Job Description International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

Position Title: Economic and Rural Development Liaison Program: Bibliomist (Global Libraries - Ukraine) Program Division: Civil Society Division Reports To: Capacity Development Coordinator Position Location: Kyiv, Ukraine Grade Level: 3 Employee’s Name: TBD Effective Date: March 2009

About IREX:

IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development.

Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of $50 million and a staff of over 400 professionals worldwide. IREX and its partner IREX Europe deliver crosscutting programs and consulting expertise in more than 50 countries.

Summary of Program:

The Bibliomist program will provide Internet facilities to public libraries across Ukraine and provide accompanying training and assistance with advocacy for enhanced library support and services. The program has been operating under a Planning grant. During this stage, IREX has been networking with a wide range of stakeholders to gain a clear understanding of how the national-scale program can be most effectively designed. The national program began in the fall of 2008.

Summary of Position:

IREX seeks a qualified professional to fill the position of Economic and Rural Development Liaison for the Bibliomist Program, responsible for coordination of the project with government bodies involved in economic and rural development, and for disseminating subject guides and other materials useful to the library community. Citizens of Ukraine are encouraged to apply. Specific duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

Description of Responsibilities: - Develop strong working relationships and communication channels with responsible officials in the Ministries of the Economy and Agrarian Policy, keep them informed about project activities, and solicit their input; - Keep other assistance programs related to economic and rural development informed about project activities and inform project staff and stakeholders about the activities of other assistance programs; - Working with the Impact Specialist, design and implement activities to meet economic and agricultural-related indicators in the project’s comprehensive impact plan; - Contribute articles about useful development-related online resources to project newsletters; - Identify civil society organizations active in economic or agricultural development and facilitate their acquisition of training and tools that will help them increase the impact of their work through more effective use of information technology; - Maintain a regular online forum dedicated to economic and agricultural issues that is used regularly by large numbers of librarians and interested library visitors; - Assist the Ukrainian Library Association and libraries throughout the country in developing subject guides to online resources related to economic and agricultural development; - Identify priorities, arrange copyright, and work with a translator to make useful existing English-language materials available in Ukrainian; - Organize nationwide contests and award ceremonies for IT-related achievements by stakeholders in the areas of economic development and agriculture, in cooperation with the relevant national ministries; - Supervise a program assistant; - Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of three years of experience working for an international NGO, in private sector or government
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills, and the ability to communicate with local stakeholders to ensure the successful completion of project activities;
• Higher education in a relevant discipline; Familiarity with political, economic, and social issues in Ukraine;
• Experience working with information and communication technology in a development context; Advanced knowledge of MS Office applications;
• Strong command of spoken/written English and Ukrainian or Russian.

To Apply:

Please email your cover letter, resume, and salary history with “CSD/ERDL/CG” in the subject line to [email protected]. No phone calls please. Only complete applications will be considered. The position is available immediately, and candidates will be contacted on a rolling basis as applications are received.