Background

While still being the least urbanized European country with over 55% of the population residing in rural areas (as of 2014), the situation is rapidly changing in Republic of Moldova, with projected reduction of the share of rural population down to 50% by 2030 and close to 40% by 2050. The inflow of new residents has been particularly strong to Chisinau, not only from the rural areas, but also from other cities across the country. By 2030 Chisinau is expected to host over 50% of all urban population in Moldova putting even more pressure on city's infrastructure and services, while also creating considerable social and environmental challenges. Thus the management of the urbanization and rural-urban migration process has been gaining attention as one of the key national development priorities.

The objective of the project is to launch a Green City Lab that through its work will help to catalyse investments in low carbon green urban development based on integrated urban planning approach by encouraging innovation, participatory planning and partnerships between a variety of public and private sector entities.

As a vehicle for this, the project will support the design, launching, and establishment of the Green City Lab to become the leading knowledge management and networking platform, clearing house, an inter-mediator of finance  and a source of innovations and expertise to catalyse sustainable low carbon green city development in Moldova with a mission to transform Chisinau and other urban centres in Moldova into modern green and smart European cities with improved quality of life for their citizens, while also demonstrating opportunities for sustainable economic growth.

Before launching the Green City Lab it is first necessary to define the institutional structure, the business model and to elaborate the business plan for the Green City Lab so that it is clear how the GCL will earn revenues. Will it be through sponsorship? Will it be through advisory and consultancy work? Will it be through project financing and as a broker of investments? Or will it be as an investor and if so investing in what?  The Project document contains an draft business plan, which should be deeply revised. Also, the Smart city lab Moscow already provided inputs for the business plan. The reason that it is so important to develop the business model and the business plan is because it is expected over time that the Green City Lab will evolve into a self financing self sustainable organization, capable of continuing to operate after the project closes.

The inception workshop for the project was held in April 2018 in Chisinau, Moldova with UNDP, with the Municipality of Chisinau, and other key stakeholders. At the inception workshop it was agreed that more details about the Green City Lab including decisions about where it will be located, how it will be staffed initially, what the institutional structure will look like, and what its business model will look like as well as the development of a sound business plan are key priorities.

In the period of April-June 2018 an up-to-date horizon scanning and practical recommendations to the Project Team and key partners with regard to the analysed barriers and risks to a successful set-up and operationalisation of the Green City Lab within the Chisinau Municipality.

Duties and Responsibilities

In order to support the development of the business plan, the project has decided to hire an experienced international consultant with experience in project finance, public-private partnerships, and writing business plans who could help with the finalization of a business plan which is acceptable to all stakeholders.

The international consultant to develop the business plan for the GCL shall prepare 4 main outputs as follows:

1. Green City Lab Vison Statement and Detailed Institutional Set Up Report
2. Draft GCL Business Plan
3. Finalized Pilot Projects Report
4. Finalized GCL business plan

The GCL vision statement will be a short 2-5 page document. All the other reports should be of 25 – 50 pages in length, not including annexes.

Competencies

Institutional arrangements:

The consultant will report to the Project Manager and will work in close coordination with the project team, national and international consultants and national partners.  All the travel costs (economy class air ticket) and reduced travel allowance should be part of the financial offer. If additional ad-hoc travel from the duty station (Chisinau) is required by the project, the cost of airfare and accommodation will be supported by the project.

Duty station: Chisinau, Moldova

Travel:

• International travel – 50 working days over a period of 2.5 months must be spent in Moldova. The financial offer to the commissioning unit must be based on the cost of 1 travel to and from Moldova. If the consultant chooses to leave Moldova during the course of the assignment on days where he/she is not working, they shall do so at their own cost.
• Per diem – shall be included in the financial offer

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in Energy, Environment, Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, or other closely related field;
• Minimum of 5 years of private sector experience related to corporate financial advisory, corporate finance, and/or investment banking;
• At least 5 years of private sector experience working in the region (Eastern Europe or CIS country). Experience in Moldova or Romania is an advantage; 
• Experience over the past seven years in developing business plans including experience with financial analysis and financial modelling;
• Experience working with public private partnerships in the past 10 years providing financial advisory services or relavant services;
• Experience of having worked with UN Agencies at some point in the past seven years or with other international organizations or development financial institutions;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to the municipal sector and green urban development (e.g – experience with municipalities as clients)
• Demonstrated experience and abilities to lead strategic planning, experience with adaptive management and multidisciplinary team coordination.
• Excellent communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to respond to donor requirements;
• Effectiveness and ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout
• Writing and verbal skills in English, knowledge of Romanian or Russian would be an asset;

Payment modalities

The international consultant shall be paid in four instalments upon delivery and acceptance of the reports mentioned in Section VII Expected Deliverables

Application process

All applications should include the following:

1. Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability including a brief description of why the applicant considers him/herself as the most suitable candidate;
2. Personal information (Personal History Form/P11) including past experience in similar projects.
3. Financial proposal in the provided template (in USD, specifying the total lump sum amount as well as the requested amount of the fee per day).

Important notice

The applicant who has the statute of Government Official / Public Servant, prior to appointment will be asked to submit the following documentation:

• a no-objection letter in respect of the applicant received from the government, and;
• the applicant is certified in writing by the government to be on official leave without pay for the duration of the Individual Contract.

A retired government official is not considered in this case a government official, and as such, may be contracted.

The detailed Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice can be found at: http://www.undp.md/jobs/jobdetails/1731/