Leading specialist of the economic development project / Economic Recovery Specialist in Danish Refugee Council / Danska Rada u spravah bizhenciv v Ukrayini

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes and supports long-term solutions to the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. 

DRB is currently looking for a Leading Specialist in Economic Development, who will join our team in the city of Sumy. The Lead Economic Recovery Specialist will primarily support the implementation of economic recovery measures implemented by partners in Sumy Oblast.

The position involves providing day-to-day technical, operational and project cycle management support to implementing partners, including mentoring, capacity building and quality assurance at all stages of the project cycle. As required, the role may also include limited involvement in direct implementation of activities.

Your primary responsibilities will be:

 Partner Support and Capacity Building

• Provide day-to-day technical support and advice to implementing partners implementing economic recovery activities.
• Accompany partners at all stages of the project cycle, including project initiation, work planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and closure, in accordance with DRB and donor requirements.
• Lead and engage in partner capacity building initiatives, including through coaching, training and development of project cycle management (PCM) tools, MEAL integration, accountability to affected populations (AAP), integration of safeguarding principles and gender-sensitive programming.
• Conduct regular field monitoring visits to partner activities, provide structured feedback and monitor implementation of agreed action plans.

Project cycle management and quality assurance

• Support partners in developing and updating key project cycle management tools (Project Cycle Management), including work plans, performance improvement plans (Performance Improvement Plan), budget follow-up control (Budget Follow Up) and procurement plans.
• Review monthly narrative and financial reports of partners, ensuring consistency between declared activities, actual implementation in the field and supporting documentation.
• Participate in internal processes withproject management (Project Management Meetings)/BFU, ensuring accurate forecasting and timely identification of implementation risks or delays.
• Support partners in project closing processes, including final reporting and documentation of lessons learned. 

About you:

To be successful in this role, we expect you to have a combination of sound technical knowledge in economic recovery with a strong understanding of programs implemented through partners in a humanitarian context. In addition, we also expect you to:

Required

• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in economic recovery, livelihoods, economic development, business or finance.
• Higher education (Masters or higher) in economics, development, social sciences, business administration or a related field related to economic recovery.
• Proven experience in providing technical support and/or capacity building to local partners, CSOs or community organizations.
• In-depth understanding of project cycle management in humanitarian or early recovery contexts.
• Experience working in conflict or humanitarian crises.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office.
• Fluency in Ukrainian and an advanced level of English.
• Business Trained certification. 
reporting.

All DRB positions require incumbents to possess key competencies identified by DRB:

• Strive for excellence: Focus on achieving results while ensuring process efficiency.
• Collaboration: Engaging relevant parties and encouraging them to provide feedback
• Initiative: Personal control of the situation and taking initiative, with a simultaneous desire for innovation.
• Communication: Ability to listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Integrity: Adherence and promotion of the highest standards of ethical and professional behavior in relation to the values and Code of Conduct of DRB, including protection against sexual exploitation, violence and harassment. 

Salary and conditions according to the Terms of employment of the national staff of the Danish Refugee Council in Ukraine.

Application process:

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated resume (no more than four pages in English).

Applications sent by email will not be considered. 

Application deadline: 22 January 2026

Please note that the selection of candidates will be made on a rolling basis. DRB reserves the right to select a candidate before the vacancy closing date, as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.