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 and support to starostas, Locally-led Recovery, municipal enterprises and International Municipal Cooperation.
Gender equality is a central cross-cutting issue in the Polaris Programme and is therefore integrated throughout programme implementation. It is promoted and directly addressed in activities with local and national partners, in communication and collaboration with stakeholders, and within the Programme team.
Role Description
The gender advisor will work closely with the two Programme gender experts. The role is to support strategic development of gender equality in Programme implementation. The purpose of the work of Advisor is to leverage international experience of gender equality from European countries to drive the programme’s outcomes.
The Advisor will provide strategic and methodological support to strengthen gender mainstreaming across the Programme by contributing to activity design and implementation, capacity-building, analytical and policy outputs, and programme planning, monitoring, reporting, and communication. The role also includes promoting the application of European good practices and ensuring close coordination with Programme teams and partners to advance gender-responsive and inclusive local governance.
Application
Please send your application with max 3 page CV and max 1 page cover letter (in PDF) to
For more information, please download the Terms of Reference.
Deadline: 1 August 2026
