Senior Communication Adviser for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO)

Background and context:

The EU Anti-Corruption Initiative in Ukraine (EUACI) is the European Union’s technical support program in the area of anti-corruption in Ukraine, co-funded and implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark. The overall objective of the EUACI is to achieve significant progress in preventing and countering corruption, ensuring the coherence and systemic anti-corruption activities of state and local self-government bodies, and empowering civil society and citizens to contribute to combatting corruption, as well as the proper process of Ukraine’s post-war recovery. The program runs until April 2027.

Among key partners of the EUACI are NABU and SAPO. According to provisions of Ukrainian legislation, NABU is mandated to detect corruption and other criminal offences within its investigative jurisdiction. NABU is also responsible for operative and investigative measures aimed at preventing, detecting, suppressing, and investigating such offences, as well as to perform information and analytical tasks that identify and mitigate the root causes and conditions contributing to the commission of corruption-related crimes. Further, SAPO is responsible for supervision of compliance with the law during NABU’s operational and pre-trial investigations; the maintenance of state prosecution in relevant proceedings; and the representation of the interests of a citizen or state in court in cases provided for by law and related to corruption or corruption-related offenses.

Both institutions face ongoing communication challenges. These include targeted media campaigns against the institutions and their staff, disinformation, the need for crisis communication and ensuring that the society and Ukraine’s international partners remain informed about their roles, achievements, challenges, and mission, and responding effectively to public scrutiny of their work. Meeting these challenges requires consistent, transparent, and professional communication efforts.

To achieve this, it is essential to provide NABU and SAPO with additional communication support. A dedicated Senior Communication Adviser will help both institutions enhance the impact of their messaging, strengthen engagement with Ukrainian citizens and international stakeholders, and build greater trust in Ukraine’s anti-corruption system.

In this context, taking into account the growing need for the development of informative communication campaigns of anti-corruption institutions with the aim of wide coverage of their activities, the EUACI seeks to strengthen communication capacities of both institutions by launching a tender to identify a Senior Communication Adviser for NABU and SAPO. A junior communications advisor will be hired under a separate tender to assist the Senior communication advisor and work under his/her supervision.

Objectives:

To provide NABU and SAPO technical support to strengthen strategic communication capacities, crisis communication, and the ability to counter disinformation and improve awareness raising campaigns, as well as other related activities.

Scope of work and deliverables:

The assignment includes the following key tasks that should be implemented:

• Provide hands-on guidance and advice to NABU and SAPO – both to communication teams and their managements – in crisis communication and countering disinformation, often on a short notice.  
• Carrying out a situation analysis and assessing the detailed needs of NABU and SAPO related to external communication.
• Provide consultations on the development of comprehensive communication policies and communication strategies on request of NABU and SAPO that articulates their missions, objectives, and organizational structures, enhancing recognition among key audiences, including government entities, NGOs, media, and the general public.
• Design and support public awareness campaigns for NABU and SAPO including related activities for both institutions targeting primarily Ukrainian but also international audiences when relevant, i.e., to inform citizens about NABU’s and SAPO’s role and achievements in combating corruption, enhancing transparency, and upholding the rule of law;
• Provide communication support in the organization of briefings, press conferences, statements, posts for media and social networks, public events and off-record meetings on behalf of NABU and SAPO.
• Provide guidance and support to selected NABU and SAPO staff to enhance their communication skills.
• Promoting closer cooperation between communication advisors and relevant staff of other anti-corruption bodies in order to streamline messages and coordinate activities;
• Providing monthly progress reports and a final report regarding delivered services.

Electronic copies of deliverables should be sent in Ukrainian (unless deliverables are targeting an international audience) by email to the designated EUACI contact person. Monthly and final reports should be provided in English language.

Timeline:

The intended commencement date is the date of signature of contracts with the selected Service Provider. Total period of implementation of the contract shall be 6 months.

Requirements to the Service Provider:

The contract can be awarded to the expert meeting the following criteria:

• Expert registered as a private entrepreneur under Ukrainian legislation;
• 5+ years of professional experience in designing and providing communication activities in line with the scope of work mentioned above;
• Proven experience in designing and providing communication support for governmental authorities will be an asset;
• Proven experience in communication work targeting primarily Ukrainian but to some extent also international audiences, in particular European audiences;
• Relevant education as a minimum Master’s Degree/Academic level in Communication, PR, journalism or similar;
• Understanding of anti-corruption reform processes in Ukraine and knowledge of anti-corruption infrastructure in Ukraine, i.e., NABU and SAPO will be an asset;
• Experience in mitigating communicational risks will be an asset;
• Strong communication skills;
• High degree of integrity;
• Profound commitment to working with Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions while demonstrating understanding of the difficult context in which they operate;
• Fluency in Ukrainian and English, both oral and written.

Special requirements:

By signing the contracts, the Service Provider agrees to hold in trust and confidence any information or documents (“confidential information”), disclosed to the Service Provider or discovered by the Service Provider or prepared by the Service Provider in the course of or as a result of the implementation of the contracts and agrees that it shall be used only for the purposes of the contract implementation and shall not be disclosed to any third party without EUACI, NABU and SAPO authorisation.

For this assignment hybrid mode of work is expected with systematic and regular offline meetings with representatives of NABU, SAPO and EUACI upon their request. Service Provider will report to the EUACI. Service Provider shall de-brief the EUACI prior to finalising the assignment.

Bidding details:

The bidder or team of bidders must submit the following information to be considered:

• Brief motivation letter (max. 1 page);
• CV (max. 3 pages);
• A financial offer (including expert’s fees per day).

All information shall be combined into a single file in Word format.

If these documents are not submitted in line with the request above, the bid will not be considered.

Budget:

The total contract budget for the expert cannot exceed EUR 30,000.

The maximum daily rate of expert cannot exceed EUR 200. Payments shall be made on a monthly basis, subject to the submission by the Service Provider of a report and corresponding financial documentation (including invoice and act of services) in a form acceptable to the EUACI.

How to apply:

The deadline for submitting the proposals is 19 September 2025, 18:00 Kyiv time.

The proposals shall be submitted within the above deadline to [email protected] and [email protected]  indicating the subject line “Tender: “Senior Communication Adviser”.

The applicant will receive an auto-reply from [email protected] when the application is received.              If an auto-reply is not received, please contact the EUACI.

Bidding language: English.

Any clarification questions for the bid request should be addressed to [email protected] and [email protected], no later than 17 September 2025, 18:00 Kyiv time.

Please note that the winner of this tender will be made public on EUACI’s website.

Evaluation criteria:

Bids will be evaluated under the criteria provided below: