Program Manager - Afghanistan

INTERSOS is an independent humanitarian organization that assists the victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts and exclusion. Its activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, respect for diversity and coexistence, paying special attention to the most vulnerable people.

Terms of reference

Job Title: Program Manager

Code: SR-28-10181

Duty station: Kabul with frequent travelling to the field

Starting date: 01/06/2026

Contract duration: up to 30/04/2027

Reporting to: Head of Program

Functional Supervisor:

Supervision of: project staff

Type of Duty Station: Non-family duty station

General context of the project

Afghanistan continues to face one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian and public health crises globally, shaped by decades of conflict, economic contraction, climate shocks, and large-scale population movements. The cumulative effect of these stressors has significantly weakened the health system, leaving large segments of the population without reliable access to essential services. Nearly 21 million people are estimated to require humanitarian assistance, with 6.6 million targeted for health services, while approximately 37% of health facilities are non-functional. In 2025 alone, the closure of over 422 health facilities disrupted access to care for an estimated 3 million people, further deepening inequities in access to essential health services (WHO Health Emergency Appeal, 2026).

Taken together, Afghanistan’s health context is characterized by deep structural inequities, persistent service delivery gaps, and significant barriers to access and utilization. Maternal and child health, routine immunization, and polio eradication are intrinsically linked within this environment. Increasing immunization coverage and reducing zero-dose prevalence will depend not only on vaccine delivery but also on restoring consistent, community-level access to integrated, gender-sensitive primary health care services that are responsive to the realities of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations.

With the project funded by Gates Foundation, INTERSOS will implement a rapid, scalable Routine Immunization Acceleration (RIA) intervention designed for flexible deployment across any province or district in Afghanistan where a confirmed polio case is reported or where significant routine immunization gaps are identified. The intervention is structured as a time-bound surge-response mechanism, capable of being activated within a lead time of less than four weeks following outbreak confirmation, in alignment with national outbreak response priorities and the broader polio eradication strategy.

General purpose of the position

In collaboration with the Head of Program, define and plan program objectives and priorities according to INTERSOS strategy, identifying humanitarian needs, analysing context and humanitarian issues at stake, risks and constraints and calculating human and financial needs.

Manage, in collaboration with the Field Coordinator, operations, strategic growth and strong external and internal representation to efficiently ensure the program goals and improve targeted population’s conditions and humanitarian situation. S/he is responsible for the overall development, management, planning, implementation, and monitoring of programs implemented under the area of responsibility.

The Program Manager brings together the different projects’ components and ensures quality and timely reports to the donor.

The Program Manager is budget holder and supervises/monitors closely the financial planning, liquidity planning and budget utilization/burn rate monitoring in compliance with INTERSOS Model and donor regulations.

Main responsibilities and tasks:

Program development and quality:

• Deliver quality program activities reporting, including the findings in terms of impact/changes at the level of beneficiaries achieved through the projects, compliant and consistent reporting per INTERSOS and donor requirements, in close collaboration with the HQ Grants Unit

• Develop a clear understanding of INTERSOS program and country strategy among projects teams – ensure also timely input/feedback by team on strategic issues.

• Contribute with the Head of Programme to strategic growth and program/project development.

• Ensure that program delivery matches INTERSOS and donor technical minimum standards and seek technical advice and MEAL guidance and tools.

• Ensure clear overview of actors and services in area of intervention, permitting development and implementation of partnerships and referral pathways.

• Working closely with Protection and Medical technical coordinators in order to ensure quality of service delivered and respect of Protection and Medical procedures and standards

• Comply and abide by INTERSOS policies

Program management

• Ensures the planning, implementation and monitoring/evaluation and sets targets as included in the project description. Flag significant deviation from the program implementation plan and estimated expenditures; alert relevant staff.

• Supervise the implementation, monitoring, development and evaluation of the programs in collaboration with the project teams

• Prepare regular updates of program activities work-plan and related financial plan, ensuring timely and quality implementation in compliance with INTERSOS and donor guidelines and in line with the projects and sector-specific strategies

• In collaboration with the MEAL team develop tools to assess, analyse and evaluate the project’s impact

• Perform regular field visits to the project locations to ensure the quality of the intervention in compliance with the internal and donors' standard

• Work closely with partnership officer to oversee partnership implementation and regularly update on progress with project manager

• Guarantee close coordination and interaction with the other Program/Project Managers and technical coordinators to ensure harmonization of modalities of implementation, tools, approaches, etc.

• In collaboration with the Field Coordinator, analyse the area of responsibility humanitarian needs of the community and assessment

• In collaboration with the Technical Coordinators design and revise project proposals

• Invest in building relationships, both with the outside community and with the population that Intersos is targeting

• Provide constant update progress of the projects to the Head of Program

• Represent INTERSOS in relevant working groups, and other fora (clusters, donors meetings) in the Intersos programmatic context as delegated by the Field Coordinator and Head of Program/Program coordinator. Ensure timely reporting of highlights to Head of Program, Technical Coordinators and Field Coordinator.

• In coordination with the Field Coordinator and Head of Program ensure regular update to donors representatives

Reporting

• Ensure the program’s institutional memory, keeping written records (and file them) on its development, in order to broadcast INTERSOS achievements and improve awareness

• Ensure regular internal reporting and elaborating, in coordination with Grants Unit, contractual reports according with donor rules and regulation.

• Ensure INTERSOS Project Appraisal Tool is accurate through data collection and timely submission.

• Monitor the project data collection with relevant technical referent, analysis and reporting on a timely basis to ensure correct use of the internal DB and monitoring tools.

People management

• In coordination with the HR department and relevant Managers, plan and organize the organizational charts, distribute tasks and workload among the teams, guiding their comprehension of the issues linked to the program and the mission through regular working meetings and feedback, in order to ensure an efficient deployment of the resources and the achievement of the expected goals

• Inform the field team on the instructions given by the coordination promoting fluent, smooth written and oral communication and information flow and ensuring confidentiality.

• In coordination with the HR department and relevant managers and technical coordinators, identify training needs, building the capacity, coordinate, supervise and motivate the staffs, supports ad hoc training sessions and on-the-job training, provide individual follow up and coaching, carry out end-of-mission evaluation of the team members and lead internal communication initiatives in order to facilitate people’s integration and professional development and to maximize their capabilities and commitment to INTERSOS values and project’s goals

• In coordination with the HR department is responsible for ensuring that the program staffs are trained and respect INTERSOS policies, rules and regulations

Finance and logistics

• Plan and monitor the financial expenditures ensuring the correct reporting and accounting of expenditures as per defined budget. In coordination with the Finance department supervise project financial indicators in order ensure efficiency and early detect deviations and their causes

• In coordination with the Head of Base plan and ensure overall supervision of the procurements for the program needs, monitoring the progress with relevant project manager

Required profile and experience:

• Advanced university degree in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, International Relations, Humanitarian and International Cooperation or related field

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in the management of humanitarian project/program, including financial management and logistics responsibilities

• Minimum 1-year experience in the implementation of multi-sector humanitarian programming and in security context analysis

• Previous experience in Afghanistan is considered an added value

• Previous experience in managing vaccination campaigns is considered an asset

• Experience in complex emergency settings and insecure countries

• Administration, finance and budget management skills

• Essential computer literacy (word, excel and internet)

• Analytical thinking, analysis capacity and strategic program development skills

• Experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with donors and government counterparts, and with donors compliance and reporting

• Fluent written and spoken English

• Strong representation and negotiation skills

• Ability to ensure quick quality delivery in stressful environment

• Ability to adhere to deadlines and respect line management

• Strong interpersonal skills: communication, diplomatic skills and problem-solver

• Leadership, people management and development

• Organization and problem solving

• Commitment to INTERSOS principles

General conditions and benefits:

• Salary range: grade 11 - 3.430€ - 3.868€ monthly gross

• Accommodation: Shared Guesthouse.

• R&R: 7 days of psycho-physical recovery every 8 weeks + 1000€ allowance.

• Annual Leave: 2.5 days per month

• Medical insurance for the staff

• Transportation and visa: Round-trip flights. For missions lasting at least 9 months, an additional flight ticket to the Country of residence and return to the mission will also be provided.

• Induction: one week of online induction before the deployment

How to apply

Interested candidates are invited to apply following the link below:

https://www.intersos.org/field/#intersosorg-vacancies/vacancy-details/69cbdaf6c46c759fe48a1c80/

Please note that our application process is made of 3 quick steps: register (including your name, email, password and citizenship), sign-up and apply by attaching your CV in PDF format. Through the platform, candidates will be able to track their applications’ history with INTERSOS.

Please also mention the name, position and contact details of at least three references: two line managers and one HR referent. Family members are to be excluded.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the first interview.