Call for Applications: Program Officer (PO)

SPHERE Research and Advocacy is looking for a passionate and dedicated individual to join our team as a Program Officer (PO). In addition to core programmatic responsibilities, this role will also be appointed in charge of administrative duties.

If you have a background in human rights, social sciences, or development work and are eager to bridge analytical policy research with grassroots community mobilization, we want to hear from you!

📋 Position Overview

• Position: Program Officer (PO)

• Reporting Structure: Reports directly to the Executive Director

• Commitment & Office Hours: Part-time (minimum 80 hours per month at the initial stage). Compulsory office presence of 3 days per week (including Monday and Tuesday) at SPHERE’s Colombo office, with extensive outstation travel.

• Recruitment Status: Open Call (open to qualified external candidates)

🔍 Key Responsibilities

1. Programmatic Mandates (Program Officer)

• Project Cycle Management: Plan, execute, monitor, and evaluate programmatic activities (PMEL) in strict accordance with project timelines, budget allocations, and donor agreements.

• Community Mobilisation & Network Building: Identify, mobilize, and maintain relationships with diverse grassroots community networks, young activists, and marginalized groups across target provinces.

• Workshop Design & Facilitation: Design training modules, develop educational curricula, and facilitate interactive workshops, focus group discussions, and multi-stakeholder consultations.

• Monitoring & Narrative Reporting: Systematically collect programmatic data (pre/post tests, attendance registries, feedback forms) and draft high-quality narrative progress reports for donors.

• Advocacy & Campaigns: Coordinate regional capacity-building workshops, field research (including RTI filings and policy documentation), and multilingual digital multimedia campaigns.

2. Administrative Mandates (Administrative Oversight)

• Office Administration & HR Support: Manage daily office routines, maintain centralized digital/physical filing systems, verify staff timesheets, and track leave requests.

• Financial Upkeep & Bookkeeping: Record daily transactions, manage petty cash, issue reimbursement payments, file receipts, scan invoices, and maintain standard Expense and General Ledgers.

• Logistics & Compliance: Coordinate secure travel logistics (including trackable rideshares), manage event/workshop arrangements, organize audit preparation folders, and handle digital/social channel updates.

🎓 Qualifications & Experience

• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Sociology, Human Rights, Political Science, Communications, Law, or a related social sciences field.

• Professional Experience: Minimum of 2 years of active experience coordinating projects, facilitating training, or conducting field research within the Sri Lankan non-profit or activist sector.

• Language Skills: High-level professional fluency in English, with Sinhala and Tamil trilingual skills considered a major, decisive advantage.

• Core Competencies: Proven experience filing RTI requests, executing qualitative/quantitative surveys, synthesizing findings into policy briefs, and managing basic digital content creation or media production.

How to Apply

Eligible candidates are invited to submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV) along with a Brief Expression of Interest outlining their suitability for the role to contact@sphereresearch.org.

Application Deadline : 25th of October 2026