The Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI) program is seeking expressions of interest for short- term consultants to conduct periodic, short-term assignments over the course of an anticipated three (3) month period and possibly longer. Geographic areas for assignments will include Mariupol, Slovyansk, Luhansk, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities as the security situation permits. Duties may include, inter alia:

• Meet and work with potential grantees, community leaders, or local governments to design and develop grant concepts and activities under the overall strategic guidance of the UCBI program;
• Liaise with other technical assistance programs and create a matrix of all current activities being conducted or designed in the geographic areas mentioned above.
• Prepare reports in English analyzing local contextual situation and opportunities for project activities in designated areas.
• Provide daily oral and written updates on the political, social, and security environment in designated areas.
• Work with potential grantees, community leaders, or local governments to design and develop grant concepts and activities under the overall strategic guidance of the UCBI program.
• Develop, oversee the implementation of, and finalize multiple grants and other activities, on an ongoing basis, in a fast-paced and highly dynamic environment.

Position Requirements. For this position, candidates must meet the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred.
• At least five (5) years demonstrated experience in project design, development, and management of relevant donor-funded community development projects in Ukraine.
• Strong organizational, management, and administrative skills, preferably with respect to report writing and monitoring and evaluation.
• Demonstrated analytical ability and understanding of local and regional political context, with the ability to think creatively in conceptualizing relevant grant activities.
• Proven knowledge of local and international NGOs and community-based organizations implementing relevant activities and programs in country, as well as key governmental actors and stakeholders, with an up-to-date understanding and knowledge of the political environment and social conditions in the country.
• Experience working with local organizations to implement community participation and consensus-type activities.
• Experience with USAID-funded projects preferred.
• Fluent Russian, Ukrainian, and English required. 
• Ability and willingness to travel throughout eastern Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia, and liberated cities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, as well as to Kyiv.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit CVs and written expressions of interest to [email protected] by no later than 18.00 hrs on Friday, August 15, 2014.