UKRAINE- Head of Mission - M/W

Description Of La Chaine De L’espoir

La Chaîne de l’Espoir is an international NGO founded in 1994. Its mission is to strengthen health systems to provide equal opportunities for survival and development, especially for children. Our interventions span 28 countries through a comprehensive approach focused on children, but also benefiting mothers and disadvantaged communities:

• Prevention and early detection from a young age, particularly through school health programs.
• Care and surgery to address the most urgent needs of children and their mothers.
• Training and skill transfer to local teams through our international network of experts across all fields of surgery.
• Construction and equipping hospital facilities tailored to local needs.
  
  

Crisis context

La Chaîne de l'Espoir has been working in Ukraine since March 2022 with the goal to increase access to quality, medical and surgical care for the Ukrainian population and with emphasis on the war-wounded. As of 2026, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has supported dozens of hospitals in the most affected oblasts (Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Sumy, Lviv, Kyiv), providing pharmacy, consumables, traumatology kits, and a range of high spec, high value biomedical equipment.

Working alongside several NGO and hospital partners, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has provided training to thousands of healthcare specialists and surgeons across Ukraine in war medicine techniques e.g. Damage Control Surgery, Tactical Ultrasound, Pain Management, Advanced Life Support, Psycho Trauma etc… We also have a growing network of support from French hospitals and surgeons and have regular international missions into Ukraine.

Given the evolution of the situation in the country La Chaîne de l‘Espoir plans to continue its support to the hospital health system, especially to ensure better access to trauma and surgical care in the most affected oblast and newly accessible areas. La Chaîne de l’Espoir is also networking and conducting ongoing assessments in areas of interest for example Biomedical support, Antibacterial Stewardship and Infection Prevention Control.

Mission

Since 2022, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has supported healthcare efforts in Ukraine and has been expanding its reach and impact. Due to global financial reduction, the programmes for 2026 have decreased from previous years yet there remain interesting programmes to continue and various interesting options for future funding. We are well-positioned with a strong core staff team, multiple long-term implementing partners, strong donor and other external relationships.

By continuing to monitor the context, and humanitarian needs in respect to secondary and tertiary healthcare services, the mission aims to ensure the safety of its personnel and visiting missions while identifying strategies to deliver aid effectively in a volatile environment. La Chaîne de l’Espoir is committed to ensuring global compliance with humanitarian principles, legal frameworks, and local regulations. Building on its longstanding experience, the mission will also focus on establishing meaningful connections with local authorities, civil society organisations and humanitarian actors.

The Head of Mission holds overall responsibility and is accountable for the country office’s performance in terms of impact, quality, and accountability. He represents La Chaîne de l’Espoir vis-à-vis national authorities and all external partners and leads the development and implementation of the mission’s strategy.

In this capacity, he defines operational priorities and ensures their effective execution. He/She guarantees the sound management of financial, administrative, human, and logistical resources.

The Head of Mission is also responsible for mission security. He ensures the continuity and strengthening of the existing operational strategy, as well as the consolidation of established partnerships.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

Representation : He represents the association with partners, donors and different authorities, building a comprehensive network of relevant and reliable external stakeholders;

Represents the association at external meetings for example Ukrainian government authorities, hospital management teams, donors, embassies

Attend bilateral meetings with other NGO agencies/ consortium and participate in meetings with coordination bodies e.g. NGO platform, INSO

Build CDE profile through broader networking, encouraging communications/ social media efforts

Business Development and Grant Management: He leads on business development/ strategy, budget planning and general grant management;

Manages donor mapping and fundraising strategy, understanding which donors are present and their funding priorities

Reinforce our positioning to create highly valued, high impact programmes using our comparative advantages in respect to high level technical knowledge (e.g war surgery, biomed, IPC)

Build network of partners, international and national to explore joint implementation

Lead on tracking opportunities and converting these into donor proposals and concept notes

Ensure grant management is effective, that donor reports are timely and of good quality and that BFU and financial tracking and reports is effective and accurate

Project Implementation Oversite: He is responsible for the analysis of the humanitarian needs, project design and implemntation of efficient and high quality programming

Responsible for the provision of comprehensive analysis of humanitarian needs in Ukraine

Support for programmes teams in respects to analysis of needs, priorities, resources, feasibility to design essential, high impact projects

Ensures team manages all aspects of project cycle to maximise our resources and impact

Oversite of programme implementation and quality; design and monitoring of indicators and ensuring appropriate quantitative and qualitiative analysis of CDE activites

Human Resources: He manages all CDE staff in the country including needs identification, recruitment, management and welfare

Direct management of the Ukraine team in respects to planning, contracting and standards

Periodoic review of our organisational chart, highlights our human resource needs and priorities

Supervises all national and international staff in the country in ensuring they understand tasks and priorities and are supported to maximise their potential and contribution

Leads the recruitment process of national staff and further induction, appraisal and development

Manages disciplinary issues and ensures perfomance management in place as approporiate

Ensures support is available as regards to staff welfare and stress and that complaint and safeguarding mechanisms are clearly understood

Ensures CDE’s Internal Regulations and Code of conduct are understood and respected.

Safety & Security: He is responsible for the safety & security of all CDE staff and resources within Ukraine, leading on risk assessment, strategic oversight and incident management

Analyses geo-political and localised developments in regards to the context in Ukraine

Compiles all relevant security and safety documentation and protocols (risk assessments, security plan, SOPS, contingency plans) and ensures these are clear and understood

Oversees and delegates all operational security aspects for example field trip planning and tracking, building management and communications protocols and equipment

Plans material and personnel resources ensure the optimal safety of staff, assets and equipment and not placing any persons including beneficiaries in harm.

Communicates and coordinates alerts or important information effectively and timely and lead on any potential security incident management

Logistics, Procurement and Administration: He ensures that all logistical and administrative practices respect CDE procedures and templates

Oversee the overall financial management of the mission and ensure its consistency

Review and validate budgets, ensuring alignment with operational objectives and donor funding

Ensure financial and administrative compliance with internal regulations and donor requirements

Ensure the prevention and management of major financial risks (fraud, corruption, non-compliance)

Ensure the overall proper management of logistical and material resources across the mission

Education & Experience

Master’s degree (Master’s level or equivalent) in a relevant field such as social sciences, project management, international relations, or development studies

At least 5 years of professional experience in humanitarian program management, including proven responsibilities in team leadership and budget management

Demonstrated experience working with donors and ensuring compliance with donor requirements

Experience in the health sector would be an asset

Languages

English in mandatory.

Ukrainian or French are an asset.

Personal Qualities

Leadership skills and the ability to make decisions

Trustworthiness and a sense of responsibility

Charisma and strong advocacy skills

Ability to use authority, when necessary

Analysis and synthesis abilities (discenrment, pragmatism)

Ability to adapt

Organisational skills, ability to be thorough and respect due dates

Strong listening and negotiation skills

Good people and communication skills

Ability to remain calm and level-headed

General ability to resist stress and particularly in unstable circumstances

Ability to work in unstable circumstances.

Ability to work with minimalistic comfort and limited support resources

Terms and conditions

12 months full time contract renewable, as an expatriate

Monthly gross salary from 2900 euros according to experience

Non accompanied status

Position based in Kyiv

Starting date: September 2026

730 € Monthly per diem

R&R: 5 days R&R at 3 and 9 months of contract and reimbursement up to 400 Euros for the flight ticket from Krakow.

Travel: round trip ticket flight beginning/end of contract + paid leaves at 6 months of contract

Housing: Individual guesthouse

Medical coverage with 50% of employer contribution

Medical evacuation and repatriation insurance paid by the employer

Death and disability insurance paid by the employer

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