ABOUT BSF
Founded in 2007 by the French historian Patrick Weil, Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) is an NGO that empowers vulnerable populations by sharing culture, education and information. It implements inclusive and innovative projects in 30+ countries, enabling people affected by crises and precarity to educate themselves, dream and (re)build their lives. Thanks to its innovative tools, library of contents and expertise in mediation, BSF and its partners tackle the major challenges of the 21st century such as education, culture, citizenship, community building, health, employment or entrepreneurship.
At BSF, decisions are only based on the applicant’s skills and qualities regarding its needs of recruitment within a respectful and inclusive process. BSF hires and employs individuals regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, cultural or ethnic background, or disability.
OUR WORK IN UKRAINE
Since 2022, BSF has been present in Ukraine, supporting internally displaced people (IDPs) and conflict-affected communities through education and psychosocial support programs :
Education in Emergencies
In the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, on the front line in eastern Ukraine, war has disrupted the lives of thousands of children, adolescents, and their families. Destroyed schools, interrupted classes, and daily life marked by fear have made access to education a major challenge. We deploy our flagship Ideas Box — a portable multimedia library — in schools, shelters, and community spaces to ensure that learning continues even in the most difficult conditions. Subject to security conditions, we also work in the Dnipro oblast, bringing educational resources and trained facilitators directly to communities that need them most.
Protection & Psychosocial Support
We believe that access to culture and stories is not a luxury — it is a lifeline. Through the "Libraries of Emotions for Good" program, we explore how reading can support emotional health, deploying bibliotherapy spaces where books are organized by emotion — joy, sadness, anger — and where trained librarians offer sessions for war survivors, youth, and displaced families, creating safe spaces for dialogue and well-being. These programs are delivered both inside Ukraine and across borders, reaching IDPs wherever they have sought refuge.
Towards a Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus
As our response matures, BSF is working to expand beyond emergency programming by integrating culture as a full pillar of intervention. We believe that cultural access — through reading, creative expression, and shared storytelling — is not only a tool for immediate relief, but a foundation for long-term resilience, social cohesion, and community rebuilding. This nexus approach bridges humanitarian response with sustainable development, recognizing that recovery is not complete without restoring people's connection to knowledge, identity, and culture.
POSITION WITHIN THE ORGANISATION
The Program Coordinator reports to the Country Representative based in Kyiv. He/she manages a project officer and a project manager.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Program Coordinator is responsible for the development and implementation of BSF’s programs in Ukraine in collaboration with our partners in country. The Program Coordinator drives all stages of the program’s implementation and ensures expected outcomes, in line with BSF’s strategy and procedures.
More specifically, the Program Coordinator is responsible for the following key areas:
1. Program Implementation:
- Ensure timely and proper implementation of the Ukraine response program, meeting quality and accountability standards, and in line with the project documents & donor contracts.
- With regional direction support, develop and oversee a monitoring and evaluation framework for the program.
- Manage the elaboration of narrative reports.
- Contribute to the budget monitoring of projects and the validation of financial reports in collaboration with regional direction support.
2. Strategy & Development:
- Contribute actively to design the program strategy, to suggest new areas of intervention or partnerships.
- Prepare evolving operational plans and strategies to adjust the BSF intervention to the evolving context in Ukraine and in the region (in collaboration with regional BSF teams);
- Participate and contribute to relevant sector working groups and coordination meetings (Education, Protection...).
- Contribute to project design and writing of funding requests (concept notes, proposals, budgets, etc.) for new partnerships.
3. Grow and Manage the BSF Ukraine Program Team:
- In coordination with the Country Representative, set up the BSF program team in Ukraine: definition of needs and recruitment.
- Manage the BSF program team in Ukraine, and in particular their evolving locations, roles and tasks (depending on Ideas Box projects, partners and needs).
- Liaise with regional direction to ensure the proper support and training of BSF teams in the field.
RECRUITMENT CONDITIONS
· Type of contract: Fixed-term contract under French law (expatriate) - CDD d’usage
· Starting date : 01.07.26
· Ending date : 31.01.27
· Duration of the contract: 7 months
· Remuneration: From 2600 to 3083€ gross/month depending on experience and salary grid of BSF
· Benefits:
- Monthly allowance for living expenses: 600€/month
- Accommodation allowance: 600€/month (upon presentation of supporting documents)
- Social protection system adapted to expatriation (CFE, complementary health, providence, repatriation assistance and civil liability)
- 2,5 days off/month and 1,17 additional days of rest/month (RTT)
· Workplace: Kyiv with frequent travel within Ukraine. Depending on the security situation, this position will require traveling to sites around Ukraine to visit partners, asses their programs, and conduct trainings and capitalization and learning events.
· Other information: This is an unaccompanied position.
