Керівник/ця проєкту / Expertise France у Чернігові

Expertise France is looking for the full-time project leader will be responsible for the overall management, coordination and implementation of the project’s activities in support of local authorities in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, in particular the Hromadas.

In general, the project leader will be responsible for defining, steering and monitoring all the project’s activities, while ensuring a permanent and continuous link with the project’s local and central partners, in particular with the beneficiaries of the Hromadas in the Chernihiv region.

The project leader will be based in the city of Chernihiv. He/she will lead a project team comprising 2 permanent technical experts and a support team (an administrative and financial manager and a project assistant) based in Chernihiv. He will also lead a network of local coordinators deployed in 5 or 6 beneficiary Hromadas in the Chernihiv region, as well as a pool of short-term experts.

The project leader will be required to travel to selected Hromadas, in accordance with Expertise France’s security protocol and procedures.

The project leader will be in charge of the following tasks and responsibilities:

Setting up, leading and managing the field team

•       In close coordination with the Ukrainian partners, the mAIDan team and Expertise France headquarter team, ensure the establishment of local experts in the selected intervention areas/local administrations;
  • On the basis of the roadmap and the intervention area selected for each Hromada, identify local profiles and manage the recruitment process in conjunction with the beneficiary administrations and Expertise France;
  • Supervise the onboarding of local experts in their places of assignment, ensuring that their working conditions are optimised;
  • In coordination with Expertise France, manage the recruitment of the support team in Chernihiv: developing job descriptions, leading the interviews and selection, recruitment and contracts, etc.
•          Manage the field team;
  • Ensuring that tasks and responsibilities are distributed equally between team members, based on the skills of each person and the geographical location and roadmap of each job profile;
  • Ensuring that all team members have the same level of information about the project, facilitating teamwork and ensuring the smoothest possible flow of information between team members;
  • Ensure that the measures to ensure the safety of team members are put in place and respected, in liaison with Expertise France HQ.
  • To support local coordinators in identifying and implementing support activities for the Hromadas and, if necessary, to monitor and consolidate deliverables and reports from local coordinators and experts.

Strategic and operational management

• Programming and planning activities for the project as a whole, contributing to the definition and design of support activities for the Hromadas, in coordination with the mAIDan team and Expertise France HQ team, including:
  - Collecting and consolidating data on the analysis of needs for governance, institutional, sectoral and/or material support of the Hromadas;
  - In coordination with the local coordinators, drawing up roadmaps for each Hromada, planning their attachment, the technical assistance to be provided and any other type of additional support (infrastructure, equipment, services, etc.);
  - Drawing up the project action plan, adapted to the context and needs, together with a financing plan (budget per activity) and a procurement plan;
  - Participate in the coordination meetings organised by the mAIDan team and contribute to the preparation of the mAIDan Facility’s reporting on the scope of this project;
  - Supervise and coordinate the definition and implementation of activities arising from i) local expertise, ii) short-term expertise, or iii) any other type of support activity (training, workshops, grants, infrastructure/services/equipment contracts);
• In cooperation with the mAIDan team and Expertise France HQ:
  - Carry out project reporting, contributing to financial and technical reports on the implementation of project activities;
  - Contribute to the mobilisation of French and international partners (local authorities, private sector, public administrations, associations, etc.) in the implementation of project activities;
  - Participate in the project’s steering bodies, ensuring the involvement of local and central governance representatives;
  - Supervise and coordinate the development and implementation of the project’s communication and visibility plan.
• Ensure smooth institutional relations with regional and national partners and stakeholders in relation to the project’s objectives;
• Ensure that the project is complementary and consistent with other support for Ukrainian local authorities and administrations in the Chernihiv region and for territorial reconstruction (U-LEAD, SURGE, etc.), as well as with local and national initiatives (DREAM system, etc.);

Administrative and financial management

This part will be carried out in close collaboration with the project assistant and the administrative and financial manager of the project and in liaison with Expertise France HQ. It includes in particular:

• Quality control and approval of the application of the adequate administrative and financial monitoring procedures for all project activities;
• Consolidation of the project’s committed and planned spending for the financial reporting cycles;
• In cooperation with Expertise France HQ, contribute to project audits and their successful completion;
• Supervise public procurement processes and ensure the monitoring and implementation of all contracts awarded in the framework of the project, while ensuring compliance with Expertise France’ procedures.

Project or context description

Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression and Ukraine’s bid for accession to the European Union, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) has entrusted Expertise France with an envelope of €14.5m to position French technical cooperation and respond to Ukraine’s short, medium and long-term needs.

This facility, entitled mAIDan Ukraine, aims to finance and co-finance technical assistance projects to support Ukrainian authorities in preparing for reconstruction and the European accession process. The facility is part of the French mobilisation coordinated by the President’s Special Envoy for Aid and Reconstruction in Ukraine.

The present project, with the objective to support local authorities in the Chernihiv region with reconstruction and decentralization, is financed under the mAIDan facility.

Required profile

Qualifications and skills

• Master’s degree in international cooperation, development, project management, political science, public administration or other relevant field;
• Excellent team management skills;
• Excellent knowledge of the project cycle, project planning, management and monitoring tools and international donor procedures.
• Knowledge of the Ukrainian public and local administration, its organisation, functioning and current issues (reform, modernisation, tools, reconstruction, etc.)
• Excellent knowledge of the Ukrainian territorial and local context, ideally of the Chernihiv region
• Fluency in Ukrainian, professional use of English and, if possible, French;
• Very good multi-dimensional analytical skills (institutional, political, security, sectoral, etc.).

Professional experience

• At least 7 years’ previous experience in managing international cooperation and/or technical assistance projects in the field of governance, state reform and/or decentralisation and/or local development
• At least 5 years’ previous experience in team management
• Experience in governance and support for local authorities, preferably in Ukraine, would be an asset
• Previous experience in a crisis zone would be an asset

Deadline for application : November 16

Application following the link: https://www.expertisefrance.fr/en/on-recrute#page-10181—1—chef-de-projet-appui-a-la-region-de-tchernihiv-pour-la-reconstruction-et-la-decentralisation-h-f—en_US?backlink=search