FUNCTIONS
IMPACT is looking for a Deputy Country Representative (DCR) to oversee the programme management of elements of its country portfolio related to medium and long-term challenges resulting from the war in Ukraine. Principally, this covers durable solutions to displacement, social inclusion, disaster resilience, area-based spatial planning, and localisation. The role will involve management of senior research and technical staff, context analysis, external representation, output quality control, and project and grants development. It also serves an important leadership function, supporting the Country Representative and the Senior Management Team in determining the strategic direction and operational set-up of the Ukraine mission as the context evolves. The position will be based in Kyiv, with regular travel across the country anticipated.

The ideal candidate for this position will have experience of the humanitarian coordination architecture as well as experience working within thematic areas in the resilience/early recovery space, and the ability to differentiate between the objectives, priorities, and roles of a diverse range of stakeholders within this ecosystem. As the context in Ukraine shifts, the DCR will be charged with monitoring the context and ensuring that activities are contextually relevant and are meeting the information gaps within the response. A major component of the role focuses on empowering and enabling Research Managers and Team Leads to be confident leading and positioning IMPACT’s work in their thematic areas. This includes helping them develop an understanding of key contextual dynamics, needs and policy frameworks, identifying where IMPACT’s value-add lies, and developing research in response to identified gaps.

It also involves supporting them to map and building relationships with key stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on local civil society and Government of Ukraine representatives, as well as building their capacity to effectively represent IMPACT in relevant external forums. Where relevant, the DCR may also be expected to lead directly in these areas of work.

The DCR is also expected to hold close working relationships with the second DCR (Humanitarian Planning and Prioritisation) in order to proactively identify interlinkages between workstreams. In particular, DCRs are jointly responsible for managing IMPACT’s cross-cutting GIS and data focal points, who provide technical management, task allocation and strategic direction for these functions mission-wide. The DCR will also be expected to work closely with other cross-cutting support functions including the Field Team, the Translation Team, and the Operations Team in order to ensure the effective implementation of operational priorities and prompt troubleshooting of issues as they arise. The DCR will also maintain a close working relationship with Acted’s Senior Management Team to ensure complementarity and coherence across both organisations’ work.

RESPONSIBILITIES
The responsibilities of the DCR are wide-ranging and diverse, and require someone who is flexible, adaptable, and able to think on their feet. These responsibilities include:

OVERSIGHT OF RESEARCH CYCLES AND TEAM MANAGEMENT

Provide line-management to Research Managers (RMs)/Team Leads (TLs) for the Resilience and Spatial Planning Unit, Durable Solutions and Inclusion Team, and the Localisation Team, as well as co-managing the Cross-Cutting Technical Team. This includes effective delegation of day-to-day tasks and ensuring all team members are fully aware of their job description, duties and responsibilities;
Ensure that RM/TLs are provided with the training and support required to independently manage their unit’s RCs. Conduct regular check-ins to plan and identify any challenges or bottlenecks and empower RMs to take personal responsibility for RCs. As part of this, proactively identify areas where they lack the capacity to work independently, and provide mentorship and guidance to resolve these issues.
Provide quality control backstopping and review for research design and research outputs. Ensure that all work aligns with IMPACT Ukraine and IMPACT global SoPs, policies, and guidance on best practice. Where relevant, facilitate engagement between research teams and IMPACT HQ technical focal points.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND STAFF WELFARE

Encourage RM/TLs to think carefully about their team structures, including current and upcoming capacity or skills gaps, and work with the IMPACT dedicated HR Officer/Assistants to implement solutions to minimise gaps in the team;
For senior positions, draft and/or review ToRs and conduct interviews;
Ensure that RM/TLs have an appropriate focus on their staffs’ career development, including via reviewing and providing feedback on appraisals and inputting into staff career development plans;
Together with the SMT and RMs/TLs, support mission-wide and unit/team-level efforts to strengthen staff welfare. Create space to systematically listen to and productively respond to feedback on staff welfare and HR challenges as they emerge.
EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION, ADVOCACY AND PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Stay abreast of contextual developments relevant to the DCR portfolio, monitoring relevant meetings and forums, staying up-to-date on literature, and fostering relationships with key stakeholders.
Build strong networks with external partners, including with new categories of actors, such as national NGOs, government bodies, line ministries, community actors;
Support RM/TLs to situate their work, within wider conversations/trends in the response and globally, and encourage a critical approach to research to ensure work is always contextually relevant and impactful.
Support RM/TLs to map and build relationships with key actors in their respective thematic areas, and where possible involve these actors in the co-design of research, development of recommendations, and research uptake activities.
Represent IMPACT externally and present findings at relevant platforms/meetings; Serve as the IMPACT focal point for the Ukraine Advocacy Working Group.
INTERNAL COORDINATION AND STRATEGY

Ensure that RMs/TLs regularly update and monitor their Unit/Team strategies, and that these directly inform the development of new research and activities.
As part of the IMPACT SMT, support mission-level decision-making on strategic and operational priorities. This includes taking an active role in SMT meetings, designing and facilitating biannual SMT workshops, and engaging with time/task-bound thematic working groups (recent examples include groups to develop qualitative research SoPs, and a mission-wide localisation strategy). Lead by example by taking an active role in SMT discussions and fostering a sense of collective ownership and buy-in for SMT-level decision-making.
Coordinate with Acted SMT (Country/Deputy Country Directors, Finance, HR, Security, Logistics, Transparency and Compliance) to ensure alignment on issues of common concern (e.g. salary grids updates, logistics processes, security procedures etc.). Pro-actively ensure IMPACT’s interests are represented and reflected in relevant Acted SMT decisions.
GRANTS DEVELOPMENET, MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT

In coordination with the IMPACT Project Development Team, oversee the development of proposals, including identifying funding opportunities, conducting discussions with donors/partners, brainstorming proposal ideas, and developing proposal inputs. Throughout the process, work to ensure that RMs/TLs take ownership of developing and have full visibility on the activities and deliverables their teams will be accountable for.
Support RMs/TLs and PD staff in drafting donor narrative reports, providing final review of all reports prior to submission.
Maintain IMPACT Ukraine’s strong relationships with existing donors through meetings to brief on project progress, key developments in the Ukraine context, and findings from assessments.
Lead on building systems to externalise institutional knowledge, to ensure lessons-learned are not lost with staff turnover.
FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT

Support RMs/TLs in providing regular financial forecasts for staffing and data collection activities, ensuring these align with contractual requirements. Review forecasts and expenditure and flag issues of overspend underspend or eligibility proactively to CR and Finance.
Review RM/TL inputs into proposal budgets
ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES

The IMPACT DCR is responsible for ensuring that all interactions with Ukrainian communities are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Due attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are adequately consulted and informed about IMPACT’s programme objectives, activities, beneficiary selection criteria, and methodologies. This is the responsibility of every IMPACT staff member.
DATA CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION

The IMPACT DCR will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. They will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during their assignment with IMPACT.
REQUIREMENTS
Academic Excellent academic qualifications, including a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (International Relations, Political Science, Social Research, Economics, Development Studies, etc.);
Work experience 4 - 5 years of relevant work experience, including at least 2 years in a programme management role;
Management experience Excellent team management, coordination, organisational and planning skills required, including ability to manage large workloads, oversee multiple teams and effectively meet deadlines, through an excellent ability to multi-task and prioritise;
Aid system Familiarity with the humanitarian and development systems, and the research community.
Communication/reporting skills Excellent communication and drafting skills for effective reporting, including proven experience contributing to high level presentations/briefings;
Research skills Excellent research and analytical skills;
External engagement Experience with external engagement (donors, partners and other key stakeholders) required; experience with durable solutions or early recovery actors strongly preferred.
Financial management Experience managing multiple budgets an asset;
Work environment Solution-oriented, flexible, and open-minded, including ability to operate in a cross-cultural environment required;
Geographical experience Knowledge of the Ukraine context an asset, but not required;
Language skills Fluency in English required, competency in Ukrainian or Russian an asset but not required;
Security environment Ability to operate in a complex and challenging security environment.

Please send your resume/CV