UNDP Jobs - 63504- International Consultant for Preparation of Roadma

International Consultant for Preparation of Roadmap on Harnessing Remittances for Economic Growth and Concept Note on Business Support to MSEs

Location :

Home Based/ 10 Days Mission to Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Feb-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Estimated 20 working days for the period from 22 February 2016 - 31 March 2016

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The main objective of the Promoting Sustainable Employments (PSE) project is to support national institutions to better plan, implement and monitor active labour market measures (ALMMs). More specifically, UNDP supports the implementation of the Operational Plan on ALMMs, in areas of Self-employment; support the growth of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) for new jobs creation; training in skills demanded at the labour market and Community Works/services. As of July 2015, the Government in partnership with UNDP has started with implementation of the self-employment measure for people with disability. The programme covers a range of activities aimed to better and more effectively support those that have an entrepreneurial skills and are willing to start-up their own small business.
The programme is implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP), Employment Service Agency (ESA) and Agency for Promotion of Entrepreneurship (APE).

As part of the programme, the aspects of i) economic growth based on the remittances and ii) support to MSEs enabling business growth activities, will be explored as potential area of future programming. For this purpose, UNDP will engage an International Consultant to explore this area and formulate recommendations that will consist part of the next programming cycle.

Remittances can remove some of the financial constraints faced by households and small-scale entrepreneurs that prevented them from investing. They may also potentially contribute to raising the country’s long run growth potential through higher rates of capital accumulation.

On the other side, small and medium sized companies in particular face challenges of integration into international markets due to lack of managerial, financial and technical capacity. This is a particular important sector bearing in mind that SMEs account for 75% of employment.

With an objective to support sustainability, growth and competitiveness of micro and small companies, the PSE project envisages a set of activities aiming at assisting a number of companies to improve their business strategy and introduce and/or improve certain business processes.

Under guidance and direct supervision of the Programme Officer and Project Manager of the Promoting Sustainable Employments project, the International Consultant will perform the stipulated tasks as stated below.

Objectives

Objectives of the assignment is two-fold: i) to focus on the overall relevance and potential impact of remittances on support to establishment of MSMEs in the country, to be formulated as a Roadmap with specific project activities ii) to develop Concept Note covering activities that will support the MSEs growth in the country. The Roadmap and the Concept Note shall give clear forward looking recommendations on the aforementioned aspects.

Findings will be used for the design of future labour market interventions by the Government and UNDP, and will be shared with all relevant and active institutions in the employment sphere.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will be engaged to perform the following tasks:

Roadmap focused on harnessing remittances for economic growth:

To explore the potential of mobilising remittances in order to promote entrepreneurship and MSEs development in the country;
To provide policy advice to national partners on supporting productive investment of remittances in MSEs activities in the home country/local communities of migrants/returnees, including the institutional and financial infrastructure;
To define the mechanisms and indicators that would allow the harnessing of remittances in productive investments in the country;
Develop recommendations on i) how can remittances be incorporated in local development strategies ii) what appropriate environment and incentives can be developed to support and maximize the remittances’ benefits for the MSEs iii) what partnerships frameworks (business networks, legal basis) could be developed for migrants/returnees and local authorities.

Concept paper on business support to MSEs:

To develop a concept paper with a concrete set of actions for provision of support services to businesses in the start-up and the post-establishment phase, which should lead to an increase in their competitiveness, and thus the potential for growth and generation of new jobs;
To recommend a set of services and the appropriate institutional form to support young businesses. To identify the most appropriate type of support services for firms with fast growth potential. To identify forms of possible engagement of UNDP in business incubators that would foster timely and efficient implementation of the innovative ideas and products.

Deliverables:

10 days mission to Skopje, expected starting date 22 Feb 2016;
Prepare roadmap on harnessing remittances for economic growth – that will detail the findings and propose concrete activities for future programming. It should include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities and expected results. The success indicators should ensure that the programme activities meet the required quality criteria. It should define approach towards accurate collection of data from the national system and other data sources. In addition, the document shall contain a short executive summary outlining the key findings and conclusion as well as the most important recommendations related to the impact of remittances on establishment of MSMEs sector;
Prepare concept paper on business support to MSEs - shall list activities that UNDP should undertake in the future in order to support the growth of businesses. It should contain a short summary outlining the key findings and conclusion as well as the most important recommendations.

Reporting

Both documents, the roadmap and the concept note should be presented to the programme unit and Project Manager of the Promoting Sustainable Employment project. Relevant comments to the draft document shall be incorporated. Finalized document will be sent to key national partners with whom the Consultant is expected to meet during the mission.

Expected duration of assignment

The expected duration of the assignment is total of 20 working days, out of which 10 working days mission to Skopje and 10 working days home/desk work.

Payment schedule

First instalment: Travel related expenses as per your financial offer provided (upon signing of the contract

Second instalment: Upon completion of deliverables 2 and 3 and their acceptance by UNDP. UNDP will have 10 days to review the submitted product and provide any comments if needed.

Competencies

Demonstrate integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards;
Demonstrate professional competence and is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results;
Excellent communication and documentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master in Economics; PhD in Economics will be a strong asset.

Experience:

Strong understanding of and experience in economic analysis, with an emphasis on Enterprise Minimum 5 years of work experience in Development / Competitiveness / Local Economic Development / Remittances;
Experience of working with Western Balkans Country context, preferably with working experience in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia;
Experience of working with international organisations / donors, including the UN system;
Strong analytical and writing skills;
Detail oriented, able to meet deadlines and able to prioritize multiple tasks;
Excellent computer skills.

Language:

Language proficiency in written and oral English.

Application procedure

The Consultant is expected to provide the following:

CV of the Consultant or United Nations Personnel History form (P-11);
Brief approach on how the assignment will be carried out included detailed timetable of the proposed activities;
Financial offer “all inclusive” – specifying a total lump sum in USD for the deliverables specified in the TOR. The financial offer shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel/air ticket (economic class), per diems during the stay in Skopje and any other possible costs). For your information, UNDP Daly Subsidy Allowance (DSA) for Skopje is 167 USD. Under no circumstance UNDP would accept higher rate for per diem;

Reference list of similar work/projects and contact details of the clients. References must include information on work experience covering:

Expertise in local economic development and employment area, especially in designing of measures for stimulating economic activity and policy making;
Experience of SME Development / Local Economic Development / Employment support / Remittances Performed; If applicable, please also include work assignments focused on harnessing remittances in other countries;
Good understanding of, and experience in economic analysis, including preparation of Project Documents / Roadmaps / Concept Notes;
Experience in the development of models to support the economic policy design of the national policy-makers;
EU experience and knowledge of the social and economic context in South-East Europe countries, including Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Failing to submit any of the bellow listed documents may result in disqualifying the application

Evaluation of offers
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Combined Scoring Method (usually used for consultants);
Combined Scoring Method principle takes into account a combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial proposal (70% technical and 30 % financial offer).

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation:

Master (PhD asset) in Economics; (5% of the evaluation points);
Strong background and expertise in local economic development and employment area, especially in designing of measures for stimulating economic activity and policy making; (10 % of the evaluation points);
Experience of SME Development / Local Economic Development / Employment support / Remittances Performed at least 3 tasks with similar scope and size; Work assignments focused on harnessing remittances in other countries will be an asset (20 % of the evaluation points);
Good understanding of, and experience in economic analysis, including preparation of Project Documents / Roadmaps / Concept Notes ; (10% of the evaluation points);
Experience in the development of models to support the economic policy design of the national policy-makers; (10 % of the evaluation points);
EU experience and knowledge of the social and economic context in South-East Europe countries, including Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. (15 % of the evaluation points).

In addition to the desk review, the Evaluation Commission will held telephone interviews with short-listed candidates.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

Application instructions:

Step 1:

Click on the "Apply now" button;
Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation; You can type in, or paste your short Resume into the last box;
Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload other required documents listed in the step 2.

Step 2:
The system will allow only one attachment. Therefore please upload all documents listed below as one file.

CV of the Consultant or United Nations Personnel History form (P-11);
Brief approach on how the assignment will be carried out included detailed timetable of the proposed activities;
Financial offer “all inclusive” – specifying a total lump sum in USD for the deliverables specified in the TOR. The financial offer shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel/air ticket (economic class), per diems during the stay in Skopje and any other possible costs). For your information, UNDP Daly Subsidy Allowance (DSA) for Skopje is 167 USD. Under no circumstance UNDP would accept higher rate for per diem;

Reference list of similar work/projects and contact details of the clients. References must include information on work experience covering:

Expertise in local economic development and employment area, especially in designing of measures for stimulating economic activity and policy making;
Experience of SME Development / Local Economic Development / Employment support / Remittances Performed; If applicable, please also include work assignments focused on harnessing remittances in other countries;
Good understanding of, and experience in economic analysis, including preparation of Project Documents / Roadmaps / Concept Notes;
Experience in the development of models to support the economic policy design of the national policy-makers;
EU experience and knowledge of the social and economic context in South-East Europe countries, including Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Failing to submit any of the above listed documents may result in disqualifying the application.