18.09.2025

Старший/а грантовий/а спеціаліст/ка (2 посади)

UCORD-eng-2058x1080 — Старший/а грантовий/а спеціаліст/ка (2 посади)

Ukraine’s Cohesion and Regional Development Project, UCORD is looking for а Short-Term Grant Officer (2 positions).

Expected Start Date: 15.10.2025
Duration: 15.10.2025 – 30.11.2026
Location: Kyiv (on site / remote)
No. of Working Days: Up to 150 Days
Category of expert: Senior Grant Officers (2 positions)

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 six pilot oblasts of Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi, Sumsy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Volyn 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.

Introduction

To ensure UCORD project effective implementation of program activities, the role of the middle-level Expert – Grant Officer is a supportive position to strengthen the grant department and overall project’s impact through three components – regional policy development, improved public services in the WASAW sectors, and enhanced social cohesion through the cultural and creative industries, as all three components involve grant programs.

Objectives of the Assignment

The objective of the assignment is to ensure accurate, transparent, and timely review of financial reports submitted by grantees as well as alignment of expenditures with programmatic activities, verifying that financial spending matches the defined outputs and outcomes. The Grant Officer will contribute to conducting value-for-money assessment by reviewing budgets against results delivered, highlighting efficiency, effectiveness, and economy and ensuring compliance with UCORD internal procedures by:

Verifying that reported expenditures are eligible, supported with proper documentation, in line with the approved budget as well as relevant to programmatic activities;
Liaison with programme component coordinators to confirm that grant-funded activities are implemented as designed
Flagging to the grant team any discrepancies between funds used and results achieved
Ensuring that financial reporting complies with UCORD internal regulations and policies;
Identifying discrepancies, drafting respective feedback to grant manager, with supporting corrective actions when needed;
Promoting accountability and financial integrity throughout the grant implementation cycle;
Ensure proper archiving of submitted financial reports and supporting documentation.

Scope of Work

The Grant Officer will be responsible for the review of grantees financial reporting and supporting documentation to ensure compliance with UCORD requirements. The scope of work includes, but is not limited to:

Reviewing financial reports submitted by grantees for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with the approved budget;
Coordinating with procurement specialists to ensure processes comply with UCORD’s procedural requirements;
Verifying supporting/primary financial documentation (invoices, contracts, timesheets, payment orders, etc.) against reported expenditures;
Ensuring that expenditures are eligible, properly authorised, and supported by adequate documentation;
Identifying errors, inconsistencies, or ineligible costs and drafting written feedback to grantees to be reviewed by the grant team;
Following up with grantees to clarify findings, request additional information, or support corrective actions;
Preparing summary reports and recommendations based on financial reviews for internal use;
Ensuring proper archiving of submitted financial reports and supporting documentation in line with UCORD policies;
Verification of grantees’ compliance with UCORD procurement requirements.
Participating in internal review meetings to align financial execution with technical outputs.
Support in financial-programmatic monitoring reports linking activities, outputs, and expenditures.

Deliverables

Regular review reports on grantees’ financial submissions, highlighting compliance issues, ineligible costs, and corrective actions.
Verified financial reports with attached checklists of reviewed supporting documentation.
Drafted correspondence/feedback to grantees based on the conducted analysis of the provided reports.
Financial reporting tracker updated to reflect review status, findings, and follow-up actions.
Archived sets of financial reports and supporting documents in line with UCORD procedures.
Periodic value-for-money analysis with recommendations for efficiency.

Qualifications of the Officer:

Education

Master’s degree in a relevant field of study such as accounting, finance, business administration, project management or other relevant filed.

Relevant Experience:

General professional experience of at least 10 years;
Proven experience in financial management, accounting, or grant administration within donor-funded programmes or projects;
Strong knowledge of project cycle management;
At least 7 years of practical experience in grants management and/or overall operations management;
Experience in identifying financial irregularities and providing recommendations for corrective actions;
Familiarity with various donor guidelines (EU, SDC) as well as funding platforms (Horizon Europe, Interreg) will be an asset

Skills

Advanced MS Excel skills for financial analysis and reporting;
Strong numerical and analytical skills with high attention to detail and thoroughness;
Ability to review financial reports and supporting documentation accurately;
Good organisational and time management skills;
English proficiency at B1 level or higher is a must.