Economic Development Project Manager / Economic Recovery Manager in Danish Refugee Council / Danska Rada u spravah bizhenciv v Ukrayini

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes and supports long-term solutions to the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. 

DRB is currently looking for a Economic Development Project Manager, who will join our team in Mykolaev.

About the job

Under the line management of the Program Manager, you will be responsible for the implementation of economic development activities in the DRB South Regional Office, including rural livelihoods support, financial assistance and business advisory to local small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as the provision of vocational training and facilitation employment.

You will manage and provide technical support to the economic development team, plan and coordinate the implementation of activities in cooperation with other divisions of the DRB, participate in coordination meetings and represent the DRB in relevant platforms.

The position involves supporting field activities in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. Technical oversight is provided by the Economic Recovery Coordinator.

Your main responsibilities will be:

Program Management

• Project management and implementation for all economic development activities in the Southern Region in accordance with project cycle management standards DRB.

• Coordination, planning and monitoring of all economic development project activities, including but not limited to: rural livelihood support, financial assistance and consulting to small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as vocational training and employment promotion.

• Interaction and coordination with relevant Clusters, partners DRBs implementing economic development projects and other actors in the regions of intervention.

• Ensuring high quality of sectoral activities and coherence between projects, current and proposed, in accordance with the overall strategy.

• Program management of high-quality and timely preparation of project progress reports in cooperation with other DRB initiatives in the region.

• Formalization and development of operational tools and training modules related to the projectsand, as needed.

• Ensuring overall budget control, financial management and cost control for program activities, including compliance with the minimum requirements of DRB and donors.

Reporting management and accountability

• Providing contributions to the preparation of monthly, quarterly and annual donor reports reports.

• Ensuring knowledge sharing between teams and ensuring that monitoring and evaluation results are used to improve project and program implementation.

• According to DRB guidelines, conducting monitoring and providing recommendations on the implementation of appropriate accountability initiatives in projects and strengthening efforts to document the impact of activities.

• Ensuring compliance with internal and external reporting requirements, including with procurement processes.

Development of programs and strategy

• Participation in the development of integrated projects and preparation of project proposals for implementation both directly by DRB and through partners, including budgeting, event planning, partner engagement and definition of logframe targets, ensuring strategic coherence, operational feasibility and compliance with sectorial and cross-cutting priorities.

• Using monitoring and evaluation data (MEAL) to develop and make evidence-based project recommendations.

• Contribute to the development and growth of relevant programs within the objectives of the DRB and contribute to strategy development at the national level.

Management of personnel

• Provide line leadership and developing the capacity of teams by overseeing recruitment, induction, performance and well-being reviews, managing task distribution and workload according to project needs and performance.

• Strengthening the technical capabilities of the team to ensure effective implementation of activities and informed scaling decisions for both partner and direct initiatives.

• Providing regular constructive feedback to direct reports and support them in the process of managing the performance of their team members.

• Evaluating the training and development needs of the economic development team, developing and implementing professional development plans.

Coordination and representation

• Strengthening internal coordination and improving work processes by promoting the understanding of the DRB mandate and procedures within the team. Ensuring effective cross-sectoral cooperation, working with MEAL and partners throughout the project cycle. Support of internal mechanisms of referral and promotion of constructive communication to improve the overall quality of programs and efficiency of partners.

• Ensuring positive working relations and coordination with relevant actors of economic development in the regions of project implementation, as well as with UN agencies such as UNDP and FAO.

• Cooperation with donors, government agenciesctures and other stakeholders.

• DRB representation and active participation in relevant sectoral and sub-sectoral coordination forums and working groups to position DRB as a leading actor in the field of economic development in the region of operation.

About you:

To be successful in this role, we expect you to have at least 5 years of professional experience in economic development, social assistance, the humanitarian sector or other related field, of which at least 3 years of proven team management and implementation experience projects. In addition, we also expect the following from you:

Required

• Higher education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in economics, social sciences, management or other related field field.

• Proven experience of working in complex emergency and recovery contexts.

• Languages: fluent Ukrainian; English - Advanced level or higher.

• Excellent reporting skills.

• Computer literacy: basic knowledge of Microsoft Office (focusing on Excel and Word).

Desirable

• Implementation experience humanitarian activities through partner organizations and/or in coordination with them will be an advantage.

• Excellent writing and editing skills for external audiences (including government structures and donors).

• Experience in preparing high-quality technical materials (training materials, program tools, project proposals, strategic documents, etc.).

• Experience working with the monitoring and evaluation department (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning – MEAL).

For all DRB positions, the incumbents are required to possess key competencies defined by the DRB:

• Strive for excellence: Focusing on achieving results while ensuring process efficiency.
• Collaboration: Engaging relevant parties and encouraging their feedback.
• Initiative:Personal control of the situation and taking the initiative, with a simultaneous desire for innovation.
• Communication: Ability to listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Virtue: Compliance and promotionning the highest standards of ethical and professional behavior in relation to DRB's values ​​and Code of Conduct, including protection from sexual exploitation, violence and harassment. 

Wages and conditions according to the Terms of Employment of national staff of the Danish Refugee Council in Ukraine.

Application process applications:

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated resume (no more than four pages in English).

Applications sent by email will not be considered. 

Application deadline: February 15, 2026

Please note that the selection of candidates will be on a rolling basis. DRB reserves the right to select a candidate before the vacancy closing date, as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.