Background
In the framework of reformation process in the field of higher education and scientific research in Albania, the Law no. 80/2015 "On higher education and scientific research in institutions of higher education in the Republic of Albania" was approved and entered into force in October 2015. The purpose of this reform is to increase the quality as per the European Higher Education Area standards, to provide equal opportunities, without discrimination, and support to vulnerable people, free competition among higher education institutions, academic personnel and students, opportunities to everyone, based on meritocracy and support for strategic priorities for the development of the country through scientific research. The objectives of reform include the quality improvement in two directions, teaching and scientific research. This reform provides, inter alia, the methods of financing higher education and increases institutional autonomy of institutions of higher education, both in financial and academic perspective.
The effective implementation of the law on higher education and scientific research has been included in the process of preparation of a large number of bylaws based on and pursuant to this law, foreseen to be approved as Decisions of the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Sport, and Instructions of the minister responsible for education. The Ministry of Education and Sport (MES) has established 4 (four) working groups for the preparation of these bylaws.
Objective
In order to guarantee quality in the preparation of bylaws and to obtain the experience of other countries, a team of external consultants will be hired to assist and prepare the bylaws laid down in the law. Some of the bylaws are of financial nature, some of them are relating to the establishment of institutions/agencies that will start to function under the new law on higher education, and some others are relating to the academic organisation and standards.
Duties and Responsibilities
The team of consultants will report to the National Project Director and will be specifically working on a list of bylaws described in the annex - as guided by the Ministry of Education and Sports. In particular, experts shall have the following duties:
- Present comparative materials on the experience and legal acts and secondary legislation of other countries of the region and the European Union, in the field of higher education and scientific research;
- Closely cooperate with the working groups established by the Ministry of Education and Sport for the preparation of bylaws pursuant to the Law No. 80/2015 "On higher education and scientific research in institutions of higher education in the Republic of Albania.
- Take part in the meetings of the working groups and deliver the relevant materials in each meeting;
- Prepare the final concepts of the bylaws as proposed and approved within the working groups, accompanied by the respective explanatory notes;
- Prepare and hand over final reports;
Expected deliverables are outlined below:
- Result 1 Preparation of comparative studies: best practices in the field of higher education and scientific research (with the countries of the region and the EU);
- Result 3 Preparation of the relevant legal package, legal opinions and explanatory notes; (By the end of each week, the experts must hand over the final drafts of 5-6 bylaws);
- Result 4 Final Reports
Experts shall keep close communication with the working group for the coordination of the process of the preparation of draft bylaws, pursuant to the Law No. 80/2015 "On higher education and scientific research in institutions of higher education in the Republic of Albania". Reporting shall be made at the coordinator (as advised by the Ministry of Education and Sports) who is in charge of coordinating the experts' work.
The National Project Director will certify work delivery and quality for their payment by UNDP.
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 favoritism.
Core Competencies:
- Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity
- Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
- Self-development, initiative-taking
- Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
- Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
- Creating synergies through self-control
- Managing conflict
- Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing is the responsibility of each staff member.
- Informed and transparent decision making
Required Skills and Experience
4 legal experts will be hired at this stage. Additional expertise may be required due to the expected large volume of work. Candidates must show the relevant experience and display a good understanding of governance and public law with a specific focus on education policies. Candidates should be fluent in English; and possess excellent communication and presentation skills. More specifically they must have the following qualifications and relevant work experience:
Education:
Advanced University Degree in law;
Work experience:
- A minimum of 5 years of legal expertise in the public and private sector;
- Previous experience with legal and institutional support to public institutions;
- Good knowledge of Albania’s public laws;
- Familiarity with the EU accession agenda;
- Good inter-personal and communication (oral and written) skills;
- Ability to work and adapt to a dynamic working environment and ability to perform under pressure;
Language requirement:
- Full working knowledge of English, including excellent report writing and presentation skills in English;
Evaluation of applicants:
Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above. UNDP applies the ‘Best value for money’ approach - the final selection will be based on the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) Responsive, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Individual consultant will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:
- Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications / candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)
- And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max points: 70
Criteria A: Educational background– max points: 20
Criteria B: Experience in drafting laws, by laws and additional work of legal nature – max points: 20
Criteria C: Analytical skills – max points: 10
Criteria D: Teamwork and - max points 10
Criteria E: Presentation and communication skills - max points 10
Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max points: 30
Application procedures
Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:
- A brief presentation explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position, to be entered in the first part of "Resume and Motivation" (max 1000 characters)
- Your word format resume in the following box, under"Resume and Motivation".
- Filled UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs); form to be downloaded at link: http://www.al.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/jobs.html Please upload the P11 instead of your CV.
- Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...
- Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days, travel, per diems and any other possible costs).
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.
How to Submit the Application:
To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:
- Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);
- Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal ,Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
- Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement);
- Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”
- Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);
- You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system"
*Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services.) All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.
Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
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.
Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process
Annex 1:
Institutional organization:
Decision of Council of Ministers
- Article 21, paragraph 4 à D.C.M. Nr. 12 "The organization of professional college"
Instructions:
- Article 29, paragraph 3 à Instruction Nr. 5 " Documentation to be submitted for opening the higher education institution (H.E.I)"
- Article 29, paragraph 7 à Instruction Nr. 6 "Procedures to be followed for opening, closing, reorganization and commence operations of the H.E.I"
- Article 98 point 1 / d à Instruction Nr. 16 "Service Contract"
- Article 98 paragraph 1 / dh à Instruction Nr. 17 "Elements and forms of insurance contract?;
Organization and academic standards:
Decision of the Council of Ministers:
- Article 5, paragraph 1/e à D.C.M. Nr. 2 ""On specifications of the functioning of non-secular higher education"
- Article 12 paragraph 4 à D.C.M. Nr. 8 " Determination of the methodology of the assessment process carried out by the National Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation";
- Article 28, paragraph 2 à D.C.M. No. 12 "On approval of university health structures"
- Article 29, paragraph 3 à D.C.M. No. 15 "On criteria for opening up branches of higher education institutions";
- Article 30 paragraph 3 à D.C.M. Nr. 16 " On criteria, standards and procedures of higher education institutions"
- Article 58, paragraph 1 à D.C.M. Nr. 17 " On the status and special treatment of academic personnel”;"
- Article 60 point 3 à D.C.M. Nr. 18 "Standards for obtaining titles"
- Article 71, paragraph 2 à D.C.M. Nr. 19 "On defining the elements of the study programmes offered by higher education institutions";
- Article 75, paragraph 3 / b à D.C.M. Nr. 21 " On determining the fields of integrated study programmes ";
- Article 79 points 9 à D.C.M. Nr. 22 "“On the criteria to be met by the candidate in order to obtain the degree “Doctor of sciences”;
- Article 86 paragraph 4 à D.C.M. Nr. 23 " Specification for codification of study programmes"
- Article 96, paragraph 2 à D.C.M. Nr. 24 " Structure and organization of inter institutional centers";
- Article 100 paragraph 4 à D.C.M. Nr. 25 "On categories of services provided by state institutions"
- Article 105, paragraph 2 à D.C.M. Nr. 27 " Drafting of Quality Code of Higher Education "
Directives:
- Article 17, paragraph 6, à Instruction Nr. 4 "On special status"
- Article 31 paragraph 1 and 2 à Instruction Nr. 7 "Reporting and deadlines for reporting"
- Article 35, paragraph 6 à Instruction Nr. 8 "On determining the criteria and documentation to be included in the request for opening up new study programmes and the respective procedures";
- Article 59, paragraph 8 à Instruction Nr. 9 " Determination of the full teaching load for the academic personnel in institutions of higher education“
- Article 77 paragraph 3 à Instruction Nr. 10 " Determination of the admission criteria in a study program of the third cycle"
- Article 84 point 3 à Instruction Nr. 11 " Determination of the form of organization of studies, the admission of students and funding of higher education institutions with special status"
- Article 91, paragraph 1 à Instruction Nr. 13 "Elements and forms for registration"
- Article 91 paragraph 5 à Instruction Nr. 14 "Diploma Supplement
Decision of the Council of Ministers:
- Article 114 paragraph 3 à D.C.M No. 31 "Student lending scheme"
- Article 115, paragraph 2 à D.C.M. No. 32 "Conditions to be fulfilled to apply for the lending scheme"
Instructions:
- Article 109 paragraph 3 à Instruction Nr. 18 "Funding scheme"
- Article 111 paragraph 4 à Instruction Nr. 19 "Priorities, terms and application form for grants"
- Article 125 à Instruction Nr. 20 "Procedures for codification and reorganization of programs"
- Article 11 point 3 à Instruction Nr. 3 "The criteria and formula for distribution of public funds"