Background

Albania is a middle-income country that over the past two and half decades has made a significant stride in establishing a consolidated market economy. Due to strong growth performance (annual growth rate at 6%), Albania grew from the poorest nation in Europe in the early 1990s to the status of middle-income country in 2008. Despite the growth trend, the structure of the country’s economy is dominated by small enterprises (95%), which even if substantially contributing in terms of both economic growth and employment, have limited potential for job creation. With a narrow export and production base, and limited innovation capacities, the competitiveness of Albania’s economy is weak. The Albanian Government has committed to transforming the economy from an import-dependent, consumption-based, and informal economy, to one that is based on sustainable job-creation and increased productivity. As such, it has largely recognized the need to systematically address employment by re-orienting the vocational education and training system towards labour market needs and modernizing and extending the outreach of employment services.

UNDP has been actively supporting the Albanian government in its policy reform processes with the initiatives of its Economic Growth and Employment Programme. The “Skills Development for Employment (SD4E) programme” is the UNDP flagship initiative on employment promotion, which supports the Government of Albania in the national VET and Employment reform through a comprehensive approach of institutional capacity building on a macro/policy level, enabling key actors (MoFE, NES/NAES and NAVETQ) to deliver coordinated and demand-driven services.  Complementary to that, UNDP has recently launched a new intervention specifically targeting vulnerable youth in the Northern, economically most depressed region of the Country, “Support to Employment and Social Services for Vulnerable Youth and Women in Northern Albania”. The initiative works to improve employability and strengthen support provided to young inhabitants of municipalities where the lack of decent jobs too often pushes them to migrate abroad, or even fall into organised crime.

To support the UNDP Economic Growth and Employment programme team during the implementation of the activities of these projects and the securing financing for additional projects, UNDP seeks to contract a consultant. The consultant will support the development of new initiatives of UNDP on employment promotion, including draft of project proposals and reporting documents. S/he will provide assistance to the Programme Specialist in the preparation of programmatic document related to UNDP’s presence in Albania under the employment portfolio.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the UNDP Programme Specialist, the main duties and responsibilities of the junior analyst include the following:

• In collaboration with the MoEF, the National Employment Services, and all other relevant institutions, assess and report progress made throughout 2018 against (i) the targets and measures of the NESS 2020, as well as (ii) the performance indicators for the employment and skills sector and (iii) draft the relevant report.
• Conduct an evaluation of the current employment situation of youth and vulnerable people in Northern Albania and provide recommendation for delivery of integrated actions to support them.
• In close collaboration with the local institutions, such as municipalities, employment and social services, and VET providers, the consultant is expected to provide an evaluation of (i) the current offer of vocational trainings in the target area, with a focus on entrepreneurial programmes; (ii) the operate of Security Councils in identify and address issues of youth at risks of social exclusion; (iii) the capacity of local institutions to operate in concert to offer integrated case management services; (iv) access to justice for women, girls, and vulnerable persons. Policy recommendations will be provided at each one of these levels, together with a roadmap of actions to be implemented in this specific scenario.
• Undertake research of employment and social policies, programmes and policy assessment in both Albania and other high-performing countries, mainly among the European member states, for promoting sustainable, decent and inclusive employment for all, including persons with disabilities and minority groups, such as Roma and Egyptians.
• Contribute to the project’ dissemination by drafting policy briefs, technical notes, brief texts, website contents, blog posts, or other publication;
• Draft, prepare, review and format documents related to the project, including project’s progress reports, Requests for Proposals and Terms of References, follow the recruitment process of and supervise external expertise when required by the project, and conduct first appraisal of deliverables;
• Conduct research on new project ideas, analysis of the socio-economics context, select successful examples that could possibly be adapted to the Albanian reality and contribute to shaping new interventions of UNDP’s action in Albania;
• Coordinate the contribution of projects’ partners, including relevant Ministries, local government, international donors, external experts, civil society organizations; assistance in the dialogue and discussions with partners; support in coordinating/organizing workshops, conferences and other specific initiatives on UNDP’s presence in Albania and related reporting.

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Programme Specialist and Programme Coordinator and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and all other relevant institutions, the consultant will be supplied and supported by the project team with all the necessary information, progress reports, analysis and other relevant documents. Main deliverables include:

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

Core Competencies:

• Communication - Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Planning & Organizing – Develops clear goals in line with agreed strategies, identifies priorities, foresees risks and makes allowances accordingly.
• Organizational Awareness - Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Teamwork - Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Accountability – Takes ownership of all responsibilities and delivers outputs in accordance with agreed time, cost and quality standards.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and expertise of data collection techniques and tools, and familiarity with employment promotion, labour market analysis and policy assessment;
• Strong communication and drafting skills (written, spoken, composing, presentation);
• Good skills in analysis of education and training, and/or labour market and skills development policies, and system monitoring for reform process;
• Substantive knowledge of employment situation and VET system in Albania;
• Sound understanding of the European policy framework in education, training and employment, tools and approaches, as well as of pre-accession instruments and procedures;
• Political and cultural sensitivity and commitment to UNDP’s development objectives in the country.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree in economics, social sciences or in international development, education, or another relevant field is required;

Work Experience

• Minimum three years of professional experience in the employment promotion and skills development, preferable acquired within international organizations;
• Possess significant experience in international cooperation and development projects, including in the Western Balkans region;
• Possess significant experience in leading similar assignments for large international donor funded projects in the areas of employment and vocational education and training;
• Prior experience in conducting assessment and review in collaboration with National Ministries of institutions;
• A good understanding of the VET system and labour market in the Albanian / regional context would be highly desirable;
• Previous experience/familiarity with UNDP is desirable.

Language

• Full working knowledge of English and excellent report-writing skills are essential.

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would consider 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: Post-graduate degree in in economics, social sciences or in international development, education, or another relevant field – max 10 points

Criteria B:  Minimum 3 years of professional experience in the employment promotion and skills development, preferable acquired within international organizations – max 10 points

Criteria C: Possess significant experience in international cooperation and development projects, including in the Western Balkans region, and in leading similar assignments for large international donor funded projects in the areas of employment and vocational education and training – max 20 points

Criteria D: Prior experience in conducting assessment and review in collaboration with National Ministries of institutions and a good understanding of the VET system and labour market in the Albanian / regional context; – max 20 points

Criteria E:  Previous experience/familiarity with UNDP; full working knowledge of English and report-writing skills – max 10 points

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max 30 points

he application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...http://www.un.org.al/doc/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Letter%20to%20UNDP.docx
• Latest personal CV, including past experience from similar projects or completed and signed UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SC) and Individual Contracts (IC) – Blank form Download here.
• Financial Proposal in USD that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template.  If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 
• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

PLEASE NOTE THAT INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR FURTHER EVALUATION 

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Merge your CV or P11, 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.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process

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.