Description of the context
To address the changing needs of Ukrainian municipalities and national level stakeholders during wartime, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has initiated a broader programme in support of multilevel governance and recovery. This programme is called “Polaris: Supporting Multi-level Governance in Ukraine”. It is implemented by SALAR International and planned for four years (July 2024-May 2028).
Polaris Programme aims to work with both short and long-term focus, addressing the needs of the multi-level governance system in Ukraine and in parallel strengthening municipalities’ public service provision, as well as their direct engagement in the recovery and reconstruction processes, in line with the requirements of Ukraine’s EU accession.
The Programme’s support is provided through two operational components: one focusing on policy and collaboration with national stakeholders, and the other providing direct support to municipalities. The support encompasses six thematic areas: Education, Fiscal Decentralisation and Budgeting, Administrative Service Provision, Locally-led Recovery, Municipal Enterprises, and International Municipal Cooperation. In addition, the Programme will provide material support to meet short-term material crisis needs of municipalities.
The thematic area ‘Strengthening the Starosta Institution’ focuses on establishing an effective institution of starostas with a clearly defined functional remit at the level of legislative framework, and on improving the institutional capacity of these positions in ukrainian hromadas. This component of the Polaris Programme operates through the following activities: expert support for legislative initiatives (assistance in improving legislation and public policies); direct support for hromadas (organising and streamlining the work of starostas, and engaging local residents in resolving issues of local importance); training and knowledge-sharing (conducting training sessions for hromada leaders, deputies, and starostas).
Role Description
An expert will advise the local governments of partner hromadas on establishing a system for identifying the public service needs of local residents in starosta districts and conducting a high-quality needs assessment for the further development of these territories. The role also involves providing support in the development and adaptation of the needs assessment methodology and tools for data collection and analysis, expert and analytical support in processing and interpreting the results, as well as preparing training materials and delivering training sessions for starostas and hromadas officials.
The expert will also support hromadas in implementing forms of local resident participation in starosta districts to address issues of local importance, prepare relevant training materials, expert recommendations and policy documents, advise hromadas on current issues and prepare reports on the conducted activities.
Please send your CV (no more than 3 pages) and cover letter (no more than 1 page) in PDF format to
For more information, please download the Terms of Reference (Ukrainian).
Deadline: 05 August 2026
