Senior Internal Audit Consultant for Integrity Cities

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

General overview

The European Union Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI) in Ukraine is a joint EU and Government of Denmark financed programme aimed at supporting Ukraine to reduce corruption at the national and local level through the empowerment of citizens, civil society, businesses, and state institutions. In January 2024, the EUACI entered into phase III that runs until mid-2027.

The partnership with Integrity Cities

The seven Integrity which are the EUACI partners are Chernivtsi, Sheptytskyi, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr, Nikopol, Poltava and Mariupol.

During phases I and II, the EUACI worked with these cities to strengthen their systems and tools for enhancing integrity, transparency, and accountability. The partnership continues in the current III phase, focusing on the continued development of the various integrity tools launched during previous phases and the implementation of new tools. Currently, there are no activities in Mariupol.

Based on the agreement reached with the Integrity Cities Mayors under Memorandums of Understanding, the EUACI envisages an establishment of efficient, transparent, and ISO-compliant internal audit practices in Integrity Cities. This consultancy focuses on providing methodological support in planning, preparing and organising internal audit activities in partner cities, ensuring enhanced transparency, efficiency, and accountability. The Consultant will be directly engaged in the process of adapting normative documentation, providing training, and facilitating the development of effective internal audit units in Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, and Sheptytsky.

This tender focuses on helping Integrity Cities implement measures that will contribute to increased integrity, transparency and accountability. Organisationally, the Senior Internal Audit Consultant will work with the EUACI team and Advisors in Integrity Cities, and will be supervised by the Intervention Area 3 Team Lead.

These Terms of Reference (ToR) provide more details about the assignment.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this assignment is to ensure the provision of high-quality technical assistance services and deliverables in the field of internal audit within the Integrity Cities framework. The Consultant will work in close cooperation with the EUACI office in Kyiv and with municipal officials in Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, Mykolaiv, and Sheptytskyy to ensure the coherent, consistent, and well-coordinated implementation of Internal Audit functions across the four Integrity Cities.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Provide advice to the city management, Heads and staff of the municipalities’ internal audit units, including units in MoEs, in coordinating, advancing and supporting effective implementation of internal audit practices and their integration into city governance frameworks.

2. Develop regulatory documents, policies, and procedures for internal audit functions to align documentation with international standards, including ISO standards.

3. Prepare internal audit units in Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr and Mykolaiv for successful certification according to ISO 19011 standards.

4. Provide supervision of audit checks and control processes for, as well as technical guidance to address identified gaps and risks.

5. Develop training materials covering audit methodologies, reporting practices, implementation of international standards

6. Undertake visits, as required and subject to prior approval, to Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, and Mykolaiv to engage relevant stakeholders and ensure alignment with the project’s objectives.

7.Support Advisors to the Mayors in facilitating communication and cooperation between city councils and the EUACI team.

8. Provide ad-hoc consultancy services in internal audit to Sheptytsky city administration.

9. Provide regular progress reports with actionable recommendations.

10. Contribute to the activities development, updates, presentations, and reports on the Program’s implementation.

11. Develop materials for a centralized portal providing draft documents, methodological guidance, and supporting resources for internal auditors at the local level.

12. Provide ad-hoc advisory support at the request of the four mentioned city councils.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

Although the above scope of work is very much about guiding Integrity Cities through an internal audit establishment process and helping to deliver the outputs in their results framework, this section translates the scope of work into some regular deliverables and specific outputs that the Consultant will be directly responsible for delivering. The tables below summaries the tentatively identified regular and specific deliverables and outputs.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Extensive experience in internal audit and control, public administration.
• Strong analytical, training, and stakeholder coordination skills.
• Familiarity with Ukrainian governance systems and corruption prevention methodologies.
• Good analytical, negotiation, networking, coordination, and communication skills.
• Extensive experience in providing analysis and advice.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines, follow through on tasks and deliver results.
• Keen sense of ethics, integrity, and credibility.
• Fluency in Ukrainian; English proficiency is an advantage.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in public administration, auditing, economics or related fields.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in internal audit, compliance or governance in management position.
• Experience working in public authorities or in the corporate sector minimum 3 years.

REPORTING, MANAGEMENT AND PAYMENTS

Payments shall be made on a monthly basis. The Consultant will be remunerated by the EUACI according to the daily rate specified in the enclosed budget. The monthly payment will be calculated based on the actual number of working days spent on the assignment and the agreed daily rate, as well as any eligible expenses incurred during the period.

Each payment is subject to verification of deliverables and approval by the Integrity Cities Team of the Consultant’s progress report and expense statement. The Consultant shall submit an invoice and payment request together with a monthly timesheet and report, using the reporting templates provided by the EUACI.

The EUACI will cover all duty travel–related expenses in accordance with the EUACI travel policy.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

The maximum budget available for this assignment is EUR 17,900, which includes up to                          EUR 15,750 for the Consultant’s fee and EUR 2,150 to cover business travel expenses – including per diem, logistics, and accommodation – for up to 15 travel days within Ukraine.

The contract period is from March to October 2026. The Consultant will provide services for             7 months, up to 15 business days during the calendar month, up to 105 business days for the contract period in total, including 15 days for business trips.

Candidates will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria provided below:

HOW TO APPLY

Proposals should include:

1. A financial proposal indicating the requested fee;
2. The Consultant’s CV and a brief motivation letter (maximum three pages in total);
3. Contact details of at least two referees.

To apply, please send all the documents listed above to [email protected], cc [email protected] indicating the subject line “Senior Internal Audit Consultant for Integrity Cities_NAME“.

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

The deadline for submitting the proposals is 21 March 2026, 18:00 Kyiv time.

Any clarification questions for the bid request should be addressed to [email protected], cc [email protected] no later than 14 March 2026, 18:00 Kyiv time.

To ensure your documents were successfully received, please check that you receive an auto-reply from our system.

Please note that the name of the winner of the tender will be published on the EUACI’s website.

Bidding language: English