Deputy Director (Ukraine Nationals Only)

The Deputy Director leads the NGO Platform’s subnational coordination and engagement in Ukraine, facilitating coordination among NGOs, supporting engagement with local authorities and UN, and providing strategic support to the Director. The role requires strong diplomacy, analytical capacity, and relationship-building skills to support a coordinated, principled, and locally informed humanitarian response.

Responsibilities

• Lead the NGO Platform’s engagement with NGO actors operating in eastern Ukraine, facilitating coordination and dialogue among regional representatives and Area Managers of member NGOs.
• Convene and support Area Manager Working Groups to enable operational problem-solving, information exchange, and collective positioning where relevant.
• Monitor coordination needs across frontline and high-impact areas to identify gaps, duplication and opportunities for improved collaboration.
• Promote principled and effective humanitarian coordination that supports quality response and accountability to affected populations.
• Facilitate opportunities for peer learning, lessons learned and exchange of best practices among NGOs operating in similar contexts.
• Support NGO engagement with humanitarian coordination mechanisms at regional level and maintain regular engagement with Humanitarian Operations Coordination Groups and other relevant coordination structures.
• Ensure transparent information flows between coordination structures and NGO Platform members.
• Ensure operational realities from frontline regions inform national-level discussions and advocacy.
• Monitor the evolution of area-based coordination approaches and identify opportunities to strengthen NGO engagement and leadership.
• Support constructive collective engagement between NGOs and relevant authorities at regional level, maintaining dialogue with local and regional authorities on humanitarian NGO priorities and coordination challenges.
• Support members in navigating operational challenges related to humanitarian access, regulations and coordination with authorities.
• Represent the NGO Platform in relevant subnational coordination forums when delegated.
• Act as a strategic deputy to the Director and support the overall functioning of the NGO Platform.
• Support the Director in implementation and follow-up of the NGO Platform strategy and engage with the NGO Platform Working Groups.
• Represent the NGO Platform in external engagements when delegated.
• Maintain situational awareness of humanitarian, political and operational developments in Ukraine.
• Support development of updates, briefings and analytical inputs to inform NGO Platform engagement with members and partners.
• Promote meaningful participation of national and local NGOs in Area Manager Working Groups and other relevant coordination discussions.
• Facilitate exchange of practices and lessons learned that contribute to a more locally informed and locally led humanitarian response.
• Promote discussions on complementarity across INGOs and NNGOs to inform NGO Platform discussions and positioning where relevant.
• Ensure compliance with donor and host agency (Save the Children) requirements.
• Contribute to monitoring of activities and budget implementation where relevant.
• Carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
• Work outside the normal role profile and vary working hours accordingly in the event of a major humanitarian emergency.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree in international relations, political science, humanitarian studies, social sciences or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 7 years of experience in humanitarian response or coordination roles, including field-level engagement in complex emergencies.
• Strong understanding of humanitarian coordination architecture and operational dynamics in conflict contexts.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating coordination between multiple humanitarian actors.
• Proven ability to build relationships and navigate complex stakeholder environments.
• Fluency in English and Ukrainian (knowledge of Russian an asset).
• Ability to work independently in fast-paced and evolving contexts.
• Commitment to humanitarian principles and ethical practice.
• Experience engaging with local authorities and civil society actors in conflict settings.
• Experience working with NGO coordination platforms or civil society alliances (desirable).
• Familiarity with the humanitarian and civil society landscape in Ukraine (desirable).
• Proven experience engaging in or supporting localization/partnership work, advocacy, and/or coordination processes at national and/or international level (desirable).
• Strong understanding of localization, partnership models, humanitarian financing, and power dynamics within the humanitarian system (desirable).

Skills

• Humanitarian Response
• Humanitarian Coordination
• Field-level Engagement
• Conflict Context Operations
• Stakeholder Engagement
• NGO Coordination
• Localization Strategy
• Partnership Models
• Humanitarian Financing
• Advocacy
• Civil Society Engagement
• Coordination and Facilitation
• Strategic Support
• Diplomacy
• Analytical Capacity

Languages

English, Ukrainian, Russian