Human Rights and Ethics Specialist

D. Key Duties and Responsibilities

A. Strategic Integration, Ethics, and Planning

• Develop and implement the PMU human rights, gender, equity, and ethics framework, code-of-conduct requirements, annual action plan, results matrix, and risk register.

• Review programme plans, budgets, service models, partnerships, and materials and recommend measures to strengthen dignity, equity, participation, non-discrimination, integrity, and ethical decision-making.

• Advise PMU teams on priority populations, rights-related barriers, ethical dilemmas, conflicts of interest, and proportional safeguards, and track agreed actions to closure.

B. Barrier Reduction, Gender, Equity, and Non-discrimination

• Assess stigma, discrimination, gender inequality, affordability, confidentiality, coercion, and other barriers or ethical concerns affecting access, retention, and quality of care.

• Design and support interventions on stigma reduction, rights awareness, provider sensitization, and gender-responsive, equitable services.

• Monitor whether priority populations are reached safely and equitably and recommend corrective measures to prevent exclusion, exploitation, retaliation, or harm.

C. Community Participation, Accountability, and Ethical Engagement

Work closely with the Community Intervention Specialist to:

• Enable affected communities and civil-society organizations to participate meaningfully in programme planning, review, and improvement.

• Support safe, accessible, confidential, and non-retaliatory feedback, complaint, whistleblowing, and referral mechanisms with clear response and escalation procedures.

• Track community recommendations, ethics concerns, and management responses, and coordinate rights-based and ethical actions across programme teams.

D. Ethical Governance, Policy, Service Standards, and Safeguards

• Review policies, procedures, service standards, referral pathways, partnership arrangements, and decision processes to identify gaps in rights protection, ethical governance, integrity, and accountability.

• Develop practical guidance and safeguards for confidentiality, privacy, informed consent, non-discrimination, accessibility, respectful care, conflicts of interest, gifts, impartiality, and responsible use of information.

• Advise on ethical, rights-based communication, authorized referrals, sensitive case escalation, and proportionate responses; address human rights and gender-related barriers; promote protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment; and integrate sustainability and RSSH principles in line with applicable laws, government policies, grant commitments, due process, and the PMU Code of Conduct.

• Provide regular updates to the program on legislative and institutional changes concerning human rights.

E. Monitoring, Ethical Evidence Use, and Quality Improvement

• Develop and monitor human rights, gender, equity, and ethics indicators with the M&E/MERL and programme teams.

• Analyze program, incident, complaint, and community-feedback data to identify disparities, ethical risks, implementation gaps, and improvement priorities.

• Support data-quality reviews, assessments, evaluations, research, and audits; promote ethical review where required; and ensure sensitive information is collected, accessed, used, retained, and reported securely.

F. Capacity Development, Ethics Advice, and Technical Support

• Assess capacity needs and maintain an annual capacity-development plan for PMU, implementers, providers, and community partners.

• Review implementing partner practices, tools, training materials, supervision findings, and incident-management procedures to promote compliance with rights-based service standards and grant requirements.

• Deliver training, mentoring, and supportive supervision on rights-based programming, gender equality, stigma reduction, confidentiality, informed consent, ethical conduct, conflicts of interest, and participation.

• Provide practical coaching and confidential, non-legal ethics guidance within the role's mandate, and evaluate whether capacity-building results in improved practice.

G. Rights and Ethics Risk, Coordination, and Reporting

• Maintain the human rights and ethics risk register and promptly escalate serious discrimination, retaliation, confidentiality or privacy breaches, conflicts of interest, unethical conduct, or non-compliance through approved channels.

• Coordinate with government bodies, communities, civil society, UN agencies, and development partners under approved PMU arrangements.

• Prepare periodic reports and technical inputs, protect sensitive case information, and monitor corrective actions arising from supervision, complaints, assessments, ethics reviews, audits, and other assurance processes.

H. Additional Responsibilities

• Undertake any other reasonable and relevant responsibilities assigned by the Deputy Team Leader (Technical and Programmatic), commensurate with the position level and required skills and experience.

E. Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Master's degree in public health, law, bioethics, ethics, social sciences, development studies, gender studies, public policy, or another relevant discipline.

• Specialized training in human rights, bioethics or public-health ethics, gender equality, health law, safeguarding, research ethics, integrity, compliance, social inclusion, or programme management is desirable.

Experience

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible experience in human rights, ethics, public health, law, social development, compliance, or health-programme implementation, including at least 5 years supporting rights-based, ethics-related, or donor-funded health programmes.

• Demonstrated experience integrating human rights, gender, equity, and ethical safeguards into programmes and working with government institutions, civil society, affected communities, service providers, and development partners.

• Experience with Global Fund-supported programmes, ethical governance or review mechanisms, stigma-reduction initiatives, community systems strengthening, barrier assessments, WHO/UNAIDS, or other UN initiatives is desirable.

F. Competencies

Technical Competencies

• Human rights-based and ethical programming, including stigma and discrimination reduction.

• Gender equality, equity, social inclusion, non-discrimination, and barrier assessment.

• Community participation, social accountability, and safe complaint mechanisms.

• Health policy, legal framework, ethical governance, and code-of-conduct analysis.

• Confidentiality, privacy, informed consent, safeguarding, and responsible data use.

• Ethics-risk assessment, conflicts-of-interest management, programme quality improvement, indicator design, and evidence use.

• Capacity development, partnership management, and technical reporting in English and Bangla.

Behavioral Competencies

• Strategic and analytical thinking and sound judgement.

• Empathy with professional boundaries, diplomacy, and negotiation.

• Facilitation, clear communication, and results orientation.

• Organization and teamwork.

• Integrity, accountability, impartiality, confidentiality, cultural sensitivity, respect for diversity, and readiness for field travel.

G. Expected Deliverables

• Approved human rights, gender, equity, and ethics integration framework, code-of-conduct guidance, annual action plan, results matrix, and risk register.

• Completed barrier, equity, and ethics-risk assessments with prioritized, costed, assigned, and time-bound corrective actions.

• Documented community participation, feedback, complaint, whistleblowing, and referral mechanisms with evidence of timely management response.

• Rights-based and ethical-service guidance, safeguards, checklists, job aids, capacity-development plans, and training/supervision reports.

• Quarterly human rights and ethics performance analyses and timely inputs to grant reports, ethics reviews, audits, and LFA processes.

• Validated technical briefs, ethics advisories, good-practice products, policy recommendations, and corrective-action closure evidence.

H. Integrity, Safeguarding, Confidentiality and Compliance

• The incumbent shall uphold the highest standards of integrity, accountability, impartiality, professionalism, and ethical conduct, including the timely and transparent disclosure of any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest.

• The incumbent shall contribute to and promote a safe, respectful, inclusive, and non-discriminatory working and service environment, with zero tolerance for harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, discrimination, retaliation, or any other safeguarding violation.

• The incumbent shall safeguard and maintain the confidentiality of all programme, financial, personnel, beneficiary, and other sensitive information, including medical and personal data, and shall respect the principles of informed consent, privacy, and data protection.

• The incumbent shall promptly report any suspected or identified misconduct, safeguarding concern, fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, financial irregularity, misuse of resources, or other violation through the prescribed reporting and escalation channels.

• The incumbent shall perform all duties in accordance with applicable Government of Bangladesh laws and policies, the Global Fund Grant Agreement, the Global Fund Code of Conduct for Recipients, and other relevant policies, procedures, and guidelines.

I. Remuneration and Benefits

• Monthly remuneration will be determined in accordance with the PMU HR guideline

• Group health insurance will be provided as per the PMU HR guideline

• Monthly mobile and internet bill will be provided as per the PMU HR guideline

All these positions are open for Bangladeshi Nationals only. All candidates, irrespective of gender, religious and ethnic backgrounds can apply for the vacancies. Female candidates are highly encourged to apply.

Only short-listed candidates shall be invited for written test/interview. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Last Date of Application: 20 November 2026 (23:59 PM)