Policy Advisor (Local Economic Development)

In the last few years, Ukraine has developed and adopted various laws in favour of an ambitious decentralization reform, which reshapes the relations between the national, regional and local levels and builds institutional capacity. The success of the decentralization reform greatly depends on the coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders involved into reform implementation 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, trainings 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 decentralization reform.

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

Areas of responsibility:

• Providing capacity-building and consultative support to municipalities in Vinnytsia oblast in the areas of local economic development, strategic planning, international municipal cooperation and EU integration aimed at assisting them to efficiently perform tasks and carry out new responsibilities acquired in the course of reforms’ implementation and European integration.
• 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.

Tasks:

The Policy Advisor:

• Provides consultations, organizes trainings and other capacity development events on international municipal cooperation and EU accession, local economic development and strategic planning issues, which include but are not limited to rural development, local business support in municipalities, public investment management.
• Participates in the internal working groups, contributing to the preparation and delivery of online training courses with inputs, materials, presentations on local economic development and strategic planning, local business support, rural development related topics, public investment management.
• Participates in preparation and implementation of local contributions.
• Provides consultations and advice on cross-cutting topics such as integrity and anti-corruption, while applying a gender-sensitive approach.
• Provides to Administrative Specialist of the Regional Office responsible for the data entry into data monitoring system for all events (e.g., trainings, consultations, conferences) within his/her responsibility as well as further necessary data (e.g., trainers, good practices, support to municipalities, etc.) according to the guidelines.
• Coordinates the organization of trainings and professional advice to municipalities with short-term experts according to GIZ values, standards and rules. Contributes to the quality assurance of the experts’ work.
• 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.
• Participates and contributes to public discussions and policy dialogue events aimed at supporting reforms’ implementation, contributes to U-LEAD communication and visibility activities.
• Participates and contributes to the strategic and operational planning, monitoring and reporting of the U-LEAD Regional Office in Vinnytsia oblast.
• Provides short reports and pictures from the attended events on time upon request.
• Contributes to the overall knowledge and data management of the U-LEAD Regional Office in Vinnytsia oblast.
• Follows personal data protection rules during handling of participant lists and entry of personal data into U-DATA.
• Collects good practices and success stories, checks their progression over time and shares the information in the respective field for public awareness raising and communication purposes.
• Provides technical support to international and local experts during their field visits.
• Communicates regularly with local stakeholders.
• Communicates and cooperates effectively with the colleagues in the Regional Office, the U-LEAD team and other GIZ projects in Ukraine.
• 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 the Head of Regional Office.

Required qualifications, professional experience and personal competences:

• Master’s Degree in the field of Economics, Management, Finance, Public Administration, Law, Project Management or other relevant fields.
• At least 2 years’ work experience in the economic sector and/or in public sector, in local self-government bodies or in an NGO.
• Proven track record of involvement in the implementation of the decentralization reform for the period of at least one year.
• Proven experience in elaborating municipality development strategic plans and local economic development projects.
• Proven experience in developing economic and social development programs, as well as local targeted development programs.
• Sound knowledge of municipal management and development (including strategic planning and management, business support, rural development), tools for fostering local economic development.
• Experience working with community recovery and resilience instruments, as well as with the DREAM platform or other government digital systems is an asset.
• Knowledge of and experience of project management in municipalities is an asset.
• Deep understanding of the specific set-up, its actors and political environment of respective oblast.
• Knowledge and experience of capacity building of adults is an asset.
• Strong organizational and planning skills.
• Team player with excellent communication skills, including public outreach.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• High degree of self-organization.
• Very good Ukrainian language skills. English or/and German is an asset.
• Good computer skills (MS Office Suite, 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 remote and flexible 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 Vinnytsia. Starting as soon as possible. The contract duration will be 12 months with the possibility of prolongation.

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

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 March 2026, Thursday.

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

• Surname Name_CV
• Surname Name_Cover letter

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. The shortlisted candidates may be offered the task to complete to check the level of their proficiency and written English.

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