SHAKHI – Friends of Women Vacancy for Program Coordinator
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Position: Program Coordinator
Number of Positions: 1
Project: HAMRO SAHAS
Duty Station: Pheta Rural Municipality, Bara District, Madhesh Province
Employment Type: Full-time, Fixed-term
Expected Start Date: As soon as possible
Contract Period: For the remaining project period, subject to satisfactory performance and project requirements
Application Deadline: 21 August 2026
Application Email: vacancy.shakhibara@gmail.com
Reports To: Executive Director/President, SHAKHI – Friends of Women
About SHAKHI
SHAKHI – Friends of Women is a young women-led feminist grassroots organization based in Pheta Rural Municipality, Bara District, Madhesh Province. SHAKHI works alongside marginalized and vulnerable women and girls to challenge harmful gender and social norms, strengthen women's and girls' leadership, promote their rights and dignity, and build community-led pathways toward gender equality and sustainable development.
About the HAMRO SAHAS Project
HAMRO SAHAS is a multi-year initiative implemented by SHAKHI in partnership with UN Women. The project seeks to challenge and transform harmful social norms affecting women and girls in marginalized communities in Bara District while strengthening women-led and community-led mechanisms for gender equality and social inclusion.
The project follows a feminist and community-centered approach that combines women's and girls' leadership, capacity strengthening, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and community ownership. It works closely with women and girls, local governments, religious leaders, political and community leaders, schools, and other influential stakeholders.
The project has already completed approximately one and a half years of implementation. Following the resignation of the current Program Coordinator due to personal reasons, SHAKHI is seeking a committed and capable Program Coordinator who can join urgently, ensure a smooth handover, and lead the remaining implementation period without disrupting project progress.
Job Purpose
The Program Coordinator will provide overall day-to-day leadership, coordination, implementation, monitoring, documentation, and reporting for the HAMRO SAHAS Project. The Coordinator will work closely with SHAKHI's Executive Director, project staff, Finance Team, women-led networks, girls' clubs, schools, local governments, community and religious leaders, and UN Women to ensure that remaining project activities are implemented effectively, on time, within the approved framework, and in accordance with SHAKHI's feminist and community-led values.
The project requires strong monitoring because its M&E framework includes activity milestones, monthly and quarterly reporting, quantitative and qualitative indicators, surveys and interviews, meeting documentation, field observation, community feedback, bi-monthly reviews, and participatory monitoring with women and girls.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
Take overall responsibility for the day-to-day coordination and implementation of the HAMRO SAHAS Project, ensuring continuity from the work already completed during the first 1.5 years.
Review the approved project document, action plan, budget, results framework and achievements to date and prepare a clear implementation plan for the remaining project period.
Coordinate implementation of activities involving women's networks, girls' clubs, schools, local governments, religious leaders, political leaders and community stakeholders.
Provide technical and coordination support for capacity-building training, advocacy and lobbying skills development, women-led and girls-led action plans, school and community orientations, Fight Back/self-defence sessions, community dialogues and municipal-level engagement.
Support and strengthen the bi-monthly meetings of women's networks and girls' clubs, helping members identify emerging issues, develop strategies and document progress. These meetings are an ongoing component of the approved project.
Support women and girls to lead their own advocacy initiatives and action plans rather than treating them only as project beneficiaries, ensuring meaningful community ownership.
Build and maintain constructive relationships with Pheta Rural Municipality, ward offices, schools, community leaders, religious leaders, political representatives and other relevant stakeholders.
Coordinate workshops and dialogues related to gender-responsive governance, inclusive policies, harmful social norms, women's rights and gender equality.
Lead project monitoring against approved results, indicators, targets, milestones and timelines and immediately identify implementation delays or gaps.
Maintain quality project data using attendance records, surveys, interviews, meeting minutes, field observations, feedback, photographs, case studies and other approved means of verification.
Prepare monthly, quarterly and donor-required narrative reports, activity reports, success stories, case studies and other project documentation in coordination with the Executive Director and project team.
Work closely with the Finance Team to ensure programmatic activities correspond with the approved budget and provide necessary program documentation for financial reporting, procurement and expenditure verification.
Support timely reporting to UN Women. The Partner Agreement requires periodic progress and financial reporting and emphasizes proper documentation and satisfactory reporting.
Conduct regular project-team review meetings, identify bottlenecks and recommend practical mid-course adjustments based on monitoring results and community feedback.
Coordinate and prepare for donor monitoring visits, field visits, spot checks, assessments, evaluations and other project reviews.
Lead project-level risk identification and mitigation, including risks related to political changes, natural disasters, community resistance, participation of women and girls, implementation delays and other emerging challenges. The approved risk register specifically assigns political instability and natural-disaster mitigation responsibilities to the Project Coordinator.
Ensure safeguarding, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, confidentiality, do-no-harm principles and SHAKHI's feminist values are respected throughout project implementation.
Ensure women and girls from marginalized, Dalit, poor and socially excluded communities have meaningful opportunities to participate, lead and influence project decisions.
Coordinate closely with the Executive Director and undertake other project-related responsibilities necessary to achieve the agreed project results.
Required Qualification and Experience
The applicant should have at least a Bachelor's degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, Social Work, Development Studies, Rural Development, Humanities, Management or another relevant social science discipline. A Master's degree will be an advantage.
The candidate should preferably have at least 3 years of relevant experience in program/project coordination or implementation within an NGO, civil society organization, women's rights organization, development organization or similar setting. Experience working on gender equality, women's rights, girls' empowerment, harmful social norms, child marriage, gender-based violence, feminist programming, community mobilization or local governance will be strongly valued.
The position requires demonstrated ability in project planning, activity coordination, monitoring and evaluation, report writing, documentation and stakeholder coordination. Experience working with local governments, schools, women's groups, adolescent girls, religious/community leaders and marginalized communities would be particularly relevant.
Required Skills and Competencies
Applicants should have strong written and verbal communication skills in Nepali and English. Ability to communicate in Bhojpuri will be a strong advantage because of the community context of Bara district.
The successful candidate should have good computer skills, including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email and online reporting systems; strong facilitation and community engagement skills; ability to prepare quality English reports; willingness to travel regularly within project communities; ability to work under deadlines; and demonstrated commitment to gender equality, inclusion and feminist principles.
Most importantly, SHAKHI is looking for someone who is comfortable working with communities rather than only for communities and who respects the leadership, knowledge and lived experiences of women and girls.
Application Process
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and updated CV, including contact details of at least two professional references, to vacancy.shakhibara@gmail.com no later than 21 August 2026.
Email Subject: Application for Program Coordinator – HAMRO SAHAS
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stage of the recruitment process. Since this is an urgent replacement position for an ongoing project, candidates who are available to join quickly will be given preference.
Equal Opportunity and Feminist Commitment
SHAKHI is committed to an inclusive, respectful and safe working environment. As a young women-led feminist grassroots organization, we particularly encourage applications from women, young women, Dalit and marginalized communities, persons from Madhesh, and candidates with lived experience of the social issues addressed by the project.
Selection will be based on competence, relevant experience, commitment to feminist values and suitability for the responsibilities of the position.