Technical Advisor / Engineer (full time, Kyiv)

Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Ukraine is seeking for the programme “U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme” a qualified professional to fill the position of a 

Technical Advisor / Engineer (full time, Kyiv)

(internal SAP code: Construction Specialist) 

“U-LEAD with Europe: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme” is a multi-donor action of the European Union and its member states Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, and Slovenia which supports the efforts of the Ukrainian government in the area of decentralisation and regional development, as a top priority on its political agenda. The reform aims at promoting a viable and empowered local self-government (LSG) and thus bringing a positive change to people’s lives. Its success was acknowledged by the European Commission which recognised decentralisation in its Opinion on Ukraine’s application for European Union (EU) membership as “one of the most impactful and successful reforms implemented in the country”. 

U-LEAD Project Preparation Facility

U-LEAD is focusing on infrastructure facilities that are vital to the functioning and revitalisation of municipalities[1], necessary for the delivery of municipal services (i.e. fall within the remit of local self-government), and are priorities for U-LEAD’s client municipalities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, namely: education; primary healthcare; local transport (e.g. roads and bridges); water supply and sewage; and waste management. Municipalities, supported by U-LEAD via capacity development measures, will identify, prioritize, and develop the infrastructure projects via a so-called Project Preparation Facility (PPF).

The PPF is service to help Ukrainian municipalities to prepare gender-sensitive, sustainable local reconstruction projects for ‘objects’ (buildings and other structures) under their communal ownership. They can then be submitted for financing to national and/or international sources, and hence the works, related supplies and supervision services can be tendered and contracted by the municipality with these funds.

The purpose of the PPF is to get projects ready for submission to funding sources, and hence ready to tender and ready to build, so inevitably their willingness to receive and consider projects plays an important part. The PPF will prepare the technical documentation (via external service provider referred as ‘PPF contractor’ later on) that is necessary under Ukrainian law before a construction permit can be issued. U-LEAD is already supporting municipalities in formulating projects for the PPF. 

GIZ is hiring Technical advisor/engineer to support the good management of the PPF and ensuring that target results are achieved.

Overall tasks:

• Contribute to the implementation of PPF activities of U-LEAD. 
• Moderate, facilitate and deliver (if necessary) capacity building measures for municipalities in the field of responsibilities. 
• Ensure quality of deliverables provided by external experts. 
• Contribute to the preparation and implementation of events, incl. round tables, discussion forums and workshops on reconstruction and modernisation issues. 
• Participate in meetings and working groups. 
• Contribute to U-LEAD monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and data management. 
• Provide input to reports, briefings, presentations, summaries of reports in English and Ukrainian. 
• Support the implementation of other project activities and other assigned tasks. 
• Comply with GIZ rules and standards.

Specific tasks:

• Participation in the meetings between municipalities and PPF contractor to agree project design assignments.
• Quality assurance of all agreed design assignments and technical documentation prepared by external providers to prepare projects for financing. 
• Ensuring proper exchange between municipalities and PPF contractor. 
• Along with other U-LEAD staff, monitor the preparation of necessary technical documentation, including (timely preparation of deliverables, design activities, timelines, key milestones, outputs etc.).
• Identification and reporting about any risks/delays in preparation of technical documentation by the PPF contractor, any weak performance by PPF contractor experts or any issues/delays by municipality in not fulfilling obligations.
• Supporting the U-LEAD/ Sustainable Development Unit management with all reporting obligations.

Requirements of the candidates:

• Advanced degree (MA/specialist) in civil engineering and Ukrainian infrastructure design Certificates/Qualifications in one the construction of one of mentioned above sectors (education; primary healthcare; local transport (e.g., roads and bridges); water supply and sewage; and waste management) will be considered as a strong asset. 
• 4 years’ work experience in public infrastructure project design preparation in Ukraine.
• 3 years of preparing and/or monitoring & quality Assurance of public infrastructure design preparation in Ukraine. Monitoring experience of donor funded (EU/International Financing Institution e.g. EIB/EBRD) design preparation projects in Ukraine would be an advantage.
• Practical experience of carrying out design preparation with/for Ukrainian municipalities in preparing public infrastructure projects under different sectors (schools, health, water, waste etc.) would be an advantage.
• Excellent knowledge of Ukrainian (C2) with a good (B2) command of English language (both written and verbal).
• Planning skills. 
• Communication, presentation, and organisational skills. 
• Very good working knowledge of IT technologies and computer applications (e.g. MS Office).
• Readiness for occasional business trips within Ukraine, in compliance to the current GIZ travel policy.
• Diligence and responsible work ethic.
• Availability to take on responsibility and a corresponding sense for responsibility.
• Ability to work under challenging conditions and tight deadlines, flexible and able to work with people of different professional and cultural backgrounds, result-oriented, well organised and motivated.

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. Starting April 2023. The contract duration is until the end of December 2023, although this may be subject to extension.

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 English explaining the motivation to apply for the job is to be sent until COB 22 March 2023, Wednesday. 

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.

[1] European Commission, Government of Ukraine and World Bank, Rapid Damages and Needs Assessment, September 2022.