Regional Coordinator

OVERVIEW
**Post Number**: 4THSC 0001TA
**Grade**: P-4
**Parent Sector**: Natural Sciences Sector (SC)
**Duty Station**: Bangkok
**Job Family**: Natural Sciences
**Type of contract**: Temporary Appointment
**Duration of contract**: 11 months
**Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time)**: 29-JUL-2025
**UNESCO Core Values**: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
BACKGROUND
UNESCO, through its Regional Office in Bangkok, is implementing a series of projects, programes and activities in the area of water sciences, with a focus on transboundary waters. These include, among others two strategically important regional projects aimed at enhancing groundwater governance and water cooperation in Southeast Asia.
Under the overall authority and direct supervision of the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok, and in close cooperation with the Heads of Offices and the Natural sciences officers in Phnom Penh and Hanoi, and in close technical cooperation with the UNESCO Division of Water Sciences, Section on Groundwater Sustainability and Water cooperation (HYD/GSW), the incumbent will provide high-level programme and project management as well as technical leadership in the coordination and implementation of regional water cooperation initiatives. The incumbent will lead and coordinate the strategic planning, execution of these high-impact programmes and projects, ensuring alignment with regional priorities, fostering synergies with national and regional development priorities and regional integration, and contributing to UNESCO’s global water programme objectives and broader strategic framework for water security and climate resilience agenda.
In particular the incumbent will be responsible for the following: Long Description
- Develop and oversee the formulation and consolidation of integrated, results-based workplans, in close coordination with UNESCO field offices, the IHP Secretariat, and the project governance mechanisms, including Steering Committees and Joint Technical Committees. Ensure planning reflects results-based management (RBM) principles, gender equity, and sustainability objectives.
- Provide strategic leadership and oversight in programme execution, ensuring alignment with project documents, UNESCO’s C/4 and C/5 frameworks, strategic objectives, and adherence to results-based budgeting principles, performance indicators and optimization of human and financial resources. Monitor progress and adapt implementation strategies in response to evolving regional and institutional needs.
- Drive cross-cutting integration and harmonization across project components (e.g. policy development, research, capacity development, training and technical assistance) to enhance synergies and operational coherence between project streams.
- Design and oversee regional capacity-strengthening interventions, including training curricula, workshops, and knowledge exchange platforms. Facilitate strategic learning, south-south cooperation, and dissemination of best practices across the Greater Mekong and Lower Mekong subregions.
- Provide senior-level oversight for a smooth operational and administrative management of the programme and projects, including staffing plans, recruitment processes, in close collaboration with UNESCO field offices and HYD/GSW, technical inputs for specification, terms of reference or statement of work, contract reviews, and compliance monitoring. Oversee the timely execution of programme/project activities in line with the objectives, internal control standards and donor requirements.
- Lead the development and implementation of robust monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, ensuring accountability, transparency, and compliance with both UNESCO's rules and regulations and donors’ requirement and financial and performance reporting frameworks. This includes ensuring transparent, data-driven reporting to internal oversight bodies and external donors, contributing to a culture of results and accountability. Long Description
- Establish and maintain high-level coordination with UNESCO field offices, national focal points, and regional technical experts with UNESCO regional hydrogeologist for Asia and the Pacific and with UNESCO headquarters (HYD/GSW), fostering inclusive and coherent stakeholder engagement across countries.
- Collaborate strategically with internal and external stakeholders, including technical leadership and key contributors to ensure the strategic coherence, scientific integrity, technical excellence, and contextual relevance of all programme and project activities and deliverables.
- Represent UNESCO in intergovernmental and technical forums, high-level policy dialogues, and regional coordination bodies, acting as the focal point for UNESCO’s regional water cooperation portfolio.
- Lead the design and development of regional strategies, policy frameworks, guidance documents, and implementation modalities, ensuring evidence-based ap