Social Movements Advisor/Coordinator in ActionAid International

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine, with in-country travel (up to 33%), and international trips (up to 10%)

Contract duration: 6 months, starting 01/03/2026 (there are good prospects for an extension)

Contract Type: Consultancy

Open to: National candidates

Salary: According to ActionAid’s salary grid for national staff, conditional on experience (N-D-1 band, Coordinator level) – EUR 2600,00 / N-C-1 band, Advisor level – 3000,00 EUR)

Reporting to: Head of Programmes

Direct Reports: TBC, based on profile of candidate

Recruitment: Internal & External candidates

About us:

ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice. ActionAid’s Regional Office for Eastern Europe was established in Kyiv in 2022 and is covering projects in Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Moldova and Georgia. ActionAid works through a wide range of local partner organisations in the nexus, prioritising young people’s leadership, civil society development, women’s rights and leadership, the protection of at-risk groups and minorities, as well as humanitarian assistance. 

The Role:

The Regional Social Movements Lead is a core role within ActionAid Eastern Europe (AAEE). The role combines strong understanding of youth activism and social movements with the ability to translate movement-building work into NGO strategy, proposals, reporting, and learning.

The role focuses primarily on Ukraine and Moldova, with openness to explore additional thematic or geographic streams as feasible. The post is not about inventing a new vision from scratch. It is about strengthening and evolving the foundations already built, while creating the conditions for communitiesand youth-led groups to lead change on their own terms.

The role advances feminist, rights-based, and movement-led approaches, balancing political clarity with practical programme stewardship and donor-facing accountability.

Tasks and Priorities

1) Strategic Leadership & Programme Stewardship – Ukraine & Moldova (50%)

• Lead AAEE’s social movements and youth-led activism programme in Ukraine and Moldova, anchoring it in an intersectional feminist, rights-based, and movement-led approach aligned with the existing programme direction and the identified pathways of change for 2026.

• Continuously read and interpret the political and movement landscape in Ukraine and Moldova, ensuring the programme remains adaptive, politically relevant, and responsive to shifts in civic space, youth organising practices, and power dynamics.

• Translate strategy into execution by leading annual and quarterly planning cycles; setting priorities; aligning roles, resources, and timelines; and coordinating closely with Operations, MEAL, Communications, and Country Teams to maximise value for supported movements and communities.

• Cultivate and steward strategic coalitions and partnerships (youth-led, feminist, grassroots, and allied actors) that strengthen collective power, address structural drivers of injustice, and enable coordinated action.

• Provide programme stewardship and decision-making oversight for budgets, contracting, risk management, and proportionate, audit-ready systems—delegating operational tasks while retaining strategic accountability.

• Institutionalise learning and evidence generation, including outcome harvesting and reflectivepractice, and translate insights into programme adaptation, strategic reporting, andproposals, log frames, or new pilot workstreams that keep the programme innovative and grounded in lived realities.

2) Fundraising, Donor Engagement & Portfolio Accountability (35%)

• Lead and shape fundraising strategy for the social movements and youth-led activism portfolio, identifying aligned funding opportunities and influencing proposal direction in line with programme politics and values.

• Build and maintain trusted, long-term relationships with donors, partners, and international stakeholders, positioning AAEE as a credible, principled, and innovative actor in movement support and youth leadership.

• Translate movement-led work into clear, compelling, and donor-ready programme narratives and frameworks (e.g. log frames, results frameworks, theories of change), while actively safeguarding flexibility, political integrity, and movement autonomy.

• Provide portfolio-level oversight of planning, delivery, financial stewardship, and MEAL alignment, balancing adaptive programming with compliance, accountability, and responsible risk-taking.

• Act as a strategic interlocutor between movements, programme teams, and donors—managing tensions between compliance and strategy with transparency and principled judgement.

3) Supportive Feminist Leadership, Representation & Federation Coordination (15%)

• Line-manage, mentor, and develop the team through supportive feminist leadership practices, fostering trust, collective ownership, political reflection, and a strong learning culture.

• Represent AAEE in external strategic spaces (donors, networks, coalitions, public and policy forums), articulating programme politics with clarity, credibility, and relationship-building skill.

• Drive advocacy and public engagement in key forums and policy spaces to help shift decisions, narratives, and practice at local, national, and international levels.

• Coordinate with ActionAid Federation colleagues and relevant global programmes to contribute to shared learning, strategic positioning, and cross-regional collaboration—ensuring AAEE’s movement work informs and is informed by global practice.

(The responsibilities of this position are subject to change as required by the rapidly evolving context.)

Who we're looking for:

• A master’s degree in a relevant discipline such law, economics, social sciences, political science, or similar. 

• At least five years of relevant experience working for international NGOs, including at least two years in a similar role. Additional experience working with local civil society is a strong advantage.

 • Significant experience in cooperating with local and national organisations utilising an equitable partnerships approach. Preferably, experience working with human rights defenders, youth-led activist groups and social movements.

 • Significant experience in designing and implementing high quality capacity strengthening programming for local actors, including supporting strategy development, providing mentorship, and developing tailored plans and trainings.

• Significant experience in project cycle management PCM), including proficiency in managing standardized project management tools, budgets, and MEAL frameworks, as well as experience in high-quality donor reporting. 

• A strong understanding of proposal development processes with a wide range of different donors (in particular EU-INTPA, DANIDA, SIDA, NORAD and similar development donors).

 • A strong knowledge of the civil society sector in Ukraine, with a strong understanding of the nexus and civil society and social cohesion issues. Experience in programming with gender or intersectional lenses is highly preferred.

 • Proven experience in managing, and building the capacity of, staff and local partners.

• Proficiency in English and Ukrainian.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills: tact, patience, diplomacy, confidentiality, and appropriate assertiveness when communicating with donors and partners.

• Consultative and empowering working style and willingness to learn from others.

In addition, we expect:

• A strong commitment to AA’s vision, mission, and values, especially the rights-based approach and the principles of equal opportunity as outlined in ActionAid’s Code of Conduct.

 • A strong commitment to embedding feminist leadership and ActionAid’s humanitarian signature.

• A strong commitment to adhering to and promoting ActionAid’s approach to Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse and other Safeguarding concerns (including child abuse and abuse of adults at-risk) 

• A strong understanding of and commitment to women’s rights and cultural sensitivity. 

• A commitment to the importance of downward accountability to rights-holders and transparency in humanitarian response.What we offer:ActionAid is committed to providing a welcoming, supportive workplace where we recognize a job well done, encourage close collaboration and sharing power, and where safeguarding standards and feminist leadership are exemplified everywhere. At ActionAid, you can look forward to a fair compensation package and a flexible working environment, including

.• A workplace that embraces intersectional feminist principles

• Generous maternity, paternity and adoption pay.

• Flexible, family-friendly working arrangements.

• Salary and conditions according to ActionAid’s salary grid for national candidates.

How to apply:

Please send your CV and Cover Letter as pdfs in English (no more than 2 pages each) to [email protected] with the reference Ukraine – Social Movements Advisor/Coordinator before 2nd of February, 2026. 

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This offer is contingent upon pending funding applications for the role.

ActionAid conducts thorough reference checks before making an offer. 

Due to high volumes of applications received, we can only correspond with short-listed applicants. Should you not have received feedback on your application within two weeks of the closing date, please consider your application as unsuccessful.

 ActionAid will not consider unsolicited candidates from recruitment agencies. ActionAid reserves the right to modify, re-announce, or withdraw any of our vacancies at any time.

ActionAid is committed to recruiting candidates who promote ActionAid’s SHEA and Safeguarding policies and values and will only recruit candidates who are committed to SHEA and Safeguarding and ActionAid’s values, thereby helping to create safer working cultures.

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