Background

NOTE: Signed Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and availability - https://www.ba.undp.org/content/dam/bosnia_and_herzegovina/docs/Operations/Jobs/Offerors%20Letter%20to%20UNDP%20Confirming%20Interest%20and%20Availability.docx - Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability.docx - to be sent to e-mail ba.shared.hr@undp.org with Subject: Job ID 100198.

The effects of climate change, such as floods, fires, droughts, and air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels in households and industry are among the leading environmental problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As part of its climate action portfolio, UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina has developed the first local carbon footprint calculator available on www.tvojco2.ba. This CO2 calculator aims to provide citizens and businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the opportunity to assess their impact on the climate and the environment in an informative and interactive way by calculating their own carbon footprint over the course of one year.

Eager to go a step further and enable individuals and businesses to offset their carbon footprint by directly investing financial and non-financial resources in various greening activities, such as afforestation or energy efficiency measures, UNDP developed additional features of the platform. One of them is an online marketplace for carbon footprint offsetting products and services. This feature will enable individuals and companies to buy and plant various trees, each absorbing about one ton of CO2 over 40 years. In addition to trees, users will have a chance to invest in other natural solutions for reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

The TvojCO2 platform's marketplace will host vendors of the products and services that will enable users to offset their carbon footprint by planting trees across the country. To this moment, UNDP has partnered with several public enterprises in charge of forest management or urban greenery in their respective local communities.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the UNDP and more specifically – its Accelerator Lab team, the National e-Commerce Expert will support the first group of vendors which joined the platform to successfully onboard at the TvojCO2 marketplace, build their basic capacities in e-Commerce and digital marketing, towards establishing e-Commerce function and capabilities. The Expert will also advise UNDP on the further steps towards improvement of the marketplace platform, so it becomes more efficient from the business perspective, user-friendly and self-sustainable.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of the consultancy is to support the vendors - public enterprises which have joined the online offsetting platform to successfully onboard at the TvojCO2.ba marketplace, then acquire knowledge and basic skills to help them launch, develop and sustain e-Commerce through the platform.

The support under this consultancy will be provided to 10 public enterprises represented by about 20 employees / focal points involved in expanding their sale via TvojCO2.ba platform with almost no experience in e-Commerce. These enterprises are established at Sarajevo, Doboj, Konjic, Bijeljina, Zavidovici, Trebinje and other cities across the country. 

More specifically, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Task 1. Design and deliver a two-day e-Commerce training for representatives of the TvojCO2.ba vendors

The overall objective of this task is to strengthen the capacity and enhance the overall entrepreneurial activity of public organizations joining the TvojCO2.ba marketplace. For this purpose, the selected Consultant shall develop and deliver one training session on e-Commerce skills development to increase the knowledge of public enterprises on how to digitalize their business operations, access online trade via marketplace platform provided by the UNDP and to improve communication and online marketing of the products and/or services they offer. A two-day in-person training course (with the possibility to shift training activities online in case of COVID-19 related restrictions) on basic e-commerce skills development will be delivered for at least 20 representatives of 10 partnering TvojCO2.ba vendors.

Specifically, the Consultant shall implement the following:

• conduct a simple review of the current situation in each target public enterprise in terms of e-commerce capacities and needs;
• develop the outline and curriculum of the training programme;
• develop information and handout training materials in one of the languages in official use in Bosnia and Herzegovina, containing at least the following elements: multimedia presentation in MS PowerPoint, materials for practical exercises in MS Word (if any), and other multimedia, information and graphics to be used during the training sessions developed; the training materials and the exercises should be customised to and reinforce the practical use of the TvojCO2 platform as much as possible; 
• develop and implement pre-training and end-of training evaluation survey to assess the achievement of the learning objectives and participants’ satisfaction (designed according to the training specific objective); and,
• develop a knowledge booklet (up to 10 pages), which outlines the summary of the training course and provides a step-by-step annotated guidance on e-commerce actions at the TvojCO2.ba marketplace. The booklet should specifically provide guidance on how to promote an organizational brand, increase sales on TvojCO2.ba platform, improve overall communication and online marketing of the organization, monitor the effects from the e-commerce, as well as provide guidance on good e-Commerce practices and how to effectively operate the online store.
• Deliver the 2-day training programme (in a face-to-face format) in Sarajevo for at least 20 representatives from the target public enterprises. To note that the cost for training venue, travel costs for participants, refreshments and logistics for the training will be covered by the UNDP.

It is expected that this Task will not exceed 15 expert days and will be implemented by August 15th 2021.

Task 2. Provide on-the-job mentoring support to the public enterprises engaged in the TvojCO2.ba platform

The Consultant is expected to provide customised e-Commerce business advisory to all 10 public enterprises (and more specifically – to their designated focal points) engaged in the TvojCO2.ba platform. They will benefit from up to 1 expert day/8 hours of on-site/virtual sessions and practical support (with the possibility to shift mentoring activities online in case of COVID-19 related restrictions) with the Consultant in putting in function the theoretical knowledge gained through the training into concrete actions towards effective use and e-commerce through the TvojCO2 platform. In addition, the Consultant will support target public enterprises identify a set of concrete priority actions necessary to ensure effective e-commerce capacity and follow-up effective use of the TvojCO2 platform. 

Specifically, the Consultant shall implement the following:

• provide guidance and practical advice to the public enterprises to smoothly operate and use the TvojCO2.ba platform from viewpoint of digital doing business;
• offer on-demand support to the focal points in the process of use of the TvojCO2.ba platform;
• support the formulation of priority actions / checklist of important actions that can help the public enterprise maximise its outreach and ensure effective e-commerce through the TvojCO2.ba platform, including digital skills and e-commerce capacity needs.

It is expected that this Task will not exceed 15 expert days (preparation work, customised mentoring and practical support for of up to 10 vendors) and will be implemented by September 15th 2021.

Task 3. Provide high quality technical assistance to UNDP and TvojCO2.ba vendors on all matters related to further e-commerce activities, especially the introduction of e-payment solution and logistic solution for delivery of goods to the customers of the online platform

Within this Task, the Consultant is expected to support all public enterprises engaged as vendors at the TvojCO2.ba platform to introduce an e-payment option to their TvojCO2.ba online store. The platform currently supports bank deposit payment method by displaying vendor bank account information and payment instructions to customers after their order is complete. Because this is an offline method, the order will need to be updated manually when payment is received. UNDP will support platform integration with a selected e-payment gateway. The Consultant will provide additional advisory on selecting a logistics/delivery solution for the public enterprises (vendors) in the platform.

Specifically, the Consultant shall implement the following:

• analyse the existing e-payment service providers in Bosnia and Herzegovina and provide written recommendation to the UNDP on the selection of a service provider based on the commercial terms and conditions such as: fees charged, payment methods and solutions supported, help services provided, transactions reporting provided and level of data protection and security policies;
• support e-Payment onboarding process for each vendor interested to introduce e-payment modality for their account on TvojCO2.ba platform, by facilitating communication between the vendor, the e-Payment gateway and the bank;
• support a smooth and timely integration of the TvojCO2.ba platform and the e-payment gateway, by facilitating communication between the contracted developers of the TvojCO2.ba web platform and e-payment service provider team, so that vendors can start accepting payments after onboarding as soon as possible;
• provide advisory on selecting the best logistics partner for delivery of product to vendors, on their request; and,
• based on all previous activities, provide a set of recommendation for improvement of the marketplace platform to the UNDP, so the platform becomes more efficient from the business perspective, user-friendly and self-sustainable. 

It is expected that this Task will not exceed 10 expert days. The activities in this task will start immediately after the contract is signed and will be implemented by September 30th 2021 at the latest.

The expected timeframe for the entire assignment is late July – September 2021, with estimated level of effort of 40 consultancy days. The assignment will be delivered in the languages of peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian); however, the progress reports to UNDP should be submitted in English language.

Payments will be made upon completion of each task upon confirmation by UNDP on the quality delivery and acceptance of the products, as relevant. Field visits to the cities where partnering public organisations are established (Sarajevo, Doboj, Konjic, Bijeljina, Trebinje, Zavidovici…), are envisioned, based on the Tasks within the ToR.

Deliverables/outputs

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism;
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities;
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Economy, Computer or Information Science, or other relevant field of study.
• Master degree in relevant field of study will be considered as an advantage.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of professional experience in capacity building and/or providing advisory and consulting services to organizations in development of their e-commerce solutions and strategies;
• At least 1 year of hands-on experience in managing and maintaining e-Commerce websites/portals and developing campaigns to increase digital sales;
• Experience in working with e-payment and logistics service providers in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an advantage.

Languages Requirements:

• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in in the official languages of peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina and good English writing skills.

Other Requirements:

• Excellent computer skills (MS Office applications) and ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource.

Longlisting/Shortlisting Criteria

Qualifications as stated in the ToR

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation

Individual  will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the candidate whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• * Technical Criteria weight-70%
• * Financial Criteria weight- 30%

Interested candidated must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
• Personal CV/P11, including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Please scan all above mentioned documents and upload as one attachment only online through this website.

Note:

• For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
• Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.