Радник/ця з питань інституційної підтримки UCORD

Location: Kyiv (hybrid)

Expected start date: 15 September 2025

Duration of assignment: 15.09.2025-30.11.2026

Number of working days: 175

Background

Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development project, UCORD is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through 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 six pilot oblasts of Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn and Odesa oblasts as the starting points, 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.

UCORD aims to strengthen regional governance and promote inclusive development by enhancing the institutional capacity and operational role of RDAs in six pilot oblasts as well as in non-pilot region of Ukraine. UCORD also supports RDAs and other regional stakeholders in influencing national frameworks and contributing to Ukraine’s EU-oriented reform agenda. Engagement with peer institutions, donor partners and other technical assistance projects also continued, notably with OECD, EURADA, U-LEAD and EURADA, to coordinate approaches and introduce European experience into Ukraine’s evolving regional development framework.

In this context, under Component 1, UCORD is looking to engage Institutional Support Advisor, who is expected to perform the following tasks:

• Support the development of transparent governance models for pilot RDA (standard operating procedures), including rules of procedure, decision-making flowcharts, and publication protocols
• Coordinate inter-regional peer learning formats and represent UCORD project at the EU level and regional governance knowledge exchange platforms
• Conduct a series activities to raise awareness of EU cohesion and regional development policies, EU interregional cooperation programmes (INTERREG), etc.
• Facilitate a series of knowledge exchanges between pilot RDAs and successful EU regional development agencies and their associations, other UCORD inernational partners to learn best practices of region development policy, open governance and partnership methods, and RDA-government-business-civic-tech-academia engagement.”
• Coordinate and monitor the creation and function of the Unified Geographic Information System for monitoring and evaluating the development of regions and territorial hromadas (GIS RD)
• Coordinate the creation and action of the UCORD Learning platform to support capacity building of RDAs, regional and local stakeholders for project concepts preparation and for RDA-public-private-academia dialogue and consultations
• Coordinate and curate of the content and update for the Regional Policy section of the Decentralisation Portal, covering key EU and Ukrainian policies (including articles, preparing summaries and conducting interviews
• Introduce templates and support for publishing RDAs annual reports and showcasing impact on regions development

Candidate Qualifications

Education & Knowledge:

Master’s or PhD degree in international relations, law, political science, public administration, or other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven experience in managing donor-funded projects or programmes in the fields of good governance, decentralization, public administration, or institutional development;
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in cooperation with parliamentary committees, ministries, and/or sub-national authorities on public policy development and institutional strategy design;
• Proven track record in supporting the institutional transformation of public authorities or agencies in Ukraine, including the design of governance models, planning processes, and performance management systems;
• Experience in drafting public policy documents, strategies, operational plans, and/or facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation and consultations;
• Proven experience working with international organisations, EU institutions, and a range of national and regional stakeholders on institutional reform or strategic policy implementation;
• Experience working directly with multi-level governance structures, including national, regional, and local governments (oblasts, hromadas) in the areas of recovery planning, regional development, or multi-stakeholder coordination.

Skills:

• Strong strategic and analytical thinking to support programme and policy-level decision-making;
• Results-oriented and initiative-driven approach with a focus on measurable impact and sustainability;
• Ability to adapt international standards, methodologies, and tools to local Ukrainian institutional contexts;
• Advanced interpersonal and communication skills, including negotiation with government, donor coordination, and stakeholder facilitation at both national and regional levels;
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating working groups, roundtables, and decision-making processes, both online and offline;
• Excellent drafting skills, including the preparation of assessments, policy briefs, reports, and communications for donors and diverse stakeholder groups;
• Proven ability to mobilise cross-sectoral partnerships;
• Excellent command of English (written and spoken) is essential

Specific Knowledge:  

Regional development, EU Сohesion policy, digitalization of business processes

Evaluation of response & selection: 

• The expert will collaborate with the UCORD Component 1 Leader;
• Interested applicants should send their proposals to [email protected] no later than September 11, 2025

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.