UNDP Jobs - 63897- 5 International Consultants to Provide Mentorship

5 International Consultants to Provide Mentorship and Consultative Support to the Selected Collaborative Projects under the UNDP Moldova Business Innovation Lab

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Mar-2016

Application Deadline :

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

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

March – December 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

March – December 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 Business Innovations Lab (BIL) is a knowledge and collaborative facility managed by a multidisciplinary team of business experts, mentors and practitioners/businessmen from Moldova and abroad capable to provide consultative support and guide SMEs on their path to innovate and improve competitiveness. BIL will be coordinating and hosting exclusively collaborative projects initiated and run by Moldovan SMEs with at least 2 years of experience on the market and start-ups.

In essence, BIL is a business innovation accelerator with an open application process, nurturing groups of SMEs with new business ideas and supporting them in order to get ready for further investments or market. BIL is also a facility which implements the monitoring of the Innovation Grant Scheme.

BIL represents an environment where selected SME’s will have the possibility to obtain trainings and knowledge, to experiment and test their innovative solutions, up until the innovation is ready to be implemented in real businesses cases. BIL therefore creates a community where the diverse skills and backgrounds of the entrepreneurs, mentors, and the management staff are leveraged. It is supposed to encourage collaboration and establish community, and the sharing of experiences amongst stakeholder’s teams.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the assignment is to provide support to the Project and the BIL in the establishment of the BIL Board of Mentors. The Board will, on a collaborate basis, provide mentorship services to the winning collaborative projects run by SMEs and supported by BIL. Mentors will be providing highly competitive and qualitative consultancy services to the projects depending on the specific needs.

The Board of Mentors would consist of international and national experts to include at least: one innovation general expert, one innovation marketing specialist, one innovation funding/financing expert, one M&E expert, one national financial expert, and one communication specialist. Each members of the Board will be guided by the working plan of the BIL and might be ‘activated’ depending on the specific needs of the specific collaborative project or general BIL needs.

The general tasks of the mentors are the following:

Consult the SME’s participating in each stage of the BIL Accelerator Program, mainly on-distance coaching and mentoring;
Contribute to the development of Moldovan innovation ecosystems via trainings, seminars and participating and appearing in other events pursuant to the plan, elaborated by the BIL/Project Team in respect to sharing the mentors with ecosystem;
Assist the innovative SME’s in accessing BIL funding and finding the necessary client and investor contacts in their target markets.

The mentoring process can be pursued in a variety of forms, from introductions to thematic sessions where mentors present their ideas and experience and then spend time with teams on a one-to-one basis. The aim of this kind of mentoring is to challenge the SME and give them honest feedback on where they’re going right or wrong and to give them a chance to create longer-term relationships with mentors who could take on the role as advisors later on.

The general tasks of the mentors are the following:

Consult the SME’s participating in each stage of the BIL Accelerator Program, mainly on-distance coaching and mentoring;
Contribute to the development of Moldovan innovation ecosystems via trainings, seminars and participating and appearing in other events pursuant to the plan, elaborated by the BIL/Project Team in respect to sharing the mentors with ecosystem;
Assist the innovative SME’s in accessing BIL funding and finding the necessary client and investor contacts in their target markets.

LOT 1 - Business innovation expert

Specific deliverables: support the Project/BIL in the selection of the collaborative projects; provide consistent mentorship to such projects to develop and test the innovative solution; provide tailored trainings on promotion of innovation into business; guide participating SMEs on where to search for funding and partnerships; provide needed timely inputs on the networking possibility and study visits, so that to facilitate the technological transfer or transfer of innovative solutions from abroad or other sectors.

LOT 2 – Business innovation marketing and sales expert

Specific deliverables: support the Project/BIL in the selection of the collaborative projects, particualrly projects focused on innovative marketing and sales; provide tailored trainings on innovative marketing and sales toolkits; support collaborative projects to test new marketing approaches; support in measurement of impact and economic results of each marketing project; connect and coordinate consultative support with all other members of the Board.

LOT 3 – Business innovation funding expert

Specific deliverables: support the Project/BIL in the selection of the collaborative projects, particualrly projects focused on innovative funding, including for instance crowdfunding innovative solutions, among others; provide tailored trainings on innovative funding and related toolkits; support collaborative projects to test new funding approaches; support in measurement of impact and economic results of each funding project; connect and coordinate consultative support with all other members of the Board.

LOT 4 – Business innovation monitoring and evaluation expert

Specific deliverables: Support the Project/BIL in the selection of the collaborative projects, support projects to develop monitoring and evaluation metrics with specific indicators; collect data from the participating projects; submit M&E reports to the project.

LOT 5 – Business innovation communication expert

Specific topics: Support the Project/BIL in the selection of the collaborative projects; support collaborative projects to develop clear communication plans and toolkits; promote best practices and lessons learned through local media, including social media; connect and coordinate consultative support with all other members of the Board.

Important note: International consultants shall clearly indicate the specific position they are applying for/ LOT(s). Potential candidates can consider applying to several LOTs.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modelling the organization's values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the organization;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

Strong analytical, drafting and training skills;
Ability to analyse, plan, communicate effectively with stakeholders and present ideas clearly and effectively;
Excellent communication and teamwork skills;
Demonstrated interpersonal and diplomatic skills;
Ability to enter new environments, adapt quickly and produce immediate results;
Computer literacy - competent user of the main Microsoft Office programs.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in Economics, Social Science or other relevant fields.

Experience:

At least 5 years of proven experience in delivering trainings, coaching and mentorship for innovative projects led by SMEs or groups of SMEs;
At least 3 years of proven experience in training and consulting SMEs on the specific topic of interest, as per the provided list of LOTs;
At least 3 years of proven experience in selection and monitoring/evaluation of innovative projects run by private sector is a strong advantage;
Familiarity with the situation in the national innovations systems in the CEE region and Moldova is a strong asset; proved by the articles, analytical reports, publications, etc in the area;
Familiarity with major European funding programmes and projects is a strong asset;
Knowledge of the EU regulations, including institutional, legal and policy frameworks, in the area of innovation and technological transfer is a strong advantage;
Knowledge of impact evaluation for innovative projects.

Language:

Fluency in written and spoken English;
Knowledge of Romanian or Russian would be an asset.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee, taxes, travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

For complete information about this vacancy, including detailed tasks and responsibilities, full and detailed description of the evaluation procedure which will be applied, as well as the UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract, please refer to the Terms of Reference and the Individual Consultant Procurement Notice published at the UNDP Moldova website, Jobs Section: http://www.undp.md/jobs/current_jobs