamic context. The new Strategy outlines an approach to tackle structural drivers of poverty and vulnerability, while also considering immediate interventions to secure and maintain Myanmar's previous development gains. LIFT has proven itself as a key delivery partner across Myanmar’s changing contexts – ranging from post-Nargis recovery, economic and rural development at a time of transition, and relief support during COVID-19. LIFT is managed by the United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) and has received funding from 16 international donors. The current donors are the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark.

LIFT is embarking on a new strategic period for 2024-2028. The LIFT 2024-2028 Strategy builds on the achievements of LIFT's experience as well as recent adaptations and learning in the face of a changing and dynamic context. The new Strategy outlines an approach to tackle structural drivers of poverty and vulnerability, while also considering immediate interventions to secure and maintain Myanmar's previous development gains. LIFT has proven itself as a key delivery partner across Myanmar’s changing contexts – ranging from post-Nargis recovery, economic and rural development at a time of transition, and relief support during COVID-19. LIFT is managed by the United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) and has received funding from 16 international donors. The current donors are the United Kingdom, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Management Specialist (Fund Board and Financial Inclusion), the Programme Management Senior Officer will play a substantive technical and programmatic role in advancing LIFT’s financial inclusion portfolio. The position will provide analytical depth, sectoral insight, and strategic support across initiatives focused on microfinance, inclusive finance mechanisms, and domestic capital mobilisation, contributing to the overall quality, coherence, and effectiveness of LIFT’s interventions.

The role is designed to strengthen LIFT’s capacity to engage with complex financial inclusion ecosystems by supporting the development, refinement, and adaptive management of inclusive finance approaches that respond to evolving market dynamics, conflict-affected operating environments, and the needs of underserved populations. This includes providing technical input on service delivery models, partner approaches, and portfolio-level learning to enhance outreach, resilience, and sustainability of financial inclusion outcomes.

The Programme Management Senior Officer will provide analytical depth, sectoral insight, and strategic support across initiatives focused on microfinance, inclusive finance mechanisms, and domestic capital mobilisation, contributing to the overall quality, coherence, and effectiveness of LIFT’s interventions.

Financial Inclusion Strategy, Market Systems, and Portfolio Direction

• Provide technical input to refine and operationalize LIFT’s financial inclusion strategy, including pathways for inclusive finance, domestic capital mobilisation, and market systems strengthening.

• Conduct sector and market systems analysis (e.g., access constraints, provider incentives, regulatory dynamics, delivery channels) to inform portfolio priorities and adaptive programming.

• Identify strategic opportunities to deepen outreach and relevance for vulnerable groups (including conflict-affected, women, youth, and excluded rural households), aligned with GEDSI objectives.

• Provide recommendations for portfolio coherence across instruments and partners (MFIs, digital finance actors, community finance, private sector, civil society) to strengthen ecosystem outcomes.

• Support evidence-based decision-making by synthesizing trends and learning across the financial inclusion portfolio into actionable strategic recommendations.

Inclusive Finance Programming and Service Delivery Models

• Provide technical review of financial inclusion intervention designs (products, delivery channels, targeting approaches) to strengthen quality, feasibility, and inclusion outcomes.

• Promote service delivery optimization by identifying operational bottlenecks affecting end-users (access, affordability, client protection, complaint resolution) and recommending improvements.

• Strengthen the technical soundness of partner implementation approaches by reviewing theory of change logic, assumptions, and delivery mechanisms against evolving context and risks.

• Support innovation and adaptation by assessing what is working/not working across partner models and proposing scalable improvements (including digital/agent models where appropriate).

• Provide technical guidance to strengthen responsible finance practices, including client-centric approaches, consumer protection, and safeguarding of vulnerable groups.

Partner Ecosystem Strengthening and Technical Engagement

• Serve as a technical focal point for engagement with LIFT’s financial inclusion partners and ecosystem stakeholders, strengthening collaboration, alignment, and sectoral coherence.

• Provide recommendations to partners on inclusive finance approaches and market systems practices (e.g., incentive alignment, sustainability, last-mile reach, partnerships) to improve performance and impact.

• Facilitate structured technical dialogues (learning forums, partner clinics, thematic roundtables) to strengthen cross-partner learning and accelerate adoption of good practices.

• Support partner capability development through targeted technical feedback and practical guidance on inclusive finance programming, without assuming transactional grant administration functions.

• Strengthen coordination with relevant UN/IFIs/sector platforms (where feasible and appropriate) to ensure LIFT remains aligned with emerging good practice and contextual realities.

Portfolio Performance Insights, Adaptive Management, and Decision Support

• Generate portfolio-level insights by analysing financial inclusion results and performance trends (reach, inclusion, retention, service quality, resilience outcomes), translating data into decision-relevant findings.

• Provide early-warning analysis on key portfolio risks affecting financial inclusion outcomes (market disruption, partner capacity constraints, delivery barriers, regulatory impacts) and recommend corrective options.

• Support adaptive management by synthesizing implementation learning and contextual changes into practical recommendations for program course correction and optimization.

• Contribute to high-quality briefing notes and technical inputs for internal governance and Fund Board discussions, focused on strategic choices, performance, and portfolio direction.

• Strengthen results measurement quality by supporting clearer indicators and evidence approaches for financial inclusion outcomes (e.g., usage, resilience, client outcomes), in coordination with relevant functions.

Innovation, Learning, and Knowledge Leadership in Financial Inclusion

• Lead systematic capture and synthesis of lessons learned, good practices, and innovations across LIFT’s financial inclusion portfolio, translating learning into actionable improvements.

• Curate technical knowledge products (short guidance notes, learning briefs, case studies) to strengthen institutional memory and inform strategy and partner practices.

• Support piloting and responsible innovation (e.g., new inclusion mechanisms, blended approaches, community-based finance improvements, digital enablement) with a focus on feasibility and protection.

• Contribute to portfolio-wide learning agendas and reflection processes, ensuring financial inclusion programming remains adaptive and evidence-driven.

• Promote a culture of technical rigor and continuous improvement across financial inclusion activities, reinforcing LIFT’s role as a thought leader in inclusive finance in Myanmar.

Risk-Informed Technical Advisory and Assurance

• Provide risk-informed technical advice on financial inclusion interventions, identifying material delivery and market risks that may affect outcomes and proposing mitigation options.

• Support technical inputs to partner risk discussions by highlighting sector-specific risks (e.g., over-indebtedness, liquidity shocks, fraud exposure in cash-based delivery, exclusion risks).

• Contribute technical analysis to inform responsible scaling decisions and ensure interventions remain conflict- and sensitivity-aware in complex operating environments.

• Strengthen portfolio integrity through technical review of assumptions, delivery pathways, and client safeguarding considerations in financial inclusion work.

• Coordinate with PMO and relevant oversight functions by providing sectoral insights and technical recommendations, while PMO retains responsibility for compliance processes and transactional grant management.

Fund Board and Donor-Facing Technical Contributions

• Provide technical inputs for Fund Board materials, with emphasis on portfolio strategy, performance insights, market evolution, and adaptive recommendations for financial inclusion.

• Support donor-facing narrative development by articulating evidence-based financial inclusion results, innovation pathways, and value-for-money considerations from a technical lens.

• Contribute to strategic discussions on portfolio expansion, partnership positioning, and thematic prioritization within LIFT 2024–2028, particularly for inclusive finance.

• Strengthen the clarity and credibility of technical reporting by ensuring sectoral accuracy, coherence of claims, and alignment with inclusive finance good practices.

• Support positioning of LIFT’s financial inclusion work as a high-quality, learning-oriented portfolio that can attract and retain donor confidence and investment.

Education

• Master’s degree preferably in Finance, Accounting, Public Administration, Business Administration, International Development, Social Sciences, or other relevant field is required.

• A Bachelor’s degree in the above fields with an additional two years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the Master’s degree.

Required:

• Minimum of two (2) years of experience in grant or project management, financial management, contract oversight, or fund administration within development or humanitarian contexts.

• Demonstrated ability to analyse and interpret financial and project data to support operational and management decisions.

• Demonstrated experience in stakeholder coordination and engagement.

• Advanced Excel skills: Pivot tables creation and management, lookups, data cleaning and financial analysis.

• Strong analytical and quantitative skills.

Desirable:

• Experience working with UNOPS, UN agencies, donors, or international NGOs (INGOs).

• Experience working with Microfinance Institutions, Financial Inclusion strategies.

• Experience in the Myanmar and/or Thai contexts.

• Experience contributing to knowledge management, learning, or process improvement initiatives.

• Proficiency in Google Workspace (Sheets, Slides, Drive, Docs) for collaborative data management and reporting; familiarity with Looker Studio for data visualisation - including dashboard creation. 

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities. 
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.