International Partnerships Advisor

Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Ukraine is seeking qualified professionals for the project U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme to fill the position of

 International Partnerships Advisor (full-time, Kyiv)

(internal SAP code: Decentralization Advisor) 

In the last few years, Ukraine has developed and adopted various laws in favour of an ambitious decentralisation reform, which was meant to reshape the relations between the national, regional and local levels and build institutional capacity. Given the important new tasks, responsibilities and financial resources that local self-governments were given, the implementation of the reform required to be  accompanied by expert advice, trainings and diverse support measures. U-LEAD (Ukraine-Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development) with Europe was launched to become a special measure conducted  as a multi-donor action by the EU and its member states Germany, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Slovenia to support the Ukrainian government in the implementation of the decentralisation reform.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U-LEAD with Europe has been focusing its major activities on supporting Ukrainian municipalities during the war, developing special expertise needed to cope with war-related challenges, and contributing to the process of future recovery and reconstruction. The advertised position is in the area that primarily focuses on recovery and reconstruction through establishing cooperation between municipalities from Ukraine and the EU, maintaining international partnerships, supporting exchange visits and joint projects. The work includes the cooperation with the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC) as well as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the implementation of a Twinning Cooperation between municipalities from Denmark and Ukraine as a role model to be further used for building networks of municipalities with the aim to enhance local self-governance and fuel recovery.

The Advisor will provide support to U-LEAD with Europe within the scope of its work related to recovery and reconstruction at the local level, as well as overall capacity development efforts. The Advisor, in close collaboration with a team coordinator and a junior technical advisor, will be responsible for implementing a cooperation with Ukrainian and European local self-government associations to strengthen municipal partnerships between EU and UA municipalities. S/he will also be involved in conceptualising and conducting capacity development activities for UA municipalities to increase their resilience in the war-related context and contribute to the recovery efforts. Main focus areas for the Advisor will include: analysing on recovery and reconstruction, ensuring coherence and synergies with U-LEAD regional and local capacity development efforts, supporting international cooperation including twinning project with partners in Denmark, and coordinating with national and international development partners working on recovery and reconstruction.

Key responsibilities: 

• Supporting the team coordinator in overall management and implementation of agreed   capacity development activities including in the context of recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.
• Providing professional advisory services to and cooperating with a broad range of internal and external partners and stakeholders.
• Developing new and innovative approaches to support capacity development for local self- government and upscale the initiatives.
• Compiling, analysing, drafting and presenting new knowledge, insights and learning to external partners/stakeholders, internally in U-LEAD, and within the GIZ community.

The International Partnerships Advisor  is responsible for:

• Assists the team coordinator in the development and implementation of plans and   activities in the area of international partnerships and overall capacity development activities in close consultation with all U-LEAD areas, external partners, local government counterparts.
• Supports international cooperation, including Twinning with Denmark, ensuring adaptation of capacity development activities to the needs of Ukrainian municipalities in the war-related context.
• Supports the design, preparation, implementation (online and offline) of local and international study trips, meetings, workshops, seminars and other events on capacity development for local government.
• Prepares presentation material and facilitates for meetings, workshops, seminars.
• Develops and organises quality assurance measures and suggests necessary changes, improvements and initiatives.
• Facilitates consistent stakeholder dialogue and engagement.
• Contributes to the overall knowledge and data management; systematically files and maintains document management in accordance with GIZ standards.
• Drafts concept notes, analytical pieces, reports, social media posts, etc.
• Facilitates the transfer of insights, knowledge and learning between programme partners and stakeholders, internally and externally.
• Produces timely contributions to reports and other knowledge products of U-LEAD with Europe.
• Occasionally performs EN-UA and UA-EN translation orally and in writing.

Required qualifications and experience:

• Masters/MSc in economics, political science, international relations, other social sciences, business studies or       comparable degree qualification.
• At least 5 years’ professional experience in a comparable position.
• Experience working with grants, local subsidies, service contracts and/ or in donor-funded projects is desirable.
• Experience     with      methods           for        capacity           development,          learning, experience     sharing, policy/strategic analysis and development is desirable.
• Experience working in areas related to decentralisation and local government is an asset.
• Fluent written and oral knowledge of English and Ukrainian.
• Ability to perform EN-UA and UA-EN translation both orally and in writing.
• Analytical and writing skills for drafting policy documents, reports, etc.
• Organisational skills and ability to work on the several projects simultaneously.
• Willingness to learn and acquire new skills and competences according to needs and opportunities.
• Very good working knowledge of ITC technologies (related software, phone, email, the internet), social media platforms, and computer applications (e.g. MS Office/365).

We offer:

• Official employment;
• Salary fixed in EUR, performance-related bonuses and 13th salary;
• Medical insurance, 29 vacation days annually;
• Language classes, hard and soft skills trainings;
• Individual and group psychological support;
• Possible remote and flexible work;
• Meaningful and valuable work, international environment.

Employment conditions:

Full-time position with 40-hours working week. Place of assignment is Kyiv with the possibility of remote work during the war. The assignment starts asap. The contract duration is until December 2023.

GIZ is an equal opportunity employer and offers an attractive and challenging working environment with opportunities for skill enhancement.

Application:

Application comprising of the candidate's CV and a cover letter in the English language explaining the motivation to apply for the job until COB 31.01.2023, Tuesday.

By sending the application the candidate gives the consent for the personal data processing for recruitment processes solely.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stages of the recruitment process.