Policy Advisor (Decentralisation and Local Self-Government)

In the last few years, Ukraine has developed and adopted various laws in favour of an ambitious decentralisation reform, which reshapes the relations between the national, regional and local levels and builds institutional capacity. The success of the decentralisation reform greatly depends on the coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders involved into implementation of reform at the national, regional and local levels. Given the important new tasks, responsibilities and financial resources that local self-governments have gained, the implementation of the reform must be accompanied by expert advice, training and diverse support measures. U-LEAD (Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development) is a special measure which is conducted as a multi-donor action by the EU and its member states Germany, Denmark, France, Austria, Poland and Slovenia to support the Ukrainian government in the implementation of the decentralisation reform.

For our regional team in Kirovohrad oblast we are looking for an experienced and highly motivated policy advisor with an innovative mind-set, a strong team player with solid knowledge of decentralisation and legal aspects of local self-government with the practical experience of supporting hromadas in the course of decentralisation reform implementation.  

Key responsibilities:

• Providing capacity development and consultative legal support to hromadas of Kirovohrad oblast aimed at assisting them to efficiently perform tasks and carry out new responsibilities acquired in the course of reforms’ implementation. 
• Contributing to policy analysis.
• Ensuring good communication and information flow with all stakeholders (political and implementation partners and within the GIZ team) and supporting them. 
• Contributing to the planning, monitoring and evaluation processes at U-LEAD Regional Office in Kirovohrad oblast.

Tasks:

Policy Advisor (Decentralisation and Local Self-Government)

• Provides consultations and capacity development measures (online and offline) for staff of municipalities of Kirovohrad oblast on legal issues, which include but are not limited to public service and HR/related issues, the transfer of property, management of resources, assets and communal property (legal aspects).
• Participates in the internal working groups / task forces, contributing to the preparation and delivery of online training courses for municipalities with inputs, materials, presentations on a set of topics of his/her expertise.
• Coordinates the organisation of trainings and professional advice to municipalities of Kirovohrad oblast with short-term pool experts according to GIZ values, standards and rules. Contributes to the quality assurance of the pool experts’ work. 
• Organizes informational sessions and consultative support for municipalities of Kirovohrad oblast on a set of topics of his/her expertise and engaging local partners. Contributes to preparation and conduction of offline events organized by U-LEAD Regional Office in Kirovohrad oblast, including participant management and logistics.
• Collects and analyses municipalities’ feedback on challenges they face as well as their needs in terms of amending policy and legislation in the field of the Policy Adviser’s expertise.
• Communicates with municipalities of Kirovohrad oblast on issues related to their participation in U-LEAD training programs (incl. invitation, selection, follow-up) and other U-LEAD offers.
• Puts in and provides necessary information to responsible for the data entry into data monitoring system on all events (e.g., trainings, consultations) within his/her responsibility as well as further necessary data (e.g., trainers, good practices, support to municipalities, etc.) according to the guidelines. 
• Participates and contributes to the strategic and operational planning, monitoring and reporting of U-LEAD Regional Office in Kirovohrad oblast. 
• Assists Head of Regional office in tracking of events’ finances, including contributing to preparation of service requests, market research, pre-checking of events’ invoices and supporting documents.
• Contributes to the overall knowledge and data management of U-LEAD Regional Office in Kirovohrad oblast. 
• Provides short reports and pictures from the attended events on time upon request. 
• Collects good practices and success stories, checks their progress over time and shares the information in the respective field for public awareness raising and communication purposes. 
• Participates and contributes to public discussions and policy dialogue events aimed at supporting reforms’ implementation, contributes to U-LEAD communication and visibility activities.
• Provides technical support to local experts during their field visits. 
• Communicates and cooperates effectively with the colleagues in the Regional Office, the U-LEAD team and other GIZ projects in Ukraine as well as with different local stakeholders
• Ensures discreet behaviour vis-a-vis third parties in all internal matters. 
• Supports the implementation of other project activities and other assigned tasks. 

Communicates and reports regularly to Deputy Head of the Regional Operations Unit (Head of Operational Team).

Required qualifications, professional experience and personal competences:

• Bachelor’s Degree in the field of Law, Public Administration or other relevant fields. 
• At least 2 years’ work experience in law in public service, in local self-government bodies (preferably) or in an NGO.
• Experience with providing consultations and conducting trainings on decentralisation reform and legal aspects of local self-government will be an advantage. Experience of provision of services (trainings, consultations, webinars) in online mode is an asset.  
• Proven track record of active involvement in the implementation of the decentralisation reform for the period of at least one year.
• Sound knowledge of aspects of decentralisation and local self-government reforming. 
• Deep understanding of the specific set-up, its actors and political environment of Kirovohrad oblast.
• Strong organisational and planning skills. 
• Team player with excellent communication skills, including public outreach and media relations.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities. 
• High degree of self-organisation. 
• Very good Ukrainian language skills. English or/and German is an asset. 
• Good computer skills (MS Office Suite, Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc.). 

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 flexible and remote work (depending on projects’ needs up to 10 days a month within Ukrainian border). 
• Meaningful and valuable work, international environment.

Employment conditions:

Full-time position with 40-hours working week. Place of assignment is Kropyvnytskyi. Frequent travel within the relevant oblast is required. Starting in the second half of June 2026. The end of the contract – 31.12.2027 (or return to work of a mobilized staff member).

GIZ is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic. 

We particularly encourage veterans and people with disabilities to apply.

Application:

We are looking forward to your application in English, comprising your CV and a Cover letter explaining your motivation to apply for the job to @email  until COB 12 June 2026, Friday. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next stages of the recruitment process.

Candidates are requested to submit their documents with the following title:

•  Surname Name_CV

•  Surname Name_Cover letter

By sending the application you give the consent for the personal data processing for recruitment processes solely according to GIZ data privacy regulations. You can familiarize yourself with these regulations by the link Data protection | GIZ