Programme Management Support Consultant

Functional title: Programme Management Support Consultant

Duty station of assignment: Istanbul, Türkiye

Contract modality: Individual Contractor under a consultancy contract

Duration of assignment: 6 months

Envisaged starting date: July 2026

Closing date for applications: 29 June 2026

Background

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system and works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and communities. It promotes urbanization as a positive, transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination, and poverty.

UN-Habitat’s Regional Programme Division (RPD) provides strategic guidance, coordination, and oversight to Regional and Country Offices to ensure coherent programme delivery, effective partnerships, and alignment with UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan. The Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ROEECA), based in Istanbul, Türkiye, supports national and local governments and other partners in implementing the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11 on sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities and communities.

The regional office supports institutional capacity-building on sustainable urbanization and knowledge transfer between regional counterparts through key initiatives such as SDG localization, Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), integrated urban solutions for basic services delivery, and others.

UN-Habitat’s global footprint on SDG localization exceeds 30 countries, working through the United Nations system and in cooperation with main UN and international partners, through its corporate offering and global portfolio on SDG Localization, including the SDG Cities Global Initiative (Flagship 5). The SDG Cities Initiative supports cities in creating integrated solutions that drive progress across multiple SDGs, ensuring cohesive and scalable urban development addressing challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. It does so by leveraging data for evidence-based decision-making, fostering cities’ access to finance, and building their overall institutional capacities.

Within this framework, UN-Habitat, through ROEECA and its Country Office in the Russian Federation in Moscow, is implementing a project to support the City of Moscow in developing its first Voluntary Local Review (VLR). The Moscow VLR is part of the broader UN-Habitat SDG Cities Flagship Programme and draws on the Action-Oriented VLR Methodology jointly developed by UN-Habitat and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

The consultant will be based in the Office of the Regional Director of the Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ROEECA) and will work under the direct supervision of the Regional Director.

Duties and main responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Director, the consultant is responsible for the following duties:

Programme Implementation and Monitoring

• Support the coordination and implementation of project activities in the region, including preparation of background materials, concept notes, technical briefs, agendas, talking points, and documentation for meetings and technical consultations with implementing partners, UNCTs, and government counterparts.
• Support organizing and supporting missions related to the project implementation, including preparation of mission briefs, logistical coordination, development of follow-up matrices, and ensuring systematic documentation of mission outcomes.
• Support compiling materials for project evaluation reports, including consolidation of data, results, lessons learned, and supporting documentation.

Programme Development

• Provide analytical and technical support for the development of new regional initiatives in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including preparing concise analytical reports mapping UN-Habitat entry points in line with the Strategic Plan 2026-2029 of UN-Habitat and its regional roadmap.
• Support the identification and formulation of project concepts and funding proposals, including drafting concept notes, logical frameworks, and donor-facing materials, and contributing to resource mobilization efforts with regional and headquarters teams.

Outputs / Work Assignment

The consultant will provide programme management, monitoring, coordination, reporting, and programme development support to the Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ROEECA). Throughout the duration of the assignment, the consultant shall submit monthly progress reports summarizing activities undertaken, progress achieved, challenges encountered, and planned actions for the following reporting period.

Competencies

Planning and organization: Ability to work independently with a high degree of responsibility, in a flexible manner, and under pressure. Communication: Excellent inter-personal communication and networking skills. Professionalism: Strong programme management and monitoring skills. Good coordination skills, with ability to handle multiple activities concurrently, work under pressure and to tight deadlines. Ability to plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. Ability to undertake complex research independently. Teamwork: Ability to participate effectively in teams of various expertise as well as organizations. The candidate should share credit for team accomplishments and accept joint responsibility for team shortcomings, and should have a positive approach to work with consistent energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in urban planning, political science, international development, or a related field.

Experience

• Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience in knowledge management, monitoring, and programme implementation in the areas of sustainable development and evidence-based decision making.
• Experience working with Russian government counterparts or within the Russian urban planning context is a strong advantage.
• Proven ability to gather, organize, and analyze large data sets from multiple sources..

Language

• Fluency in English and Russian (written and spoken) is required.

How to apply

Interested candidates must submit an email quoting in the email subject the post title and the duty station to the UN-Habitat ROEECA, email address:

unhabitat-roeeca.recruitment@un.org

with the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Cover letter addressing precisely how the applicant meets the qualifications and requirements.

2. Completion of a CV in P11 Form which can be downloaded at**:** https://t.ly/pdZjU

The CV shall include information on the past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

3. Diplomas and copy of Passport or ID Card

Deadline for applications: 29 June 2026

Please note that applications received after the closing date stated below, will not be given consideration. Only short-listed candidates whose applications respond to the above criteria will be contacted for an interview.