February 9, 2026

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

E (most hardship)

Non FamilyUNOPS IICA2

2026-03-01Afghanistan is undergoing a comprehensive humanitarian coordination reset in line with Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) global guidance on cluster simplification and transition. As part of this process, the Shelter and Non-Food Item Cluster is being consolidated with the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) working group and the Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Area of Responsibility into a unified Shelter and Settlements Sector (SSS). This restructuring aims to improve coordination efficiency, reduce duplication, and strengthen links between emergency shelter interventions, site management, land tenure support, and pathways toward durable solutions.
Although IOM will globally lead the Shelter and Settlements Sector as well in many operations, in Afghanistan UNHCR will continue to serve as the designated lead agency, reflecting its long-standing operational footprint, technical expertise, and coordination capacity in Shelter, NFI, CCCM, and HLP responses.
Afghanistan’s humanitarian context remains highly complex, with large-scale displacement and returns, informal and spontaneous settlements, recurrent natural hazards, climate-related shocks, and complicated land tenure dynamics. Sudden-onset emergencies, including earthquakes, floods, and harsh winter conditions, continue to generate urgent shelter and settlement needs.

The Shelter Cluster Coordinator will provide strategic leadership and operational management for the Shelter and Settlements Sector in Afghanistan. Building on UNHCR’s successful 20-year track record of shelter coordination in the country, the incumbent will carry forward this legacy, ensuring continuity, coherence, and technical excellence in ES/NFI, CCCM, and HLP responses. The role will ensure that UNHCR continues to fulfill its mandate as Sector Lead Agency, overseeing coordination with humanitarian partners, government counterparts, and affected communities, while guiding the transition to a merged, area-based, protection-sensitive coordination model. This includes integrating CCCM and HLP functions and ensuring alignment with the Basic Human Needs (BHN) framework, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), and the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA), while maintaining the capacity for rapid response to sudden onset of emergencies.
The incumbent will lead national-level coordination for the Shelter and Settlements Sector, including Technical Working Groups and sub-national coordination mechanisms, facilitate the operational and strategic transition from the standalone Shelter Cluster to the merged sector, and develop and oversee implementation of a sector strategy covering emergency shelter/NFI assistance, site management, eviction monitoring, land tenure support, and durable solutions. Develop and oversee implementation of sector strategy that addresses ES/NFI, site management, eviction monitoring, land tenure support, and durable solutions. Ensure adherence to international humanitarian standards (Sphere, IASC, UNHCR) and promote protection, gender, age, diversity, and environmental considerations, oversee needs assessments and information management, support monitoring, reporting, and evaluation, strengthen national and local partner capacities, and represent the sector in inter-cluster, HCT, donor, and external forums, advocating for adequate funding and technical support.

Standard Job Description

Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
In humanitarian emergencies where UNHCR is designated as the Shelter Cluster (SC) Lead Agency under the Cluster Approach, the Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer performs a dedicated coordination, strategy development and advocacy function. In smaller emergencies this function will be performed at national level, in these situations the incumbent reports directly to the UNHCR Representative who has final accountability for the performance of UNHCR as Cluster Lead Agency and the incumbent liaises with the Global SC Coordinator who has global responsibility for the performance of UNHCR as Global Cluster Lead Agency. In larger emergencies this function will be performed at sub-national level, the incumbent will report to a P4 or P5 Shelter Cluster Coordinator at national level on functional issues and to the respective Head of Office on administrative issues. In some cases of large emergencies, the incumbent may perform a function of deputy cluster coordinator at the national level in support of the P4 or P5 Shelter Cluster Coordinator reporting directly to them.

The Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer supports coordination, strategy development and advocacy functions in order to ensure UNHCR's role as the Shelter Cluster (SC) Lead Agency under the Cluster Approach. The incumbent provides support to the UNHCR office to be able to perform its SC Lead Agency functions in a manner consistent with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) standards and guidelines governing the Cluster Approach, in particular the IASC Generic Terms of Reference for Cluster Coordinators at the country level and the IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at the Country Level.

The Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer ensures appropriate cross-sectoral coordination with other related clusters such as WASH, CCCM, Protection (HLP) and others, advocates for shelter in the humanitarian response, supports the mainstreaming of early recovery activities in the Shelter Cluster, and spearheads the integration of cross-cutting issues into the work of the Shelter Cluster, especially age, gender, diversity, HIV, and environment.

The incumbent may directly supervise a SC Support team, including, but not limited to, the areas of information management, needs assessment, and technical support.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
Strategic Direction and Coordination
- Ensure, for the location s/he is based at, that UNHCR delivers on its commitments and accountability as lead of the Shelter Cluster. Manage the team under his/her supervision.
- Establish strong working relationships with the cluster members in the Area of Responsibility (AoR) in order to facilitate effective collaboration and communication. Upon consultations with SC members and his/her supervisor(s), take final decision over format and frequency of meetings, designation of focal points and the establishment of a strategic advisory group, sub-national clusters, Technical Working Groups and ad hoc/task-related bodies for specific issues.
- Provide coordination services, including meetings, in line with the Principles of Partnership, ensuring that cluster coordination is inclusive, effective and results-oriented.
- Under the framework of the Inter-Agency contingency Plan, revise existing contingency planning and emergency preparedness measures and ensure they are updated and developed.
- Develop or contribute to the development of a SC strategy that is part of the overall multi-sectoral response, that is owned by shelter partners and the government counterpart and that is revised as the situation evolves. Ensure that the SC Strategy has proper linkages with disaster risk reduction, relief, and recovery and development efforts.
- Ensure that the SC Strategy aligns with the Humanitarian Country Team's common humanitarian action plan.
- Promote accountability to affected population, participation of local and national stakeholders such as civil groups, and ensure coordination with government counterparts and other relevant authorities.
- Promote that appropriate transitional measures are in place for handing over to the government or recovery and development actors.
- Ensure the establishment and maintenance of the cluster structure including the cluster core documents as defined by the Global Shelter Cluster guidance: Strategy, Technical Standards, and Factsheet.
- Facilitate the evaluation of the cluster's performance. Based on the feedback of this evaluation, work with Shelter Cluster members to develop a plan of response to improve the cluster's performance.

Needs Assessment, Resources Mobilization and Allocation
- Facilitate and coordinate within the Shelter Cluster or Inter-Cluster level shelter needs assessments, including participatory assessments
- Support the system to ensure the timely availability of data to inform operational decisions by partners and strategic decisions of the Humanitarian Country Team.
- Promote that the SC covers all identified shelter needs of the affected population and not only those relating to the specific mandate of individual members of the Shelter Cluster.
- Provide transparent support to development of common funding criteria, resource mobilisation and prioritization within the SC for inclusion in Consolidated Appeals and pooled funds processes.
- Establish mechanisms for accountable and transparent financial resource allocation within the cluster.

Capacity Development
- Build capacity of the government counterpart or the organization that will take over the coordination of the cluster once this is phased out.
- Coordinate the delivery of shelter training activities for SC members, other local partners, and relevant authorities.
- Coordinate initiatives to build the shelter capacity of the national and local government, partners and civil society.

Standard Setting and Implementation
- Ensure that the shelter response is informed by appropriate relevant Technical Standards including among others Sphere, and good practice.
- Promote appropriate collaboration with shelter response-related clusters of CCCM, Early Recovery, Education, Health, Logistics, Protection and WASH in the work of the Shelter Cluster.
- Coordinate the integration of cross-cutting issues in the work of the Shelter Cluster, including age, gender, environment, diversity.
- Through Cluster-wide consultative processes, provide input into the development of global shelter policy and standards led by the Global Shelter Cluster.

Information Management, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
- Contribute to development and implementation of the SC information management strategy and mechanism to report and share information within the Shelter Cluster, with the other clusters, with the government, with the overall humanitarian community including donors, with UNHCR internal mechanisms, and with the Global Shelter Cluster.
- Ensure that the SC produces analytical shelter reports, including the Factsheet. Promote that information on affected population is disaggregated by sex and age. Implement decisions on indicators to measure impact and performance of SC members.
- Ensure that the SC maintains an updated website and produces regular updates on the shelter concerns of the affected population, the response by the shelter actors, the gaps, challenges and recommendations.
- Promote and ensure monitoring and evaluation of the impact of operations carried out by cluster members and the performance of the coordination team.
- Appraise the performance of any directly supervised personnel of the SC coordination team.

Advocacy, Promotion and Fundraising
- Identify core advocacy concerns for the SC through a consultative process.
- Represent when requested the SC in meetings with sectoral and external partners, authorities, donors and other relevant interlocutors.
- Issue reports and make advocacy statements on behalf of the Shelter Cluster in the AoR.
- With the support of the supervisor, negotiate with the Humanitarian Coordinator/Resident Coordinator, the Humanitarian Country Team and cluster members the prioritization and inclusion of project proposals and common funding criteria for inclusion in inter-agency funding appeals.
- Direct transparent and accountable financial and other resource allocation within the Shelter Cluster, when required, such as with regard to CERF or CHF.
- With the support of the supervisor, approach donors and other potential sources of funding to explain the SC strategy, challenges, and progress, and to advocate for funding for the overall shelter sector.
- Coordinate with UNHCR and other partners to maximize communication impact to donors and others on the SC priorities.
- Ensure a consistent interpretation and application of international law and related UNHCR and IASC legal standards and policies for the adequate provision of shelter.
- Ensure the Shelter Cluster's adherence to international human rights instruments, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as well as other relevant international and regional instruments; in cooperation with the Humanitarian Country Team.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
shelter-related sciences (e.g. civil engineering or architecture) or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
CCCM Cluster Coordination
HCR Coordination Lrng Prog
HCR Management Lrng Prg
UNHCR Tri-Cluster Knowledge and Coordination Skills Workshop
UNHCR Workshop on Emergency Management.
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Excellent knowledge of the Humanitarian reform process and the role of the humanitarian community (UN System, Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, and NGO), preferably in shelter. Good knowledge of current humanitarian issues. Good knowledge of shelter-related technical guidelines and standards. Good communication skills

Desirable:
Applied knowledge in UNHCR mandate, its policies and priorities in relation to IDPs, shelter and NFI. Demonstrated expertise in program management and reporting requirements.

Functional Skills
SP-Shelter and Infrastructure Coordination
SP-Global Shelter Cluster Strategy
PR-Country Operations applying the Cluster Approach
MG-Coordination
CL-Cluster Information Management Tools, Resources and Approaches
CO-Drafting and Documentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Required Languages

,

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CL-Cluster Information Management Tools, Resources and Approaches, CO-Drafting and Documentation, MG-Coordination, PR-Country Operations applying the Cluster Approach, SP-Global Shelter Cluster Strategy, SP-Shelter and Infrastructure Coordination

Education

Bachelor of Arts: Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Arts: Shelter-related sciences

Certifications

CCCM Cluster Coordination - UNHCR, Emergency Management Workshop - UNHCR, HCR Coordination Learning Program - UNHCR, HCR Management Learning Program - UNHCR, Tri_Cluster Knowledge/Coord Skills - Other

Other information

The position of Shelter Cluster Coordination Officer will be advertised for CO Kabul, both Internal and External for 14 days. The budget covers for 8 months from 01 March 2026 to 31 October 2026.This position requires Functional Clearance

Remote

No