Representative in Washington, D.C.

Final date to receive applications

July 7, 2026

Representative in Washington, D.C.
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships:
As the High Commissioner’s senior representative in the country, the Representative provides strategic vision, managerial leadership and oversight to ensure UNHCR’s effective performance in Washington, D.C. The Representative is responsible for translating the High Commissioner’s organizational objectives and policies into an effective advocacy, visibility and programmatic campaign to generate broad political and financial support from across the United States.

• Strategic Direction
  • Stay abreast of the challenges posed by the local political context and proactively develop strategies to address them.
  • Manage a consultative process within the country operation and with external partners.
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive external engagement strategy to expand contacts across the U.S. government and among key state and local officials that positions UNHCR as a trusted partner and generates political and financial support for UNHCR’s global operations.
  • Develop and sustain a robust network of support across the United States, engaging stakeholders from government, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector to advance UNHCR’s mission as Director of the DC office.
  • Lead and oversee advocacy and fundraising initiatives, leveraging strategic partnerships and outreach to generate political and financial backing for refugee protection and humanitarian action.
  • Serve as a member of the senior leadership team of the High Commissioner, contributing to organizational global strategy, decision‑making, and the advancement of UNHCR’s priorities.
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive communications and narrative approach that increases understanding of UNHCR’s mandate, global operations and impact; and supports resource mobilization for UNHCR’s corporate priorities and specific operational needs.
  • Ensure that U.S. policy, funding and political developments are systematically analyzed and communicated to the Bureau, Headquarters and relevant senior management to inform institutional positioning and operational planning.
• Operations
  • Provide strategic advisory support to UNHCR country offices worldwide on engagement with United States donors, preparation of U.S.
    
    -funded proposals, and compliance with U.S. funding requirements, while designing and delivering capacity‑building initiatives to strengthen donor engagement and liaison capabilities across the organization.
  • Implement a results‑oriented approach, engaging a robust multi‑functional team to design, deliver and monitor the office’s advocacy, partnership, communications, protection, resource mobilization and operational support priorities.
  • Ensure that the office’s workplans and engagement priorities are aligned with regional and global strategic priorities, and that they support UNHCR’s institutional positioning, resource mobilization and protection objectives.
  • Ensure the engagement of UNHCR in the UNCT, UN common programming, planning and funding activities and to actively contribute to the establishment of the CCA/UNDAF and the consequent joint implementation activities.
  • Ensure that risks to the operation’s objectives are regularly assessed, priority risks are identified and risk treat‑ments for the priority risks form an integral part of the operations plans.
  • Establish and maintain a systematic knowledge‑management framework to preserve institutional memory on key United States stakeholders, funding relationships, engagement strategies, and donor priorities, ensuring continuity and effective relationship management across staff transitions.
  • Undertake missions to operational contexts to strengthen engagement with United States stakeholders and support resource mobilization, advocacy, and partnership objectives through first‑hand understanding of field operations.
• Resource Management
  • Ensure that the office’s structure, capabilities and ways of working are aligned with the strategic demands of the U.S. partnership, including political analysis, donor engagement, communications, partnership development, protection…