Programme Director
Organization: Concern Worldwide
Closing date 8 Sep 2026
Job Title: Programme Director
Reports to: Country Director
Terms: 18 months Fixed Term, Full time, Unaccompanied, fully office based
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Salary: GB7 – (€51,861 - €57,623)
Requirements: This role is based in Kyiv, Ukraine, with regular travel to field offices and project locations as required
About Concern: Established in 1968, Concern is a non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organisation, dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
Concern’s vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. Concern strives for a world free from poverty, fear and oppression.
Our culture is values driven and we believe that our people are central to all that we do and are key to delivering on our goal of Reaching the Furthest Behind First. We are committed to ensuring a workplace where everybody feels valued and are enabled to succeed in their work and contribute to delivering on our mission.
In Ukraine, Alliance2015 members, Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, have been working together in a joint mission since February 2022, using their combined resources and reach, to delivery timely and effective humanitarian and recovery assistance to the war-affected population. This joint response, known as the Joint Emergency Response in Ukraine (JERU), is working with civil society partners to deliver cash assistance and protection services to vulnerable families and communities and investing in livelihoods and social cohesion in communities impacted by the war.
Role Purpose: The Programme Director is a member of the Senior Management Team and will provide strategic oversight and leadership in programme design and implementation, the management of programme teams, and in the preparation of funding applications and donor reports. This role reports to the Country Director.
Responsibilities:
Programme Development and Implementation
- Identifying emergency and recovery interventions and opportunities in accordance with need and gap analysis, based on thorough assessments and coordination with other actors and Alliance 2015 partners.
- Ensuring programmes meet accountability and quality standards, including the Core Humanitarian Standards.
- Frequently visiting programme areas and providing feedback to managers and staff at JERU and partner organisations.
- Developing effective linkages with Government, donors, private sector actors, clusters and partners.
- Assisting Programme Managers to produce reports in line with donor, government and Concern and donor requirements.
- Ensure quality management of programmes through line management of programme team.
- Ensure excellent donor engagement, prepositioning, capture, and delivery and reporting on all funding opportunities, including current and new business development.
Budget Management
- Provide guidance to budget holders on monitoring under and overspending in each budget and advising solutions.
- Coaching, mentoring and assisting budget holders to develop accurate budgets.
- Ensuring budgets and revisions are prepared and submitted on time.
- Reporting any suspected or actual financial irregularities to the Country Director.
People Management
- Ensuring sufficient human resources for programmes to meet their objectives.
- Ensuring an effective performance development review (PDR) system is in place.
- Ensuring staff are adequately trained and understand the objectives for their role.
- Coaching, mentoring and assisting programme team to deliver high impact programmes, equitable partnerships and acquisition of business development opportunities.
- Monitoring and reviewing team and individual performance; giving corrective feedback where required and taking decisive actions in the case of poor performance in line with JERU procedures.
Networking & Representation:
- Representing Concern within the Alliance 2015, at relevant cluster, UN, Government and coordination meetings when requested by the Country Director.
Monitoring & Evaluation:
- Ensuring Monitoring & Evaluation plans and mechanisms are developed and rolled out.
- Ensuring Programme Managers coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of all programmes (including partner programmes) within the agreed plans, budgets, time frames and donor guidelines.
Accountability
- Promoting and ensuring compliance with the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments and quality criteria.
- Ensuring that all staff are familiar with the principles underpinning accountability, safeguarding and JERU's Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) and ensure that information about JERU's commitments on accountability and safeguarding are disseminated among programme participants and communities.
- Ensuring that the Complaints Response Mechanism is functional, effectively implemented and accessible in all programmes' locations, enabling safe reporting of both programmatic and sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns.
- Ensuring that complaints are welcomed, managed and responded to in a timely, fair and appropriate manner; ensuring that sensitive complaints, including safeguarding concerns, are handled with utmost confidentiality and that the safety of the complainants and those affected is prioritised at all stages.
- All managers are responsible for upholding and promoting Concern’s values, demonstrating leadership on workplace equality, diversity and inclusion, and role modelling a positive safeguarding ethos.
Others
- Support delivery of JERU’s strategic plan, including active participation in Senior Management Team initiatives and meetings
- Support JERU’s security and risk management system, including monitoring and reporting.
- All managers are required to actively participate in any emergency response as and when required.
- When requested, serve as Acting Country Director during leave or official absences.
Role Holder Requirements:
- Relevant post graduate qualification.
- Five years’ experience in programming position with an international NGO, with two years at a senior management level.
- Management of diverse and multi-sectoral programmes, preferably including cash assistance, protection and livelihoods.
- Previous work overseeing partner-led programming.
- Management of a diverse team of senior staff.
- Working with major international donors and securing external donor funding.
- Knowledge and experience of incorporating key approaches across programmes.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and an ability to motivate others.
- Delegation, time management and prioritizing skills.
- Computer literate and good knowledge of Word and Excel.
- Excellent written and verbal English language skills.
- Empathy with Concern’s mission, vision and goals, and our target groups.
We would also like:
- You to be flexible and reliable.
- You to be culturally sensitive and empathic to others.
- You to be able to work under pressure and to strict deadlines.
- You to travel frequently to remote and insecure locations and spend periods of time away from the capital.
Competencies:
Candidates are expected to demonstrate abilities in the following priority competency areas in bold:
Planning and decision-making
Communication and working with others
Influence, advocacy and networking
Delivering results
We encourage all eligible candidates, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or origin, disability, political beliefs, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status to apply to become a part of the organisation. Concern is against all forms of discrimination and unequal power relations and is committed to promoting equality.
If this role sounds right for you, please apply with your CV and cover letter. We will respond to every applicant. Please be aware we may offer positions before the closing date.
If you have any concerns about our recruitment process and need particular assistance - for example if you have a disability e.g. a hearing impairment - please let us know and we will do our best to respond to your needs.
Important information:
Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct with three Associated Policies: The Programme Participant Protection Policy, the Child Safeguarding Policy, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy accessible here.
These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisations, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in their work, in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission.
Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies.
Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Consequently, working or volunteering with Concern may be subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.
During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation.
How to apply:
Concern Careers | Programme Director