Introduction

The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Government of Ukraine, social partners in cooperation with leading energy enterprises, will launch a new initiative to protect, retain, and equip Ukraine’s energy workforce for urgent repairs and resilient recovery, to be funded by the Government of the Netherlands. Against the backdrop of massive war-related damage, energy workers face extreme occupational safety and health (OSH) risks—from shelling and unexploded ordnance to fatigue, trauma, and unsafe worksites—while workforce depletion, outdated and gender-blind training, and limited reintegration pathways for veterans, internally displaced persons (IDPs), women, and persons with disabilities further strain the sector’s capacity. This project prioritizes immediate worker protection while laying the groundwork for longer-term modernization and reskilling, ensuring both continuity of energy supply and progress toward Ukraine’s decentralized, greener energy system in line with its recovery, resilience, and EU accession pathway.

The project will deliver results through three mutually reinforcing outcomes:

• Outcome 1 – Co-developing OSH protocols tailored for wartime conditions, facilitating employer-led provision of appropriate protective equipment (with humanitarian provision of self-rescuers only in urgent life-saving cases), strengthening inspection capacity through small-scale mobile OSH interventions and delivering mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to address trauma, fatigue, and burnout.
• Outcome 2 – Testing workplace adaptation measures — including rehabilitation of basic facilities such as lockers and changing rooms with gender-responsive design — alongside safe return-to-work schemes and negotiated reintegration pathways for veterans (including those with disabilities), IDPs, women, and older workers. Tripartite dialogue and collective bargaining will be used to anchor these pilots in sectoral agreements and to promote wage protection, equal treatment, and safe working conditions.
• Outcome 3 – Conducting rapid skills anticipation studies with employers’ and workers’ organizations to identify urgent repair skills gaps and prepare for the medium-term transition to renewable energy. Based on these findings, OSH-integrated “energy repair” training modules and micro-qualifications will be developed and tested with TVET institutions and enterprise academies, focusing on practical preventive and control measures at worksites. Large-scale reskilling for renewables (solar, wind, biomass) will be designed for subsequent phases once systems and conditions permit.

The project is conceived as a preparatory and demonstration phase, focused on testing practical solutions, generating evidence, and creating scalable models for worker protection, reintegration, and training.

The project will be implemented in the framework of the Safety + Health for All Flagship Programme and will benefit from the strategies, tools and lessons learned from implemented projects in the framework of the Flagship Programme.

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Reporting lines: The Project Manager will report to the Director of the ILO Country Office in Ukraine (CO-Kyiv). He/she will work under the technical guidance of specialists from the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest (DWT/CO-Budapest), the Occupational Safety and Health and Working Environment (OSHE) Branch and the SECTOR Department based in Geneva.

The Project Manager will oversee the work of the project staff and consultants hired during the course of the project.

Description of Duties

Project management:

1. Ensure effective coordination and planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of project activities, in conformity with ILO policies and in line with the Safety + Health for All Flagship Programme strategy, and in accordance with ILO programming guidelines and country/action programmes, and administrative and financial procedures.

2. Responsible for the effective management of funds assigned to the project.

3. Manage efficiently the human recourses of the project including recruitment, performance and talent management aspects.

Technical leadership and advice:

4. Provide technical advice to the project team, consultants and tripartite constituents in Ukraine, notably in the area of occupational safety and health.

5. Promote ILO policies in the areas of OSH, labour inspection and the relevant International Labour Standards in collaboration with other technical/labour standards specialists.

6. Advise and keep management informed on developments.

Advocacy, networking and partnership:

7. Strengthen relationships with the Ukrainian Government relevant ministries and institutions, the employers' and workers' organizations and other stakeholders, including key social dialogue institutions, as relevant and promote opportunities for collaboration towards planning and implementation of project activities.

8. Liaise with the other UN agencies counterparts and other international and regional institutions operating in Ukraine to promote ILO values, principles and policies, increase the project's visibility and facilitate the scaling-up of the project's interventions.

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Knowledge management:

9. Drive the project communication and visibility strategy in close collaboration with CO-Kyiv and relevant technical Departments and Units and the Regional Office for Europe at the HQ.

10. Lead the analysis of data coming from the Monitoring & Evaluation framework to assess project progress and effectiveness, coordinating the work of the M&E officers.

11. Identify training needs and organize training workshops and meetings for the tripartite partners, NGOs, other agencies, target groups and staff as appropriate to reinforce the professional capabilities.

12. Represent the project at meetings, seminars and evaluations and build and enhance strategic partnerships and sub-regional networks of government policymakers, worker’s and employer’s organizations, UN organizations and civil society organizations.

13. Undertake any other duties requested by the responsible chief.

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in, occupational safety and health, engineering, economics, social sciences, business management or other relevant field. First level university degree (Bachelor’s or equivalent) with an additional two years of relevant experience will be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.

Experience

At least seven years of experience in the management of technical cooperation activities, including three years at the international level.

This includes field experience in a leadership role for the implementation of projects, preferably in the field of occupational safety and health, emergency preparedness, and/or security management. Proven management experience, preferably with the ILO or a UN agency, with sound knowledge and experience in all aspects of project cycle, i.e. design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Proven experience in partnership building and networking. Previous experience in hardship duty station a plus.

Languages

Excellent command of English. Knowledge of Ukrainian is a plus.

Competencies

• Proven ability to take ownership of all responsibilities, to act with integrity and transparency by maintaining social, ethical and organisational norms, and to meet all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards.
• Ability to develop clear strategic goals consistent with the project/programme’s objectives, and to design and synthesise strategies for programme development.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.
• Excellent leadership skills, ability to work effectively in a team and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy and procedural matters, and to present them at high-level meetings.
• Ability to promote a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office, and to focus and guide others to meet objectives at individual and group level.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write accurate reports and to build networks to obtain cooperation with partners.
• Proven capacity to initiate and implement development cooperation programmes and activities with ILO constituents and NGOs, including negotiation skills with governments and social partners, and to mobilise the support of international donor agencies and provide quality services.
• Ability to plan and support the development of individuals’ skills and abilities for a more effective fulfilment of job/role responsibilities.
• Ability to maintain effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or environment, and to adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements or cultures.
• Drive to seek or encourage others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to organisation challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
• Demonstrated ability to adhere to strict security protocols and maintain high level of awareness.
• Ability to remain calm, focused, organized and results oriented under pressure and with rapidly changing circumstances.