About DAI

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world. DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work.  DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner. DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

DAI is seeking qualified candidates to occupy full-time position of Civic Engagement Specialist in Kyiv or other regional HOVERLA office in Ukraine (Poltava, Lutsk, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Odesa, Uzhhorod) to join USAID Governance and Local Accountability (HOVERLA) Activity’s team. Interested candidates should submit their application through the following portal: 

https://fs23.formsite.com/OLJTgx/yhwh62wp54/index

Applications will be accepted until 15 June 2023. Due to a high volume of applications received, we are unable to contact each applicant individually regarding the status of their application. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted in response to this job advertisement.

Project Background

DAI Global is implementing the USAID-funded Governance and Local Accountability (HOVERLA) Activity, based in Kyiv, Ukraine. The purpose of HOVERLA Activity is to facilitate the creation of Ukrainian local governance systems and processes that are more self-reliant, accountable to citizens, inclusive and able to provide services. The Activity has three objectives:

• •  Objective 1: Ukraine’s system of local self-governance is increasingly institutionalized and effective
• •  Objective 2: More self-reliant subnational governance
• •  Objective 3: Citizens play an increasingly influential role in local governance processes

Position Overview

The Civic Engagement Specialist will play a pivotal role on the project team – s/he will coordinate across all technical areas and implement best practices and strategies for citizen participation and engagement. This position will help design program activities focused on civic engagement strategies, policies, and expertise, and coordinate activities to be implemented in the HOVERLA partner communities. The Civic Engagement Specialist will report to the Civic Engagement Lead (Objective 3).

Objectives and Duties

• •  Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate citizen engagement activities that involve public officials and local councilors of HOVERLA partner Oblast and Consolidated Territorial Communities (CTCs), service providers, private sector entities, civil society organizations (CSOs), and local citizens;
• •  Develop and implement activities aimed to increase citizens’ role in participatory mechanisms and decision-making process, including delivering of relevant training sessions;
• •  Work closely with grantees and program beneficiaries, disseminate program updates, collect input, monitor activities;
• •  Contribute to the preparation of program reports, work plans, and budgets;
• •  Contribute to the communication of HOVERLA-supported activities and result at the regional and local levels;
• •  Assist Civic Engagement Lead to manage awareness and engagement efforts, including strengthening participatory and social accountability mechanisms for improved citizen-government relations;
• •  Assist Civic Engagement Lead to build linkages between communities and organizations working at the grassroots level, and those that can influence the actions of local or national leaders and decision-makers within or outside of the government;
• •  Assist Civic Engagement Lead to develop and implement initiatives on social accountability tools, such as community score cards, citizen report cards, social audits, and public expenditure tracking surveys;
• •  Collaborate with the monitoring and evaluation team to ensure that Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)-related results are properly measured and reported;
• •  Undertake other duties as assigned by the Civic Engagement Lead, Chief of Party, and Deputy Chief of Party.

Qualifications

• •  Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, education, public administration, management or related field
• •  At least 7 years of experience in the related area
• •  Knowledge of participatory mechanisms (international best practices and Ukrainian landscape)
• •  A successful track record of implementing donor-funded projects
• •  Excellent communication skills
• •  Good knowledge of English
• •  Experience working with USAID or other international donor-funded programs
• •  Experience preparing well-researched analytical reports