Background

Mongolia has a young population with nearly one in three classified as youth, that is between 15 and 34 years. A significant challenge facing many of these young people is income generation. With the recent economic crises resulting in the fourth largest bailout package in (IMF) history (based on GDP), youth unemployment is nearly 21% (15-24 years, 2016), poverty increased by 37% within two years (2016), and the school-to-work transition for urban Mongolians is up to 2.9 years. Within and outside Mongolia, entrepreneurship is being pursued by many as a means of addressing such challenges and advancing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whilst there is a vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Mongolia, many of the projects and activities use international models often with minimal contextualization and results can be slow to have significant impact.

Since mid-2017, UNDP Mongolia has been undertaking activities to understand the entrepreneurial mindset of young Mongolians. The baseline study used the “General Enterprising Tendencies” (GET2) test, to measure the enterprising tendencies of young people in Mongolia. The five enterprising tendencies measured by the GET2 test are: “need for achievement”, “need for autonomy”, “creative tendency”, “drive and determination” and “calculated risk-taking”.  Obtaining a representative sample from youth across the country, several important characteristics were identified. The average overall score of the enterprising tendencies was low to medium. The ”need for autonomy” was the lowest scoring factor and “creative tendency” was the highest. Nine out of ten participants are optimistic about their future earning potential. However, nearly one in three agree that within their peers, new ideas are seldom implemented. To complement the digital test, a series of focus groups were held in Ulaanbaatar, where the experience of young Mongolians who identify as an entrepreneur were explored and mapped. This provided essential insights into the barriers facing many young people striving to pursue entrepreneurship in Mongolia.

This work has highlighted the need to support the development of enterprising tendencies and skills in Mongolian youth. Approaching youth income generation through an enterprising lens as opposed to a purely entrepreneurial one, offers an opportunity to address several SDGs and challenges facing young people simultaneously. Improving the enterprising tendencies, skills, behaviors and activities of young Mongolians, can increase income generation choices. Whilst supporting those who pursue self-employment, it also enables those who become employees to be more successful in getting things done and overcoming challenges. Similarly, the five enterprising tendencies are essential in active citizens who can meet their own needs and create sustainable, resilient communities.

During the same period, the Industrial Development and Innovation Agency of Capital City (Ulaanbaatar), established and opened an Innovation Hub, branded #Hub. The objective of the hub is to “Develop new ideas and innovation based startup businesses and build an innovation eco-system in Ulaanbaatar”, which it has identified as “a complex area for youth development”. It plans to do this through four pillars:

1. #hub co-working
2. #hub labs
3. #hub incubator
4. #hub events

In delivering on these four pillars, the #Hub team plans to create and deliver workshops, toolkits and activities designed to improve the understanding, capacity and skills of young people in relation to innovation and entrepreneurship. These activities are aiming to increase the number and success of enterprising activities initiated by young people, as well as diversifying the profile of young people engaging with such activities.

This provides a unique opportunity for Ulaanbaatar City and UNDP in Mongolia to come together in partnership to position #Hub as a Youth Enterprising Lab. By combining innovation and experimentation with well-established tools and methods, this partnership offers an opportunity to drive a transformation in the way entrepreneurship is used in addressing development challenges.

As the primary implementing partner, UNDP in Mongolia is seeking an Enterprise Education Specialist to contribute to the design, delivery and reporting of activities within the Activated2030: A Youth Enterprising Lab project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives and scope of work

Under the general supervision and guidance of the project focal point at the UNDP Country Office, the Enterprise Education Specialist will use their international experience in the field of enterprise education, to guide the design, development and testing of an ‘Activation Centre’ and an ‘Enterprising Development Program’. The Enterprise Education Specialist will also support the Mongolia based team in the collection and reporting of data and results. The primary role of the Enterprise Education Specialist will be to guide the design and delivery of these activities including supporting and coaching the Mongolia based team, including youth facilitators.

The ‘Activation Centre’ is expected to be a space within the Ulaanbaatar Innovation Hub (#Hub) where all youth are welcomed to explore topics related to enterprising activities. This may include information on innovation and entrepreneurship in general, training, activities and events, employment services, and volunteering opportunities. It is expected the space, services provided, and delivery mechanisms be designed by Mongolian youth through the application of ‘Design Thinking’. The Enterprise Education Specialist will lead the planning and development of activities to facilitate this, most likely in the form of design workshops, prototype development and testing. The facilitation of the process will be undertaken by young Mongolian’s to maximise youth empowerment and peer to peer exchange. The Enterprise Education Specialist will be responsible for coaching the youth facilitators to ensure delivery is consistent with the ‘Enterprise Education Pedagogy’. Much of this work will be undertaken remotely with one five-day mission to Ulaanbaatar planned. A national Youth Innovation Specialist will be contracted to work alongside the Enterprise Education Specialist in the design and development of the Activation Centre. In addition, a Behavioural Scientist will be contracted to enable Behavioural Insight Methodologies to be incorporated in the design, development and operation of the centre.

The ‘Enterprising Development Program’ is aiming to improve the enterprising capabilities of participants (Mongolian youth). It is anticipated the program will be held over four months and consist of a monthly micro class, a monthly progress meeting and offline activities. It is anticipated 3 cohorts of up to 12 participants each will be recruited for each of the 2 iterations. The first will run from May to August and the second from September to December. It is expected participants will form small groups of approximately 4 people and work through a series of activities. Whilst the activities will be designed to improve the enterprising capabilities of participants, they will enable participants to generate possible solutions to development challenges. As human centred design is at the core of the ‘Activated2030’ project, the first cohort will design the first iteration of the ‘Enterprising Development Program’. This will then be trialled on the second cohort. The second cohort will work on generating ideas and possibly developing basic prototypes of solutions to challenges the Industrial Development and Innovation Agency of the Capital City (Ulaanbaatar) is seeking to address, such as air pollution, waste management, traffic congestion etc. The main responsibility of the Enterprise Education Specialist is to lead the Mongolia based team in the development of the program. This includes the support and coaching of young Mongolian facilitators to ensure it is delivered using the Enterprise Education Pedagogy.

Whilst a national Monitoring Specialist will be contracted to manage the monitoring of activities, collection of data and preparation of reports. The Enterprise Education Specialist is expected to contribute to these activities.

1. Duties and responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of the ‘Activation Centre’ in collaboration with a national Youth Innovation Specialist and an international Behavioral Scientist.  
• Lead the design and development of the ‘Enterprising Development Program’ (including program resources) aiming to improve the enterprising capabilities of participants and generate possible solutions to development challenges.
• Lead the coaching and development of Mongolian youth facilitators to enable them to facilitate workshops and meetings consistent with the Enterprise Education Pedagogy and using the Design Thinking methodology.
• Contribute to the preparation of project communications, including blog posts, stakeholder communications, workshops and project reporting.
• Perform other functions as may be assigned by the UNDP CO project focal point consistent with qualifications and experience.  

Expected deliverables

Institutional arrangement

The Enterprise Education Specialist will work in close collaboration with the UNDP Country Office and the project team. She/he should ensure a timely identification of potential risks and signal any delays in deliverables. The contract will be effective immediately upon signature by UNDP.

UNDP CO will have the following responsibilities: (i) Provide relevant documents; (ii) Discuss and agree on the assignment; and (iii) Monitor and evaluate the progress of the assignment. The contract and payments will be performance-based and regularly assessed by the UNDP Country Office focal point.  Payments are based on satisfactory completion of deliverables rather than days of work. All reference to number of days in this ToR are for guidance only, payments will be made based on deliverables and their final endorsement by UNDP.

The present ToR may be subject to modification, without changing the overall objective and the scope of work, on mutual consultations. UNDP will hold the copyright of the assignment deliverables.

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.

Duration of work: approximately 3 days per month over 9 months plus 3, 5 day missions to Ulaanbaatar

Competencies

Education:

• University degree in education, business, commerce, entrepreneurship or a related field, or a University degree in another field combined with highly relevant work experience.
• Postgraduate degree in relevant field is an asset.

Experience:

• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience in designing and delivering activities aimed at increasing the enterprising capabilities of young adults (15-34 year olds);
• Experience using knowledge of the behavioural traits of entrepreneurs and/or intrapreneurs in program and activity design is an asset;
• Experience working on enterprise education projects in a developing economy context is an asset;
• Demonstrated experience using research results to inform project design and implementation;
• Demonstrated experience of communicating research results using various methods and to diverse audiences;
• Demonstrated experience of working on multidisciplinary and multicultural projects;

Competencies:

• Excellent written and verbal English language skills are essential;
• Highly organized person, sets priorities, produces quality outputs, meets deadlines and manages time efficiently;
• Ability to present complex issues in simple and clear manner;
• Ability to think out-of-the-box and works toward creative solutions by analyzing problems carefully;
• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Shares knowledge and is willing to provide support to others who request advice or help;
• Works well in a team to advance the priorities of this project and UNDP as a whole;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality, age sensitivity and adaptability, and is committed to UNDP gender equality strategy; and
• Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassments.

Required Skills and Experience

The following documents should be included:

1. Letter of Confirmation of Interest: to conduct the assignment;
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed work plan and methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment. 
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs in USD. 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Selection criteria uses a Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications will be weighted to a maximum of 70%, comprising of the evaluation of the CV/P11, the methodology and workplan proposed and combined with the price offer which will be weighted to a max of 30%.

Shortlisted candidates may be requested to participate in an interview.