Project Officer

ASCEND: Leadership Through Athletics is an international non-profit organization that has been working in Afghanistan since 2015 to empower women , youth and communities through education, health awareness, entrepreneurship, leadership development, and community engagement initiatives. Registered with the Ministry of Economy, ASCEND works closely with local communities, government institutions, and national and international partners to design and implement sustainable development programs across the country.

ASCEND's programs focus on building resilience, strengthening local capacities, promoting social cohesion, and expanding opportunities for women, girls, and youth to actively contribute to their communities. The organization delivers community-based interventions in areas such as health education, skills development, entrepreneurship, environmental awareness, and community service.

Through locally led approaches and strong community partnerships, ASCEND seeks to create positive and lasting social impact while promoting inclusion, participation, and sustainable development throughout Afghanistan.

ASCEND is implementing a project focused on strengthening climate resilience, promoting social cohesion, and supporting local communities to engage in climate adaptation, environmental protection, and community resilience initiatives across Afghanistan.

The Project Officer will provide technical and operational support for the effective implementation of project activities, including planning, coordination, field implementation, monitoring, reporting, and stakeholder engagement. The position will ensure that project activities are delivered on time, within budget, and in compliance with donor requirements, ASCEND policies, safeguarding standards, environmental sustainability principles, and conflict-sensitive programming approaches.

The Project Officer will be a field-oriented position, with approximately 70% of working time dedicated to field-level implementation, including monitoring visits, community engagement, coordination with women, youth groups, community representatives, government counterparts, and other stakeholders. The remaining time will focus on project planning, reporting, documentation, coordination meetings, and administrative follow-up.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support planning, coordination, and implementation of project activities in line with approved work plans and donor requirements.
• Coordinate with community groups, women’s organizations, government counterparts, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure effective project delivery.
• Maintain effective coordination and communication with relevant government sector departments, including the Ministry of Economy , (MoE), NEPA and support collaboration for smooth implementation of project activities.
• Prepare and share regular project updates, progress reports, and required documentation with ASCEND management, relevant sector departments, and stakeholders as required.
• • Support all stages of the project cycle, including planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and project close-out, while contributing to results-based management through the development of work plans, monitoring tools, project documentation, and donor reporting to ensure project activities achieve intended outputs and outcomes.
• Support organization of trainings, workshops, consultations, awareness activities, and community engagement initiatives.
• Prepare activity reports, field reports, success stories, and contribute to donor reporting and project documentation.
• Support coordination with finance, administration, logistics, and M&E teams to ensure smooth project operations.
• Promote gender equality, safeguarding, accountability, inclusion, and environmentally responsible approaches throughout project implementation.

The Project Officer will work closely with the Country Director and project team to ensure successful achievement of ASCEND’s objectives and UN Women project outcomes.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in development studies, social sciences, environmental studies, gender studies, project management, public administration, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in project implementation, coordination, community engagement, monitoring, and reporting, preferably with NGOs or UN-funded projects.
• Good understanding of climate action, social cohesion, women’s empowerment, gender equality, and community-based programming.
• Strong communication, coordination, facilitation, and report-writing skills.
• Proficiency in English language (written and spoken) is required; knowledge of local languages is an advantage.
• Strong computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and experience using digital reporting and data management tools.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly to project implementation sites.

• Strong understanding of project cycle management, including planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and project close-out processes.
• Ability to work with results frameworks, indicators, outputs, outcomes, and support results-based management (RBM) and donor reporting requirements.
• Strong skills in developing work plans, monitoring tools, project documentation, and ensuring project activities contribute to intended results and objectives.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV and cover letter to afg.program@ascendathletics.org no later than 12 July 2026.Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.