Chairman of the Technical Working Group on Livelihood – Ukraine

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency with a mandate to protect, advocate and promote sustainable solutions for displaced people.

DRC has been active in Ukraine since 2014. Currently, DRC employs over 800 staff in Ukraine and will continue to scale up significantly in 2024 to implement emergency assistance in the Protection, Livelihoods, Shelter/NFIs and Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding (Humanitarian Mine Action) sectors, through direct interventions, support to duty-bearers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and partnerships with CSOs. DRC will continue to develop and adapt its portfolio of sustainable solutions to the changing context.

DRC is currently looking for a Chairman of the Technical Working Group on Livelihood to strengthen our team in Kiev.

General purpose of the role:

Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has significantly impacted and undermined the economy and livelihoods across Ukraine. The escalation of the conflict has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in European history, resulting in more than eight million refugees and more than three million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The ongoing war threatens food security, livelihoods and the ability of rural and urban households to meet basic needs. Disruption of value and supply chains, price volatility and dependence on government and humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected areas have a significant impact on access to food across the country. More than 14.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, half of whom require assistance to obtain food and maintain their livelihoods. The conflict has caused extensive damage, leading to widespread job losses and income instability across the country. Extensive destruction of agricultural lands and loss of assets, particularly affecting the most vulnerable segments of society.

As the Ukraine context enters its third year since the escalation in February 2022, there is a greater need to ensure that relevant livelihoods interventions are prioritized and coordinated across implementing partners. The Livelihoods Technical Working Group, operating under the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster, serves as an important forum for diverse stakeholders to collectively understand critical livelihood needs and develop relevant evidence-based programming to mitigate the impacts of conflict-induced/exacerbated livelihood gaps. The LTWG Chair will ensure that the LTWG, in coordination with the FSL Cluster Coordinators, can effectively support partners in coordinating their efforts, build a data and evidence base to inform programming, and support partners with relevant technical guidance and standards to inform coherent and harmonized implementation.

Your main responsibilities are:

LTWG meetings and ad hoc representation

• In collaboration with the Cluster Coordinators, the LTWG Chair will chair the monthly LTWG meetings, prepare the agenda and ensure that minutes are distributed in a timely manner.
• The LTWG Chair will work with members to formalize work planning based on identified LTWG member priorities, and keep LTWG members continuously informed of the status of WG priority actions. The LTWG Chair will facilitate efficient distribution of responsibilities among partners/members, taking into account their relative advantages, experience and complementarity;
• The Chair of the LTWG ensures that the established priorities are followed up within the agreed timelines.
• In collaboration with cluster coordinators, the LTWG Chair may be asked to provide briefings in external fora or to update various stakeholders on the LTWG priorities and key developments.
• Ensure cooperation between members/partners to strengthen mutual collaboration and the exchange of experience, expertise and best practices.

Support for the development of LTWG guidelines, lessons learned and a strong evidence base for livelihoods

• The LTWG Chair, in collaboration with the FSL Cluster Coordinators, will ensure that the WG promotes evidence-based practice and adherence to standards on decent and sustainable livelihoods (including the development of standards and operational guidelines).
• The LTWG Chair develops the work plan, agenda, technical topics, meeting organization and reports to the FSLC Coordinators.
• The LTWG Chair will collaborate with LTWG members and FSL Cluster Coordinators to support the development of key guidelines, SOPs and standards to facilitate a standardized livelihoods response.
• The LTWG Chair supports FSL Cluster Coordinators in formulating sound evidence for livelihood interventions by promoting common core livelihood indicators and consolidating and disseminating findings from livelihood assessments and analyses to inform programme design and resource prioritisation.
• The Chair of the LTWG ensures that the findings of the assessment and analysis highlighting the most important livelihood needs in Ukraine are used for advocacy, program design and resource mobilization. At the request of the FSL cluster coordinators, these findings are also incorporated into the HNRP process.
• The Chair of the LTWG ensures that the WG serves as a platform for promoting and raising awareness of international humanitarian standards that focus on livelihood-based disaster response projects, such as the SEADS Standards (https://seads-standards.org), the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (https://seepnetwork.org/MERS) and, for livestock, the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) (https://www.livestock-emergency.net).
• Support the application of standards and sharing of technical information with working group members and partners.

Technical/coordination support to LTWG members at national and sub-national levels

• The LTWG Chair, in consultation with the FSL Cluster Coordinators, will determine priorities for capacity building/training to support partners.
• The LTWG Chair may travel to regional centres to consult with LTWG partners and ensure that sub-national/operational voices and priorities are considered and incorporated into LTWG actions, priorities and discussions.
• Support in the roll-out of approved guidelines, SOPs, standards etc., including national and sub-national dissemination and training.

About you

To be successful in this role, we expect you to have at least 5-7 years of experience implementing FSL interventions in complex crises and at least 2 years of demonstrable coordination experience. In addition, we also expect:

• Demonstrable experience in capacity building and training
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office
• Strong data management skills
• Extensive experience in developing guidelines and standards based on evidence and context
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, master’s degree is a plus.
• Full professional command of English. Ukrainian is a plus.

In this role you will be expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Striving for excellence: You focus on achieving results while ensuring an efficient process.
• To collaborate: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take responsibility and initiative and strive for innovation.
• Communicate: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrate integrity: You uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct with respect to our values ​​and code of conduct, including protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

We offer

• Contract duration: One year contract
• Band: F-non-management
• Indication of location: Kiev (with approx. 20-25% travel)
• Start date: As quickly as possible