Coordination & Liaison National Consultant Odessa/Mykolaiv/Kherson hub, Ukraine

Under the direction of the Cluster Coordinator in Kyiv, the consultant is tasked with three core responsibilities:

• Maintain strong and meaningful relationships with all relevant actors, including partners, health authorities, and government departments for information sharing. 
• Facilitate efficient and transparent exchange of information within and beyond the cluster to support coordination and accountability. 
• Interact with different stakeholders and coordination platforms through the strengthening of linkages by gathering and disseminating data to and from any local coordination platforms (e.g., area-based coordination).

Now entering its fourth year, the war in Ukraine continues to severely impact the health and well-being of millions, placing immense strain on the country’s health system. While the entire system is affected, the most severe consequences are concentrated in frontline and border regions in the east, south, and northeast, particularly in the oblasts of Kharkivska, Donetska, Luhanska, Dnipropetrovska, Zaporizka, Khersonska, Mykolaivska, Odeska, Sumska, and Chernihivska. These areas remain exposed to frequent missile strikes, shelling, and displacement, leaving civilians to endure prolonged insecurity, disrupted services, and limited access to lifesaving assistance.

In 2025, intensified hostilities, including shelling, drone attacks, and the gradual westward movement of the frontline, have triggered widespread evacuations across Kharkivska, Donetska, Zaporizka, Khersonska, and Sumska oblasts. Out of an estimated 6.9 million people affected by the conflict in the last quarter of 2025, approximately 6.8 million are identified as being in need of humanitarian assistance within Ukraine. Most of these individuals reside in frontline areas where evacuations and displacement are ongoing. Since February 2022, nearly 5.6 million people have sought refuge outside Ukraine.

Looking ahead to 2026, a key priority for the humanitarian response will be to ensure the provision of essential services in locations where the Government of Ukraine faces significant constraints. This includes delivering care to the most vulnerable populations in frontline areas, where communities are disproportionately affected by poor social determinants of health, such as lack of safe shelter, clean water, heating, and access to healthcare.

Health Cluster partners, including local organizations, will operate under the coordination of the Health Cluster and in support of the Department of Health and the Centre for Disaster Medicine, providing targeted care in these high-risk areas.
The consultant will play an important role in supporting the Health Cluster’s operational activities under the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP). This involves close collaboration with partners at the subnational level to ensure consistency in reporting, coordination, and implementation, ultimately strengthening the Cluster’s capacity to deliver timely and targeted health assistance to those most in need.

1. )Update and share the daily presence roster of cluster partners in the South Hub and when there is displacement, including weekends. Done weekly and shared.
2. Attend ABC meetings monthly and contribute to discussions. Attended once every month.
3. Translate 2–3 pages of cluster-produced documents weekly from English to Ukrainian, including ad hoc infographics and summary inputs for partners. Two documents translated per week
4.  Provide written material for the design and production of Public Health Information materials, delivering two outputs per month based on hub data. Partner information is shared twice per month.
5. Update the contact list of all active partners in hub oblasts monthly for inclusion in the master Health Cluster list. Contacts updated once every month (by the 29th). 
6. Conduct 10 orientation sessions for new partners/representatives (UN agencies, INGOs, NNGOs, CSOs) on cluster tools, meetings, communication channels, and resources. 
7. On a weekly basis, proactively collect information from cluster partners, UN agencies, and other organizations to support decision-making.
8. Compile and present summary briefs at six subnational health cluster meetings (biweekly) with partners and health departments. Two times every month. 
9.  Take part in monthly meetings with oblast health departments. 
10. Take part in the planning and join two partner supportive supervision visits per month. 
11. Talk with local volunteers/civil society to identify support opportunities; discuss three requests monthly (e.g., inter-cluster assessments, convoys, health department meetings). 
12. Share monthly health cluster bulletins with oblast authorities via email or in-person, every month.
13. Share monthly health cluster activity reports with health departments every month
14. Produce two reports/minutes per month from meetings with partners in English/Ukrainian. 
15. Collect feedback from partners and archive monthly feedback from monitored partner projects in hubs.
16. Provide summaries of weekly updates according to the work plan for assigned tasks at the end of every week.

Educational Qualifications: 

Essential: Bachelor’s degree in medicine, social sciences or related field

Experience:

Essential: At least 2 years of relevant experience with the local health institutions, preferably in administration or coordination, or civil society and/or humanitarian organization.

Desirable: 

• Experience and knowledge of in working in the Humanitarian response in Ukraine. 
• Experience applying knowledge on the respect of humanitarian principles

Skills/Knowledge: 

Essential: 

• Minutes taking in online and face to face meetings (in Ukrainian/English).
• Excellent report-writing skills (in Ukrainian/English).
• Working knowledge of MS Office.
• Working knowledge and in organizing online meeting and conferences.
• Ability to learn quickly and work within significant uncertainties in a rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to professionally liaise with administrations and health representatives.
• Communication, networking, and negotiation

Languages and level required :

Essential: Expert written and spoken English and Ukrainian.

On-site: Odessa duty station

Travel will be required as needed

Contract total value: USD 19,092.00
Monthly rate, daily rate and numbers of the days: USD 160 per day, USD 3,182.00 per month, 20 working days per month
Consultant pay band range: NOB
Terms of payment: the payment will be on a monthly basis after provision of Technical Report and approval from Responsible Office.

Target Start Date: July 1, 2026
Target end date: December 31, 2026
Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days): 6 months, 120 days

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
•  For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics. 
  The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs. 
  Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to  [email protected] [link removed] 
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. 
• WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
• In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.