General Background
EU4Reconstruction. The European Union (EU), together with Denmark, Germany, France and Lithuania, launched EU4Reconstruction, a €37 million Team Europe Initiative (TEI) that unites the strength, experience and solidarity of the EU to support Ukraine’s ongoing recovery and reconstruction.
The initiative aims to strengthen governance, improve public investment management, and enhance coordination across levels of government, with a strong emphasis on EU values. The TEl is divided in two parallel streams; one stream is composed of GIZ (Lead Organisation) and Expertise France (Partner Organisation) and the other gathers the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Lead Organisation) and Central Project Management Agency (Partner Organisation).
EU4Reconstruction will reinforce the leadership of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, strengthen the State Agency for Reconstruction and Development of Infrastructure (SARDI or Agency), empower local governments to manage reconstruction professionally and sustainably, and support civil society and independent media to play an active role in oversight, ensuring public trust and reducing corruption risks.
The Programme will strengthen the policy dialogue around reconstruction and recovery and will focus in particular on the governance of public investment management, public infrastructure management at national, regional and local levels and how to link this with necessary capacity development to make the system work. Part of this process will ensure that the stakeholders in the programme and their policy and regulatory setup are prepared for EU accession. This will, in particular, ensure resources are allocated effectively, transparently, accountably and with broad inclusion in infrastructure planning and execution, reflecting the subsidiarity principle.
SARDI and its ecosystem. SARDI was established by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, dated 13 January 2023. It was created through the renaming of the State Road Agency of Ukraine and the merger with the State Agency for Infrastructure Projects.
SARDI is structured around a central authority in Kyiv and a broad network of regional and subordinate entities, including 24 Regional Offices for Restoration and Infrastructure Development (the SARDI ecosystem).
SARDI is currently responsible for prioritisation, planning and implementation of road infrastructure projects, as well as implementation of other reconstruction projects delegated by the Cabinet of Ministers.
SARDI, as the central actor in restoration processes, faces ongoing communication challenges. These include the need to clearly explain complex infrastructure projects to diverse audiences, ensure transparent communication about reconstruction progress, counter misinformation, and maintain continuous public trust in state-led recovery efforts. As the primary beneficiary of the EU4Reconstruction programme, SARDI also carries a particular responsibility to systematically and visibly communicate joint interventions with international partners.
In this context, SARDI needs external communication experts to strengthen communication capacity – helping SARDI develop sustainable systems, skills and tools to plan, implement and evaluate its communications independently. Through mentoring, on-the-job support and targeted advisory work, these experts will support SARDI’s communication team and management in establishing durable practices for strategic messaging, media relations, digital communication and storytelling around reconstruction and integrity.
In view of the above, EU4Reconstruction seeks a Communication Expert to work as an external consultant under the EU4Reconstruction team, guided by the Senior Strategic Communication Advisor, and closely collaborating with SARDI’s internal communication team.
Objective
To find an expert to build and strengthen the SARDI’s communication capacity through assistance with development of communication materials, with a focus on wartime communication challenges, support of transformation of SARDI and the effective promotion of joint EU4Reconstruction projects.
Scope of work
The Communication Expert will provide advisory and hands-on operational support to SARDI to plan and deliver communication activities. The assignment includes, but is not limited to, the following tasks:
- Advise SARDI’s communication staff on drafting, editing and structuring communication materials (social media posts, articles, press releases, website content, presentations, project factsheets).
- Provide capacity building through the preparation and implementation of best practices in public institution communication and support the standardization of media materials preparation
- Support the development of content for SARDI’s digital channels, guiding the team on ensuring clarity, accuracy and alignment with key messages and communication priorities.
- Support in preparing communication materials for events, briefings, donor visits and public engagements (talking points, Q&A, short summaries, announcements), and coach staff on how to prepare such materials themselves.
- Support SARDI’s team in preparing brief analytical summaries based on basic media monitoring, when required.
- Contribute to preparing storytelling content that highlights reconstruction projects, integrity measures and EU4Reconstruction support.
- Ensure that all communication outputs comply with EU4Reconstruction communication and visibility guidelines and explain these requirements to SARDI staff through practical examples.
- Participate in strategic sessions, trainings or other events aimed at strengthening communication capacities within SARDI and its wider ecosystem, contributing expertise and supporting staff development.
- Perform other copywriting- tasks upon request of the EU4Reconstruction team, SARDI’s communication team, or SARDI management, in line with the overall objectives of this assignment.
Deliverables
Given the routine nature of the assignment, deliverables cannot be strictly quantified; however, it is expected that the Consultant will demonstrate tangible progress through the implementation of agreed activities and the provision of writing and capacity-development outputs, including but not limited to:
- Recommendations for communication officers of SARDI, the Regional Offices for Restoration, the CPO and other ecosystem representatives on writing and editing text materials.
- Text-based communication materials such as social media posts, press releases, talking points, factsheets, short summaries, etc.
- Monthly timesheets (progress reports) summarising actual days worked, key tasks performed, and results achieved over the reporting period (in English).
- Completion report consolidating key results, delivered tools/templates, and lessons learned, including recommendations for further strengthening SARDI’s communication capacity (in English).
- Other deliverables may be agreed upon with SARDI and EU4Reconstruction in line with the objectives of this assignment.
Written deliverables should be in Ukrainian, unless otherwise specifically indicated herein or agreed with EU4Reconstruction. Deliverables should be translated into English upon request of EU4Reconstruction.
Budget, timeframe, and location
The maximum budget available for this assignment is EUR 27 500. The Consultant will be contracted as a private entrepreneur and will be responsible for paying his/her own taxes.
Payments to the Consultant shall be done on a monthly basis against Consultant’s timesheet and invoice for the respective period. Payments shall be based on the actual days worked, the agreed daily fee rate, and the expenses occurred by the Consultant during the period (if any).
The intended commencement date is the date of signature of the contract with the Consultant and the period of implementation of the contract will be 12 months, with a start in December 2025. The assignment includes up to 252 working days per full term of the Contract (up to 21 working days per month).
The expert is expected to work from the premises of the SARDI. Remote work arrangements are possible; however, attendance at the office may be required upon request of the SARDI or EU4R.
How to apply
The deadline for submitting the proposal is 29 December 2025, 18:00 Kyiv time.
All interested candidates should submit the following documents in English:
- CV in line with Annex 1;
- Portfolio of previously implemented projects;
- Financial offer (Annex 2, forms 1 and 2) in EUR, including daily fee and other related expenses (taxes, if applicable), with calculation of maximum 252 working days.
If these documents are not submitted in line with the requirements above, the bid will not be considered.
The proposal shall include the aforementioned information and should be submitted within the above deadline to [email protected] cc to [email protected] indicating the subject line: “Communication expert for SARDI”.
Bidding language: English.
Any clarification questions regarding the terms of reference should be addressed to [email protected] cc to [email protected], not later than 15 December 2025, 18-00 Kyiv time.