Background

Since 2017, Montenegro has significantly improved policy coordination and strategic planning in the context of the EU “fundamentals first” approach within EU Enlargement policy, good governance being an important segment of the Public Administration Reform (PAR). The European Commission Country Reports for Montenegro in 2019, 2020 and 2021 underlined significant progress in policy coordination and strategic planning framework, yet coordination with stakeholders for policy development needs to be enhanced. Furthermore, inclusive and evidence-based policy remain only partially ensured. Administrative data collection and its systematic use for policy and law-making needs to improve across the administration.

In this context, Secretariat General of the Government (SGG) will further focus on the quality check of strategic documents and reports on their Implementation, by way of implementing the relevant Decree and Methodology for strategic planning, and further exploring solutions necessary for optimal functioning of the strategic planning system of Government policies, for the sake of improving overall planning system and a more efficient EU integration of Montenegro. In that sense, more focus will be put on identifying best practices in coordinating strategic planning across ministries and positioning the existing Network of Civil Servants for Strategic Planning as a platform that gathers strategic planning practitioners. Both Network and its members should be more visible within their ministries and in the policy planning system in order to have an impact on strategic planning, effectively coordinate this task and accomplish their role as strategic focal points in planning processes.

In addition, there is a need to strengthen the capacities of individual ministries to fully comply with the Decree and the Methodology, since ministries often fail to see the linkages with the overarching strategies, as well as other sectoral and cross-sectoral policies and especially with the EU strategic framework. It is necessary to broaden the picture for the whole of government in terms of better alignment between policy development, EU accession obligations, IPA programming and planning of budget in the medium term. Moreover, the capacities in line ministries need structured and planned support and guidance in order to reach the necessary level of quality.

Through project “Strengthening capacities for the acceleration of EU accession of Montenegro II”, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the European Integration Office and SGG, an international expert will be engaged for exploring the possibilities for work of the Network, its agenda and help in raising its visibility in the strategic planning system. The general objective of this action is to assist, advise and support EU accession negotiations through strengthening the capacities of the Government of Montenegro in responding to the demands of the new phases of accession especially in areas of policy planning and coordination.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment:  

The objective of the assignment is to strengthen capacities of the Secretariat General of the Government of Montenegro and its Department for Coordination, Monitoring Alignment and Implementation of Strategies defining Public Policies, in promoting sustainable and coherent inter-institutional coordination on national level through engagement of international expert who will focus on EU policy planning, working with Network of Civil Servants for Strategic Planning and improving their visibility within the system, work with the SGG staff and senior civil servants and suggest possibilities for future cooperation. 

Job content: 

Under the supervision of the UNDP Project Manager, in close cooperation with the Assistant Secretary-General of the Government, the expert will perform the following tasks:

• Together with coordinator of Programme of Education for Civil Servants for Strategic Planning, design a series of workshops on strategic planning and development of strategies at the EU level – political and expert perspective in shaping EU policies (from an “initiative” to an actual EU strategy). The target audience – SGG team, the Strategic Planning Network, as well as senior officials in the ministries
• Hold a set of trainings/ workshops for Network members, SGG team in the Sector for Coordination of Strategies, senior officials from line ministries on specifically defined topics, EU accession requirements in the area of policy development and coordination, based on the above-mentioned fields of expertise;
• Prepare a short analysis on the results of the trainings/ workshops with recommendations for further steps that would help in obtaining practical skills for strategic planning and policy coordination within the ministries, Centre of Government and between the institutions.
• Develop guidelines for the alignment with the EU strategic framework 2021-2027 (what to take into account – MFF, European semester, key indicators and targets per EU sector policies)
• Prepare the final report on undertaken activities.

Deliverables:

Timing and reporting: The international consultant will be engaged in the period from 1 February – 30 June 2022. The consultant will be responsible to prepare the final report to the UNDP Programme Manager, and it should contain sufficient detail and information that would allow for the appraisal of the effectiveness to date of the assignment’s activities.

Time duration and travel: The consultant will be engaged under individual contract for total of 39 consultancy days, during the period 1 February – 30 June 2022. The consultant will work homebased and will be obliged to travel to Podgorica, Montenegro for three visits in total duration of 14 days. The travel costs and Daily Living Subsistence Allowance costs should be included in the lump sum figure.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Excellent communication skills, facility in working with teams and capacity to compose clear and readable narrative reports;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills;
• Excellent organizational and time management skills;
• Knowledge Management and Learning;
• Shares knowledge and experience; 
• Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills. 
• Ability to perform a variety of standard tasks related to Results Management, including collecting of documentation, data entering, preparation of revisions, filling, provision of information; 
• Ability to provide input to business processes re-engineering, implementation of new systems;
• Excellent inter-personal and communication skills; 
• Ability to work independently and in a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• University degree, preferably in social sciences (political science, international relations, economics, law); advanced degree would be considered an asset;
• Academic orientation towards EU policies and governance would be considered an asset.

Experience: 

• Minimum ten years of working experience in EU integration, Public Administration Reform and/or strategic planning, with at least five years of working experience working in the public administration on EU integration and/ or PAR processes.
• Proven experience in drafting strategic planning documents or policy papers;
• Proven experience in working in/with state institutions, junior and senior officials, civil servants;
• Proven experience in holding trainings and workshops, and good facilitation skills;
• Experience in working in/with the civil society is considered an asset;
• Experience of working within the EU accession processes is an asset and/or working with SIGMA
• Interest in major EU policy developments is an asset.

Languages:

• Fluency in Montenegrin language;
• Excellent command of spoken and written English language.

Other: 

• Computer literacy.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) 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% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
• Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by January 17, 2022 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at https://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".