Старший/а експерт/ка із менторського супроводу АРР у межах грантової програми «Regional Futures»

Location: Kyiv (hybrid)
Expected start date: 25 February 2026
Duration of assignment: 25.02.2026 – 30.10.2026
Number of working days: 125

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.

Although UCORD provides core funding and institutional support to six pilot Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), many non-pilot RDAs remain under-resourced and struggle to fulfil their mandate, particularly in supporting the implementation of oblast development strategies.

To address this gap, UCORD designed and launched the Regional Futures Grant Programme to support non-pilot RDAs in mobilising regional stakeholders, prioritising initiatives, and translating approved oblast development strategies into concrete, deliverable actions aligned with national priorities and the Public Investment Management (PIM) reform. Following a competitive selection process, five non-pilot RDAs were selected, and grant contracts have been signed.

As part of the Regional Futures Grant Programme, UCORD will provide structured mentorship support to the selected non-pilot RDAs to strengthen implementation capacity, reduce delivery risks, and support learning across regions.

Mentorship will be delivered through the direct support of the selected RDAs, with a focus on practical delivery, coordination, and problem-solving during implementation.

To ensure this mentorship support is consistent, focused, and aligned with the grant Programme’s objectives and timelines, UCORD will engage a short-term consultant, who is expected to perform the following tasks:

• At the start of the assignment, the Mentor will conduct a pre-assessment of mentorship needs across the five contracted non-pilot RDAs. This assessment will be based on approved grant applications and may include introductory discussions with the RDAs to understand the implementation context.  It will identify common challenges, RDA-specific risks, and priority areas requiring mentoring support.
• Based on the pre-assessment, the Mentor will develop a mentorship framework for the Regional Futures Grant Programme. The framework will define how mentoring will be organised, including the timing and sequencing of mentoring sessions, their basic format, follow-up and documentation. The Mentor will consider the necessity of individual thematic mentors for additional targeted support of non-pilot RDAs, will ensure further their coordination and that thematic mentors apply the agreed mentorship framework in practice.
• The Mentor will coordinate the work of individual thematic mentors supporting the contracted non-pilot RDAs. Coordination will include communication and meetings every two weeks to review progress, discuss challenges, and ensure a consistent approach across all RDAs. When specific issues arise, the Mentor may arrange additional, targeted mentor support for RDAs beyond the primary mentor assignment.
• The Mentor ensure mentoring remains practical, focused on delivery, and aligned with contracted grant applications. Recurring issues, risks, or capacity gaps identified across RDAs will be communicated to UCORD to inform and agree on next steps, where required. Where significant or emerging issues are identified, these will be flagged to UCORD as soon as possible.
• The Mentor will provide guidance to RDAs on narrative and financial reporting, with the aim of strengthening reporting capacity and improving understanding of reporting expectations. Where helpful for learning purposes, this support may include reviewing draft narrative and financial reports to provide feedback on clarity, completeness, and alignment with contracted grant applications and implementation progress. This support is provided for capacity-building purposes only and does not include responsibility for the verification or approval of grant narrative or financial reports, which remain the responsibility of the UCORD Component 1 and grant administration team.
• In case of engaging additional thematic mentors the Mentor will review thematic mentors’ plans and reports and will also coordinate mentors’ input.
• The Mentor will coordinate and support key mentoring events during implementation, including:

1. RDA kick-off sessions, involving additional thematic mentors for each RDA, to confirm expectations, roles, scope of support, and agreed ways of working.
2. Interim reflective sessions, including involvement of additional thematic mentors where necessary, with all mentors to review progress across RDAs, discuss issues, share lessons learned, and ensure a shared understanding of priorities for the next implementation phase.

• The Mentor will maintain clear records of individual mentoring activities and consolidate this information for UCORD to support easy tracking of progress across RDAs and to identify common issues and lessons learned.  The Mentor will also facilitate communication and coordination among additional thematic mentors, RDAs, and UCORD to ensure clear and timely information flow.

Candidate Qualifications

Education & Knowledge:

Master’s degree in organisational management, economics, regional development, public administration, business management.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in the design, coordination and management of regional or local development projects, including initiatives related to entrepreneurship development, investment attraction or business support;
• Proven experience in working with regional and/or local development institutions, including Regional Development Agencies, Oblast administrations, Hromada’s or similar bodies.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning, programming, or implementation of regional or local development initiatives.
• Proven experience in coordinating multi-stakeholder initiatives or expert/mentor teams.
• Experience in monitoring, reporting, and consolidating information across multiple projects or institutions.
• Proven mentoring experience in the field of regional and/or local development.
• Practical understanding of public investment systems, project pipelines, or funding mechanisms relevant to regional or local development.

Skills:

• Strong coordination and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple mentors
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills
• Strong analytical and writing skills, with the ability to consolidate information, identify key issues, and produce clear, concise reports.
• Practical understanding of project implementation, monitoring, and reporting in public or donor-funded programmes.
• Ability to provide clear, implementation-focused guidance that supports capacity building.
• Good command of spoken and written English.

Reporting: 

The expert reports to the UCORD Component 1 Lead

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.
• Interested applicants should send their proposals to [email protected] no later than February 20, 2026