Executive Coordinator – Lviv (Local Position)

Location: Lviv (with possible travels to Kyiv, Dnipro and Odessa)

Reporting line manager: Country Director

Duration:12 months renewable

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary from EUR 2,857/UAH 102,857 to EUR 3,850/UAH 138,634, depending on proven relevant experience for the post.

Starting date: 15/01/2023

CARE INTERNATIONAL

CARE International (CI) is among the world’s largest international non-governmental humanitarian relief and development confederations. Drawing on more than 75 years of experience, through its 21 Members, as both a practitioner and thought leader, CI’s work reaches over 100 countries worldwide to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice.

CARE’s vision is to seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice; where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE focuses heavily on women and girls; the areas of gender equality, diversity and inclusion are at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty and social injustice until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We recognize that power relations between people and within systems and structures are unequal and that these are entrenched in our broader systems, structures, and institutions.

At the core of the CI Confederation is a globally distributed Secretariat, which provides coordination and support to its Members in areas including governance, strategic planning, communications, membership development and accountability, advocacy, humanitarian response, and program development. In addition, the Secretariat represents the CI Confederation at the United Nations and the European Union, and with other external stakeholders.

Context in Ukraine

On 24th February 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a significant escalation to the conflict that started in 2014. It continues to profoundly impact the lives of people across the country at various levels. The front line is continuously shifting and there are areas controlled by Russian forces as well as cities under siege. Aerial attacks on military installations and critical civilian infrastructures are conducted in the whole territory of Ukraine, often resulting in collateral civilian casualties. The conflict has caused the largest population movement in Europe since World War II, with 6.24 million displaced within Ukraine and 7.68 million refugees having fled to neighboring countries. By October 26, OCHA had counted 17.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Amid the upcoming winter, which is anticipated to be the worst in decades, at least one-third of the country’s energy infrastructure is damaged, leaving millions without heating and access to water. In October, the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, further increasing the challenge of access to these areas. Therefore, in addition to preparing the population for the approaching winter, an ongoing priority for the international humanitarian response is to secure access to recently liberated and recaptured areas in the East and to provide aid to previously unreachable and particularly hard-hit areas of Ukraine.

CARE UKRAINE

As a new actor in Ukraine, CARE prioritizes a locally led response and is partnering primarily with Civil-Society Organizations (CSOs), National NGOs, local authorities, and INGOs with a longstanding presence in the country and access to hard-to-reach areas. CARE Ukraine deliberately and strategically prioritizes partnerships with local and national Women Led and Women Rights organizations (WLO’s/ WRO’s), further strengthening the Gender in Emergencies (GiE) principle and the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach.

In the first few weeks after the escalation of the war, virtually all humanitarian aid inside Ukraine was organized and implemented by local actors. These groups (together with local authorities) remain the principal aid providers but are quickly being exhausted of funds, fuel, and physical energy. Thereby, a considerable proportion of CARE’s resources is dedicated to strengthening and supporting the capacities of local partners.

As of November 2022, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with twelve local/national organizations (including four WLO’s/WRO’s) and five international NGOs. From the more than 28 million that have been raised for Ukraine thus far, more than half is allocated to local/national partners. Through the activities that have been implemented so far, CARE Ukraine has been able to reach 550,030 people, including IDPs and affected populations in hard-to-reach areas.

While CARE Ukraine’s office is currently located in Lviv, we are continuously working on strategically expanding CARE’s presence and reach with plans to open an office in Kyiv as well as field offices in Dnipro and Odessa, covering both the East and South of the country.

Role General Objectives

We are seeking to hire an Executive Coordinator (EC) in a newly created role at CARE Ukraine, who will support the operation of the senior management team (SMT) and act as an advisor, problem solver, as well as an internal and external network liaison. The successful candidate will be a highly resourceful individual with strong emotional intelligence, self-motivation, and robust analytical skills.

The EC will act on behalf of the SMT to visit field offices and CARE Centers.

The position holder will be essentially responsible for:

• Enabling the SMT to work more strategically, effectively and efficiently across the organization and to help assess legal, programmatic, operational, security, reputational, and political risks and develop risk mitigation strategies
• Ensuring that the SMT meets regularly by organizing and hosting SMT meetings, defining the agenda and assisting the SMT members to perform their respective role and responsibilities
• Playing a facilitative role to strengthen decision-making processes on key priorities, strategic issues and engagements, policy, and process development
• Facilitating internal communication, ensuring that CD and SMT members are responsive to staff when needed and accelerating the implementation of decisions
• Strengthening the coordination by supporting CARE Ukraine’s (matrix-based) organizational scheme to operate effectively and efficiently, with clarity across all departments, all levels of staff and accountability to all stakeholders
• Upon CD’s requirements, working across the organization’s departments and teams to address key priorities, resolve complex issues, strengthen strategic resource and capacity planning across different program streams and locations
• Together with the SMT members, ensuring that all of CARE’s staff are connected, working towards a common set of priorities and that the work environment is positive, collaborative, and productive
• Improving information sharing within the SMT, within the Country Team and within the whole organization
• When requested, representing CARE Ukraine with external stakeholders and at external meetings and events
• Ensuring that public-facing CARE reports are reviewed and are of high quality

Role Responsibilities:

Support to Executive Leadership

• Assist the CD in strengthening the SMT’s decision-making capacities by supporting the definition of the agenda of SMT meetings, setting the meeting room and all needed IT and communication systems, preparing key dashboards/presentations, ensuring the participation of all SMT members and the completion of any other tasks deemed necessary
• Take clear, concise, and comprehensive notes of all SMT meetings, as well as any other executive meetings when required, maintaining confidentiality at all times. Provide notes to the SMT members for comments within 48 hours
• Support the SMT to conduct strategic, organizational, operational and resource planning, in line with the CARE strategic framework and operational plan. Ensure that all head of department are appropriately guided in: 1/ setting strategic and operational priorities, 2/ defining and monitoring performance indicators, and 3/ integrating learnings from monitoring and evaluation processes into their work and that lessons learned are institutionalized
• As directed by the CD, update the organization chart of CARE Ukraine and develop the organizational effectiveness of the matrix-based cross-team and peer-to-peer management system for CARE Ukraine (Coordination and Report matrix)
• Support the organization of team retreats, workshops, seminars, etc.

Support Decision-Making Processes and Policy-Making,

• Work with the SMT and other managers to draft and/or deliver key organizational information to ensure staff are informed of, included in, and engaged with CARE work and organizational priorities
• When needed, supports managers in formulating plans, policies and decisional documents and receive decisions and feedback from SMT in a timely way
• Identify issues and problems for resolution; assist departments, managers and units in resolving complex issues particularly when crossing many department’s equities or responsibilities; raising issues for SMT decision when appropriate; facilitating efficient decision making through well thought out analysis and presentation of the issues
• Facilitating policy or procedure making and ensuring implementation of decisions, policies and procedures
• Ensure translation of key documents when required

Support Organizational Development and People Leadership

• Develop, implement, and follow up the online filling system (sharepoint), defining levels of accreditation and securing confidential access when required. Provide clerical support to the SMT, including maintenance of key contact lists and electronic filing of key documents
• Collaborate with the SMTs, department, program, unit, and support services managers, to develop, motivate, and lead team members, creating an equitable and inclusive environment that promotes collaboration, gender equity, diversity and inclusion
• Foster collaborative working relationships across CARE Ukraine in ways that drive organization-wide effectiveness
• Provide strategic direction and advocacy to the CD and SMT members for accountable leadership and strong organizational effectiveness

Liaison with Authorities, Administrative Procedures and National Legislation

• Develop, maintain and establish excellent working relationships with a wide range of authorities and public actors (mapping of actors to be defined)
• Represent CARE’s interests and actively participate in all relevant meetings/fora involving authorities to identify critical information gaps related to CARE ‘s engagement in Ukraine
• Contribute to the follow up and analysis of the national legislation related to humanitarian organizations and labor law
• Take part of all NGOs fora related to new national legislation on humanitarian aid and provide appropriate orientations/recommendations to the SMT
• Take part of dedicated meetings and interaction with authorities when required

Internal Communication

• Ensure strong feedback loops and multidirectional communication streams for all SMT decisions with CARE Germany and within the CARE Ukraine team
• Plan for all-staff meetings and manage staff communication venues
• Develop and follow up an internal monthly sitrep for CARE UKR, CARE Germany and other CARE members
• Support the CD with providing urgent input and approvals to/from staff when required
• When required, in cooperation with the Advocacy Coordinator and the Communication officer, support draft of the CD and SMT members’ communications, presentations, correspondence, and talking points. Ensure that the SMT members are prepared for all meetings, events, and public engagements when needed

Administration

• Liaise with CARE Germany and relevant authorities to secure work permits (D07) and residency cards for international staff based in Ukraine and for visitors (when needed)
• Assist SMT members in booking hotels, flights and train tickets for business trips when required
• Assist the CD and the SMT in preparing agendas, administrative and logistics arrangements for institutional visitors
• Assist CD in preparing expenses reports after business trips or after specific events

Essential Criteria required:

• Master’s degree in management, development, law, sociology, or equivalent years of experience preferred.
• At least 5 years of senior organizational leadership and direct people management experience are required.
• Experience managing in diverse settings, including international organizations preferred
• Experience in liaising with governmental authorities, other national/ international institutions
• Demonstrated management skills and abilities in strategic and operational planning, and ability to successfully manage multiple competing priorities.
• Demonstrated experience in change management best practices and implementation required, including knowledge of best practices related to human behavioral change required for long-lasting organizational change. Occasional evening and/or weekend availability required.
• Ability to work in a stressful setting and adapt quickly to changing environments.
• Results/action-orientation; organizational management skills
• Highly developed communications skills (written/verbal), emotional intelligence, and interpersonal savvy; Tact, diplomacy, and perseverance
• Organizational and political agility
• Strong negotiation, collaboration, and teamwork skills
• Unquestionable personal code of ethics, integrity, diversity and trust
• Ability to meet demanding deadlines and work under stress
• Possesses excellent oral/writing communication skills in English and Ukrainian
• Strong computer skills – Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, Google, Teams/Sharepoint a plus
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects, solve problems; resourceful
• Experience creating systems, processes, and procedures
• Detail-oriented, organized, and self-starting
• Strong belief in human rights and gender equality

Accountability

A commitment to CARE values and CARE’s integrity framework is critical to working with CARE. Any candidate offered a job with CARE will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with CARE’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.

• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.

• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a CARE staff or partner.

Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of CARE activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that CARE shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Gender equality:

CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2019). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of gender in programmatic and organizational practices.