The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is reinforcing its presence in North-East Ukraine and establishes an Area Office based in Kyiv Kharkiv. The Area Office North-East (AONE) will become a new area office, scaled up from the current Kharkiv Field Office, and will start being operational in the first half of 2026.ย
AONE will cover regions of Kharkiv and Sumy where current Field Office (FO) in Shostka will, in first half of 2026, structurally move to be under new Kharkiv AONE. ย ย
The key sectors of intervention covered by the North-East area office will include Shelter, Information Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA), Protection from Violence, Education, Livelihoods & Food Security and emergency response through cash assistance.
This role requires a diverse set of skills, including an understanding of partnership programming in protracted crises, strategic thinking, the ability to operationalise strategies, and the capacity to collaboratively develop practical, field-oriented partnership tools and guidance. The successful candidate will be a strong networker with the ability to communicate and share knowledge effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.
Start date for this position is March 2026.
Generic responsibilities:
1. Ensure adherence to NRC policies, handbooks, guidelines, procedures and donor requirements.ย
2. Support overview and maintenance of projects implemented with Partners at the area level, including providing helpdesk support to partners on compliance with NRC and donor requirements.
3. Support and coordinate the development of new partnership agreements and support with the management of existing partnerships at the Area Office level.
ย 4. Represent NRC as the main focal point with partners at the AO level on partnership-related and general issues, and ensure timely and consistent communication flow between partners and NRC.ย
5. Contribute to PCM activities and use of NRC PCM framework, working with Partners in the Area Office, including cross-cutting programme elements and M&E structures throughout all stages of the PCM.ย
6. Work with the programme team to support mainstreaming safe and inclusive programming and do-no-harm into projects and activities.ย
7. Prepare and submit periodic and ad-hoc reports to line manager.
Specific responsibilities:
Partnership mapping and tracking:
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1. Contribute to the exercise of mapping local potential partners in the area and maintaining relations with existing partners.ย
2. Ensure correct and up-to-date maintenance of Partnerships Tracker for the AO.ย
3. Maintain filing and documentation of all AO partner projects and partnership documents as per the NRC Ukraineโs filing and information management systems.
Partnership management:
1. Provide input to the development and implementation of NRC Ukraine overall strategy and operational methodology for engagement with public, private, and civil society stakeholders.
2. Act as a focal point for contracting and sub-granting issues to NRCโs partners at the Area Office level.ย
3. Act as a focal point for Local Authorities to streamline communications when implementing are based/Hromada-based programming.ย
4. Coordinate organisational assessment and vetting of potential partners as per NRC Partnership toolkit.ย
5. Coordinate the development of project implementation agreements between new partners and NRC.ย
6. Support and facilitate communication and coordination between NRC and Local Partners at the Area Office level.ย
7. ย Ensure that NRCโs partners adhere to NRC requirements and ensure smooth project implementation by providing the necessary support from NRC to the Local Partners.ย
8. Participate in ensuring a structured and consistent approach to partnerships in line with the Country Strategy and Partnership Strategy.ย
9. Coordinate with the Media and Communication team for visibility of partnership in Ukraine, and update on the profile of the programme by reflecting stories and lessons learnt as relevant to the Area Office.ย
10. Keep track of and support Area Programme Manager to ensure Area office level PCM meetings for projects implemented with Local Partners (Project Opening Meetings, Review Meetings, Project Closure Meetings) are arranged and take place within expected timeframes, all mandatory internal documents are in place (internal logframe, internal budget, procurement plan, work-plan and M&E matrix); and actively follow up on outstanding related partnership issues
Partnerships, Compliance and Capacity sharing:
1. Be familiar with and support Local Partner understanding of and compliance with NRC internal and donor requirements; and Support monitoring of partnerโs compliance with NRCโs and, where applicable to specific donorโs requirements.
2. Work actively with the Protection from violence (PfV), Safe and Inclusive Programming (SIP), Finance and Logistics units to facilitate strong mainstreaming of core NRC principles and procedures across operational partners.ย
3. Support with the identification of capacity development needs and coordinate systematic capacity sharing process between NRC and partners and vis-versa, by coordinating with technical NRC programme staff, and ensure that partners are receiving the necessary technical support needed. This could include organizing of training, coaching and mentoring.
General Administration:
1. Ensure all key project and partnership documents, including MOUs with Authorities, are filed, updated, and maintained as per the NRC Ukraineโs filing and information management systems.ย
2. Support the Country Office (CO) Partnership Unit to ensure correct and up-to-date maintenance of Partnerships Tracker.
ย 3. Assist the CO Partnership Unit as necessary, including representation and attendance at meetings as required, and coordination with teams to follow up on agreed action points.
1. Professional competencies
Generic professional competencies:
โข Minimum 3 years of relevant job experience in a similar role, preferably within the humanitarian sector.ย
โข Documented/proven results related to the positionโs responsibilities, particularly in coordination, networking and liaising with external actorsย
โข Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contextsย
โข Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, and PowerPointย
โข Excellent written and communication skills, networking, coordination, and facilitation skills.
Context/ Specific skills, knowledge and experience:ย
โข Bachelor's degree in international relations, International Development, Social Sciences or equivalentย
โข Solid understanding of the Ukrainian civil society.ย
โข Experience in managing and implementing programs in humanitarian contexts.ย
โข Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision.ย
โข Fluency in English and Ukrainian, both written and verba
2. Behavioural competencies:
โข ย Handling insecure environmentsย
โข ย Managing resources to optimize resultsย
โข Empowering and building trustย
โข Managing performance and developmentย
โข Planning and delivering resultsย
โข Working with people