Короткостроковий/а експерт/ка з питань підтримки Міністерства розвитку громад та територій України

Expected Start Date:         12.01.2026
Duration:                              12.01.2026 – 30.10.2026
Location:                              Hybrid
No. of Working Days:        Up to 135 Days

1. Background

Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development Project, UCORD, is a technical assistance project is implemented with the support of Switzerland through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB. 

UCORD aims for citizens, businesses, and public authorities to contribute and equally benefit from recovery actions and coherent regional development that fosters improved quality of life, resilience, peace, and social cohesion in Ukraine. The project currently supports four pilot oblasts of Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Volyn oblasts, targeting capacity development and awareness-raising initiatives nationwide. UCORD consists of three components:

Component 1 embeds regional policy development in Ukraine by supporting and strengthening Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in pilot oblasts.
Component 2 seeks to improve public service delivery in the WASAW (water supply, sanitation, and waste management) sector, focusing on the environment.
Component 3 aims to construct social cohesion through culture, dialogue, and creative industries. 

2. Introduction

Ukraine’s regional development policy prioritises strengthening the capacity of regional and local actors to design and implement inclusive, effective development and recovery interventions. Learning and capacity-building mechanisms such as self-assessment, targeted training, peer exchange, coaching, mentoring, and professional networking are critical to enabling oblasts and hromadas to respond to post-war recovery challenges and long-term development needs.

The development of oblasts is guided by bottom-up, inclusive, and place-based approaches aligned with EU cohesion policy principles and international good practice. Practical experience generated at the regional level, particularly through the work of Regional Development Agencies in pilot oblasts of UCORD, is systematically captured and documented to inform national policy making. This accumulated knowledge supports the continuous improvement of regional development frameworks and assists all RDAs in preparing and implementing regional recovery plans, development strategies, and investment projects.

At the national level, Ukraine is advancing reforms of the regional development legislative and regulatory framework to ensure consistency with recovery priorities and EU accession requirements. This includes reviewing and amending existing legislation and by-laws and strengthening the methodological foundations for national and regional development strategies.

Immediate priorities include strengthening the institutional infrastructure for regional development at the sub-national level to ensure that recovery and development investments deliver measurable impact and establishing a coherent system for monitoring progress in achieving the objectives of the State Strategy for Regional Development.

Particular emphasis is placed on ensuring that procedures for the preparation and adoption of national, regional, and local recovery plans, development strategies, and programmes are aligned with EU best practices while being informed by the practical experience of Ukrainian regions and RDAs.

Given the strategic importance of regional development in the recovery and EU pre-accession context, Ukraine places strong emphasis on ensuring that regional and local stakeholders are effectively represented at the national level. Structured consultation mechanisms between national, regional, and local actors are therefore essential to enable informed decision making, support policy coherence, and ensure that sub-national interests are reflected in national policies. These mechanisms include regular policy dialogues, roundtables, seminars, and conferences, supported by engagement with EU member state expertise where relevant.

3. Objectives of the Assignment

National Expert for supporting the Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine is to be engaged in order to support the above tasks and goals as well as to reach the following objectives:

• Strengthen national coordination and governance of regional development policy. The assignment aims to support the effective functioning of formal coordination mechanisms under MinDevelopment, especially working groups on regional policy and RDA activities, ensuring structured dialogue, compliance with regulations, and coherent policy development across levels of government.
• Improve the quality and coherence of regional development legislation and policy instruments. This includes providing analytical, advisory, and consultative support to MinDevelopment departments in drafting, revising, and aligning regulatory acts, policy papers, and strategic documents with national priorities, recovery needs, and EU cohesion policy principles.
• Support institutionalising the RDAs as core actors for the state regional policy implementation. The assignment seeks to embed RDAs as active stakeholders in public investment management reform, state funded regional development programmes, and implementation mechanisms such as the State Fund for Regional Development, moving them from peripheral implementers to systemic partners.
• Strengthen evidence-based policymaking for regional development. This involves generating analytical materials, statistical analysis, economic assessments, and performance reports on regional and RDA activities to inform decision making, monitoring of the State Strategy for Regional Development, and prioritisation of investments.
• Support alignment with EU cohesion policy and pre-accession requirements. The assignment contributes to awareness raising, policy dialogue, and practical integration of EU cohesion principles, interregional cooperation instruments, and INTERREG practices into Ukraine’s regional policy framework and implementation culture.
• Ensure effective policy communication, coordination, and feedback loops. This includes maintaining structured liaison between MinDevelopment, RDAs, and key stakeholders, supporting public events and consultations, and feeding relevant institutional developments back into policy adaptation processes.

4. Scope of Work

• Support and ensure the functioning of the Working Group on the Activities of Regional Development Agencies under the MinDevelopment and/or other Working Groups on regional policy as per MinDevelopment’s requests and in accordance with the Regulations on respective Working Groups.
• Provide consultations on the development of draft regulatory legal acts – at the request of structural units of the MinDevelopment, such as the Department of Regional Policy and Reintegration of Territories, the Department of Multilevel Governance, the Department of Implementation of Regional Development Programs, the Department of Investment Policy, the Department of Strategic Planning.
• Ensure the preparation of analytical materials, analysis of statistical data and preparation of reports on the activities of RDAs – at the request of the Department of Regional Policy and Reintegration of Territories of MinDevelopment.
• Promote the involvement of RDAs in the implementation of the PIM reform by integrating them as full stakeholders of the process, into processes and program documents that are within the area of responsibility of the MinDevelopment.
• Promote the involvement of RDAs in the implementation of projects financed by the State Fund of Regional Development (SFRD).
• Ensure liaison of UCORD with MinDevelopment and other project stakeholders.
• Assist MinDevelopment in developing regional development legislation, policy papers, analytical notes in accordance to the MinDevelopment’s Action Plan and UCORD’s goals and tasks.
• Facilitate the inclusion of UCORD’s developed methodologies, approaches, and concepts in the Ministry for Development’s agenda for replication.
• Participate in campaigns to raise awareness of EU cohesion and regional development policies, EU interregional cooperation programmes (INTERREG).
• Support MinDevelopment in initiating and delivering public events to promote and inform Ukraine’s regional policy development and EU cohesion policy .
• Provide UCORD with information on relevant developments in the MinDevelopment and advise on possible steering implications for the UCORD.

5. Deliverables
   • A detailed work plan outlining the approach, exact timeline, and concrete deliverables will be prepared by the expert on a monthly basis – at the end of every month for the next month. The Work plan with all deliverables must be approved by a nominated representative of MinDevelopment and the UCORD Project Leader before every monthly assignment commences.

 6. Qualifications of the Consultant:

6.1       Education

A master’s degree in public administration, Economics or relevant field.

6.2       Relevant Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of professional expertise in project management and general management in the Public or Private sector, fundraising, grant writing, analytics, and engineering business processes.
• An understanding of the operations of Regional Development Agencies.
• A proven track record in drafting laws, regulatory documents, and/or strategic documents.

6.3       Skills

• Excellent research and analytical abilities.
• Proficient in articulating ideas through reports and presentations.
• Strong written and communication skills
• Knowledge of English.

6.4       Specific Knowledge

• Regional development & decentralisation
• EU Cohesion Policy

  7. Reporting:

The expert reports to the UCORD Team Leader

        8. Business travel:

The process of performing the tasks defined by this ToR and the Contract may require occasional business trips to place of residence different from the expert’s place of residence within Ukraine or abroad. In such cases, the business trip should be agreed upon in advance by the Project Leader, and a report on the business trip should be submitted after the return by the expert using the appropriate current templates developed by the Project and the addition of expense documents (invoices, receipts, acts etc.). Upon approval of the travel report, the expert will receive reimbursement for travel and accommodation expenses. Meals may be provided if included in the programme of activities.

Interested applicants should send their proposals to [email protected] no later than January 9, 2026

The proposal should contain the following documents: 

• A cover letter demonstrating the candidate’s suitability for the position and summarizing relevant experience.
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) detailing qualifications and professional experience, including a minimum of three contact references.
• The preferred daily rate.
• Note: Candidates must be registered as a Private Entrepreneur (PE), 3rd group, as this is required for contract signing.