Ukraine: Senior Assessment Officer, Based in Kyiv

Feb 3, 2026 (Deadline: 2026-02-16) | IMPACT Initiatives
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IMPACT Initiatives is a Geneva-based humanitarian NGO, aimed to improve the impact of humanitarian, stabilization, and development action through data, partnerships and capacity building programmes. With over 400 staff members, including assessment, data analysis, GIS experts, and field professionals, IMPACT teams are present in over 20 countries across the Middle East Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. IMPACT is a sister organization of ACTED, an NGO with headquarters in Paris. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention. The work of IMPACT is done through collaborative initiatives, to ensure research and analysis is actionable and context relevant. The main initiative of IMPACT is the REACH Initiative.

REACH was founded in 2010 as a joint initiative of IMPACT and ACTED, in partnership with the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH's purpose is to develop and promote information that enhances the humanitarian community's decision making and facilitate information management for aid actors.

IMPACT has been active in Ukraine since 2015, working primarily in government controlled and non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. Following the full-scale invasion in February 2022, IMPACT significantly scaled-up its activities, operating across the whole country to support evidence-based planning and prioritization. IMPACT Ukraine’s research portfolios are structured across four strategic objectives:

Providing timely and relevant data and analysis to inform decision-making in response to new and evolving information needs.

Ensuring systematic and independent tracking of humanitarian needs and vulnerabilities to inform effective prioritization, accountability to affected populations, and coordination.

Making information and analysis available to support sustainable and community-focused planning, policy, and programming in response to longer-term challenges associated with the conflict.

Strengthening the capacity of civil society and authorities to use data to collaborate and respond sustainably to current and future needs.

IMPACT provides operational data and analysis to support the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid in areas close to the frontline and informs countrywide humanitarian prioritization. In addition, we work closely with partners and coordinating bodies to support stabilization, early recovery, and community-planning initiatives that offer longer-term solutions to mitigate the effects of the war on individuals and communities.

As part of this mandate, IMPACT is seeking a Senior Assessment Officer to lead tailored analysis on conflict-related disruptions to critical services in Ukraine. The war has created rapidly shifting humanitarian conditions, where access to and functionality of essential services can change rapidly due to hostilities, infrastructure damage and population movements. In this context, decision-makers require analysis that goes beyond static needs snapshots and captures system-level dynamics, service interdependencies and operational constraints.

IMPACT’s critical infrastructure and services analysis in Ukraine relies primarily on in-depth qualitative research, complemented by targeted secondary data review and geospatial analysis. Qualitative methods are used to understand how households, service providers and local authorities experience service disruptions, adapt to outages and prioritise needs over time. GIS and remote sensing support spatial targeting, analysis of service catchment areas, damage patterns and access constraints, strengthening triangulation and the operational relevance of findings.

Analysis is inherently multisectoral, examining linkages between infrastructure damage, service delivery, protection risks, displacement dynamics and seasonal or conflict-related stressors. Research approaches are designed to remain flexible and adaptive, as priorities, access conditions and security constraints can evolve rapidly in response to escalation, strikes or changes in frontline dynamics. As a result, the pace of analysis and reporting is critical, requiring strong analytical judgement and the ability to synthesise incomplete or fragmented information into clear, actionable insights for coordination and operational planning.

POSITION PROFILE

Under the line management of the Associate Research Manager, the Senior Assessment Officer is responsible for leading the design, implementation and delivery of research activities under the Critical Infrastructure and Services Analysis Team (CISAT) in Ukraine. This includes the full research cycle from assessment design and data collection to analysis, drafting, dissemination and learning. The Senior Assessment Officer oversees issue based and system focused assessments examining access to and functionality of critical services in conflict affected and frontline areas, including health, WASH, energy, heating, transport and other essential infrastructure.

The role supports the delivery of issue specific deep dives, damage and service disruption analysis, and longitudinal studies that track the evolution of needs and service access over time. The Senior Assessment Officer ensures methodological rigor while maintaining flexibility to adapt tools, timelines and approaches in response to rapidly changing security, access and operational conditions. The position requires close coordination with internal teams, local partners and technical specialists to ensure assessments are contextually grounded and operationally relevant.

Throughout the research cycle, the Senior Assessment Officer maintains close engagement with humanitarian coordination structures, including clusters, OCHA hubs and other relevant coordination bodies, to align assessments with priority information needs and promote uptake of findings. The role includes regular interaction with operational partners to support decision making related to targeting, prioritisation, access and contingency planning. The Senior Assessment Officer contributes to joint analysis, presents findings to diverse audiences and supports evidence-based dialogue between humanitarian actors and local authorities.

This position requires strong research and analytical skills, demonstrated experience working in complex and high-risk humanitarian settings, and a solid understanding of the Ukrainian conflict and humanitarian context. The role demands a high degree of adaptability, creativity and independence, as well as the ability to operate effectively under pressure and uncertainty. Candidates should demonstrate strong writing and presentation skills and the ability to translate complex analysis into clear, actionable insights for audiences with varying levels of technical expertise. The Senior Assessment Officer is expected to mentor and guide colleagues, foster analytical thinking within the team, and uphold IMPACT’s research standards while contributing to the strategic development of the Critical Infrastructure and Services research portfolio.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Senior Assessment Officer’s responsibilities include:

RESEARCH CYCLE MANAGEMENT

  • Steering critical services research cycles, ensuring alignment with strategic humanitarian response objectives and priority information needs.
  • Managing assigned research cycles, including oversight of research design, data collection, analysis, drafting, dissemination and learning processes.

CONTEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING

  • Maintaining up to date understanding of the evolving conflict, access and humanitarian context in Ukraine and its implications for research priorities and methodologies.

RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

  • Overseeing the development and implementation of qualitative, multisectoral and system focused analytical workstreams, including integration of GIS, remote sensing and secondary data.
  • Leading research cycles through the design of methodologies, tools and data collection approaches adapted to information needs and operational environment.
  • Ensuring analytical outputs translate complex findings on service access, disruption and infrastructure damage into clear, actionable insights for coordination and operational decision making.

STAFF MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING

  • Providing day-to-day management of up to 3 staff within the Critical Infrastructure and Services Analysis Team, including task prioritisation, mentoring and quality assurance.
  • Promoting analytical capacity strengthening within the mission by supporting staff to use qualitative findings, geospatial analysis and existing datasets.

COORDINATION

  • Liaise with HQ and country level departments and serving as a focal point for designated technical or thematic areas related to critical infrastructure and services analysis. Coordinate closely with other research units and teams to ensure coherence, complementarity and continuous improvement across research cycles.
  • Coordinate with senior management in the design, planning and implementation of research strategies and objectives related to critical infrastructure and services analysis.
  • Support external engagement, including consultations, presentations and technical exchanges with clusters, OCHA hubs and operational partners.

DATA PROTECTION AND CONFIDENTIALITY

  • Maintaining strict confidentiality of all data collected and related processes and actively preventing unauthorised sharing of information belonging to IMPACT, its partners or affected communities.

REQUIREMENTS

  • At least 3 years of relevant working experience in a humanitarian setting, such as assessments, monitoring and evaluation, research design and analysis, etc.;
  • Research skills Excellent quantitative and qualitative research data analysis experience required;
  • Familiarity with aid system Good understanding of the aid system and the research community. Prior experience with humanitarian coordination forums preferred;
  • Thematic experience Prior experience related to critical services, infrastructure, service disruption, damage analysis, frontline assessments or and longitudinal studies in conflict settings is an asset.
  • Communication/reporting skills Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with proven ability to draft concise analytical reports, briefs and presentations for diverse audiences.
  • Academic qualifications Excellent academic qualifications, including a master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline (e.g. international studies, development, humanitarian response, data science, political science, etc.);
  • Software skills Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint is required, with familiarity with Kobo and experience in qualitative analysis tools or GIS considered an asset.
  • Security environment Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in complex, high risk and rapidly changing security environments under time pressure.
  • Experience in geographical region Previous professional experience in Ukraine or comparable high intensity conflict contexts is strongly desirable.
  • Language skills Fluency in English is required, with working knowledge of Ukrainian an asset.