Individual Consultant (Local) : Project Coordinator -Social Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups of Mission Shakti, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

The Individual Consultant will support the UNFPA Odisha Office in coordination, implementation support, M&E, documentation, and expansion of the project “Social Empowerment of Women Self Help Groups of Mission Shakti”. The role involves engagement with implementing partners, vendors, and stakeholders, managing incentive disbursement data, and identifying expansion opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary coordination focal point between UNFPA, Mission Shakti Department, implementing partners, vendors, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Lead coordination meetings, joint planning exercises, and structured follow-ups with stakeholders.
• Ensure regular communication, planning, and troubleshooting across all implementing geographies.
• Facilitate the execution of TORs, contracts, and procurement processes involving vendors and partners.
• Prepare and share project briefs, and updates with Government counterparts and UNFPA.
• Organize and support review meetings, field visits, and consultations with partners and stakeholders.
• Design and implement project monitoring tools and frameworks to track progress against key indicators.
• Conduct routine field visits and virtual check-ins with implementing partners to monitor activity implementation, outputs, and data flow.
• Review M&E reports from partners and flag risks or inconsistencies to the HoO.
• Support third-party evaluations, surveys, and impact assessments as required.
• Compile progress reports capturing activities, outcomes, challenges, and recommendations.
• Draft policy notes, case studies, human-interest stories and from the field.
• Maintain and regularly update a centralized knowledge repository including MIS, photo documentation, tools, and training resources.
• Contribute to the development of presentations, publications, and knowledge dissemination materials for internal and external use.
• Provide regular technical support to implementing partners in planning and executing project deliverables.
• Assist in managing the incentive structure under the programme including tracking disbursements, verifying data, and addressing anomalies.
• Maintain oversight of incentive claim processing, validation, and reporting with Mission Shakti and UNFPA finance teams.
• Identify promising areas & interventions and scalable practices emerging from implementation.
• Liaise with state-level departments and partners to explore and facilitate replication across new geographies or program areas.
• Provide analytical inputs and briefs to inform scale-up discussions and planning.
• Carry out any other related duties as may be requested by UNFPA.

Requirements

• Post graduation Degree or equivalent in any of the following areas: Management, Rural Development, Public Policy, Social Sciences or any related area.
• Minimum three years of experience of programmes/projects of similar nature.
• Work experience with Government and/or UN agencies is desirable.
• Knowledge of the ICPD and UNFPA mandate issues.
• Prior experience in M&E, Documentation and knowledge management is preferred.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.).
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Knowledge of Odia language will be an advantage.

Skills

• Project Coordination
• Social Empowerment
• Women Self Help Groups
• Programme Implementation
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Documentation
• Knowledge Management
• Government Liaison
• UN Agency Collaboration
• Data Management
• Incentive Disbursement
• Stakeholder Engagement
• MS Word
• Excel
• Public Policy
• Rural Development Policy
• Social Sciences

Languages

English, Odia