Project Administrator / Language Assistant

The role:

We are seeking a Project Administrator / Language Assistant to join our project team in Kyiv. The post is dual-hatted. You will run the administration and document control of the project management office, and you will provide the Ukrainian and English interpretation and translation the project depends on.

The project is the reconstruction of an existing medical building in Kyiv, delivered for an international donor through a Ukrainian construction sub-contractor, with Ukrainian state bodies approving and accepting the works. The site stays in clinical use throughout.

You will report to the Project Manager, with a functional line to the PMO Lead on document and reporting standards. You will work closely with the Liaison Officer, the Procurement Officer and the Clerk of Works.

The project runs in two languages and under two legal systems. Construction records, site journals and statutory documents are kept in Ukrainian; reporting to our customer is in English. Much of what the project has to prove at the end is proved by documents, and the timeliness of what the office produces is scored against contractual deadlines. That is why the post exists, and why accuracy carries as much weight here as speed.

Requirements

Responsibilities/ deliverables:

Additional tasks may emerge, but primary responsibilities will include:

Meetings and reporting

• Run the secretariat for every project meeting: scheduling, invitations, papers, minute-taking and action tracking. The meeting pack is issued five working days before each monthly progress meeting and minutes within two working days of the meeting. These are contractual deadlines and our performance against them is measured and reported.

• Maintain the joint action list continuously, issue it ahead of each meeting and reissue the updated version afterwards.

• Prepare the inputs to the monthly progress report and the weekly update pack, and hold the internal cut-off that protects the external deadline.

Project controls and records

• Maintain the schedule and progress-tracking data, and enter and reconcile cost and change data.

• Keep the correspondence, action and risk registers current in support of the PMO Lead.

• Run filing and version control in a single controlled information environment, so that every document can be traced to its issue and its change from the previous version is identifiable.

• Support the compilation of payment milestone evidence and the build-up of the acceptance documentation set.

• Flag data or record discrepancies to the PMO Lead and the Project Manager, and hold back circulation of any report or register that falls short of the document control standard until it is corrected.

Interpretation and translation

• Provide live interpretation at meetings, site visits and stakeholder engagements, including with the Ukrainian client body, the designer, the technical supervisor, the sub-contractor and the site command.

• Produce accurate written translation of technical, safety and contractual documents in both directions, using the correct Ukrainian construction terminology.

• Check that every translated notice or record faithfully reflects the original before it is issued, and raise any ambiguity or risk of mistranslation before the document goes out.

• Redact addresses and location-specific information from documents before they are submitted, where the contract requires it.

• Identify where a certified or notarised translation is needed rather than a working one, and arrange it. Where a text falls outside your competence to certify, say so and refer it.

• Record translation time and maintain the monthly summary of translation charges reported to our customer.

Support to the wider team

• Support the Liaison Officer with personnel notifications, site access requests and correspondence with local authorities and the sub-contractor, including the rolling three-week access forecast.

• Maintain the personnel records our customer requires, handling personal data under the contract’s data protection terms.

• Provide general office administration: onboarding of new team members, correspondence, invoices and expenses, and travel and logistics arrangements for the team and for visiting staff.

You:

You will have previous experience and qualifications in the following areas:

• Proven experience in office administration or project support, preferably in a construction, engineering or infrastructure environment.

• Demonstrable experience of live interpretation and of written translation between Ukrainian and English, ideally in a technical or construction setting.

• Higher education (Bachelor’s, Master’s or Specialist Degree) in translation, philology, linguistics, international relations, business administration, construction or a related field, or equivalent experience.

• Strong command of construction and contractual vocabulary in both languages, and the judgement to know when a literal translation would mislead.

• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail in record keeping, with the organisation to carry several fixed deadlines at once.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Outlook, and in document management through SharePoint and Teams.

• Familiarity with Ukrainian construction documentation is a strong advantage: acts of hidden works, executive documentation, material and equipment passports, and the site journals.

Other requirements:

You will also meet the following essential requirements, and may meet some or all of the following desirable requirements:

• Essential - Based in Kyiv, with regular attendance at the project site and at meetings with Ukrainian stakeholders.

• Essential - Fluent Ukrainian and fluent English, written and spoken. The statutory records are kept in Ukrainian and reporting to our customer is in English.

• Essential - Able to provide a clean criminal record certificate issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

• Essential - A valid military registration document, produced at the point of offer as Ukrainian law requires.

• Essential - Able to handle sensitive material appropriately. Project information carries a protective marking and is handled under the customer’s security and data protection terms, which we will brief you on.

• Desirable - Experience of donor-funded, international or government-funded projects.

• Desirable - Experience of preparing or submitting documentation to Ukrainian state bodies.

• Desirable - A translation or interpreting qualification, or evidence of continuous professional development in translation.

• Desirable - Experience of project controls or scheduling software, including Microsoft Project.

The appointment:

This is a fixed-term appointment tied to the project, employed in Ukraine by Prevail Consulting LLC. The core term runs for around 24 months from contract award, with two further six-month options that our customer may exercise. The start date is contract award, expected in October 2026, and conditional offers will be made before then.

The post is mobilised on day one. The heaviest administrative load falls in the first 30 days, when the management plans, the registers and the reporting templates are all due together, so we are looking for someone who can work at pace from the start and who will stay with the project through to handover.

Us:

Prevail Advisory Services delivers high quality construction project management, risk management, intelligence, research and consultancy services to clients ranging from governments and multinational corporations to non-governmental organisations. These services are delivered predominantly across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

We pride ourselves on selecting interesting projects which we believe can genuinely make a difference. You will be joining the company at a time of continued growth and may be required to support a wide variety of these projects across the whole company.

Benefits

What We Offer

• At Prevail, we believe in recognising and rewarding our people. Our benefits are designed to support your wellbeing, development, and life beyond work:

• Voluntary Medical Insurance:

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP): Confidential mental health, legal, financial and wellbeing support via Health Hero

• 25 days Leave Entitlements: Supporting you through important life moments with flexibility

• Professional Development Days: Dedicated time off to focus on your personal and professional growth through training, courses, or self-directed learning

• Culture & Development: A values-led culture with regular social events, collaborative initiatives, and meaningful opportunities for personal and professional development