UNDP Jobs - 90196- National Consultants for providing entrepreneurshi

National Consultants for providing entrepreneurship training and business plan development

Location :

Various cities in the country, Republic of North Macedonia

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

25-Feb-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

12 months with possibility for extension of up to 36 months

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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP is the development arm of the United Nations system, with offices in 180 countries. Globally, the organization employs 17,000 people and manages a budget of USD 5 billion each year.

The UNDP office in Skopje employs a team of 65 and currently manages a portfolio of projects in environmental protection, good governance and social inclusion worth USD 17 million per year.

UNDP Project “Creating job opportunities for all” implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Employment Service Agency aims at supporting the effective implementation of the National Operation Plan (OP) on Active Employment Programmes and Measures, and Labour Market Services for 2019/2020. More specifically, the project shall provide in 2020 technical and implementation support to the delivery of around 1600 entrepreneurship trainings, developing up to 60 business plans for candidates belonging to the target group persons with disabilities and in addition provide mentoring services to newly created businesses form pre-determined categories (people with disabilities, Roma, and vulnerable women at risk of social exclusion).

These Terms of reference are related to the needs of the project to engage experienced Macedonian and Albanian speaking consultants who will provide entrepreneurship trainings and development of business plans to candidates under the Self-employment programme for people with disabilities, operating in different municipalities within the country. In order to provide these services, UNDP will sign IC Framework agreements with experienced consultants who will be based across the country.

Each assignment will consist of:
1. training in duration of 4 (four) days delivered, including evaluation of the business idea and marketing plan upon completion of the training

2. development of up to 6 (six) business plans in the period of 2 weeks, applicable only for trainees covered under the Self Employment programme for people with disabilities.

* The contract does not form a financial obligation or commitment from UNDP at the time the IC is signed, and that such an agreement is non-exclusive (i.e., it does not prohibit UNDP from entering into another such framework agreement with another individual or entity). Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of IC, through the agreed triggering document that signals commencement of a given engagement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives

The objective of the assignment is to:

Provide training for entrepreneurship and business skills development to candidates of the Self-employment programme including the target group of persons with disabilities;
Prepare business plans for selected candidates based on the developed business idea only for trainees belonging to the target group - persons with disabilities.

The selected trainers will become part/members of the UNDP Roster (pool) of consultants who will be engaged and contracted upon given assignments by the UNDP.

Tasks (Scope of Work)

Based on the above-described objectives of the assignments, the following tasks shall be performed:

1.To provide training for entrepreneurship to candidates

The training programme shall help the candidates to improve their entrepreneurial skills to better assess the business environment, acquire basic knowledge for developing and using marketing plan, develop skills for better business planning in order to ensure that they are better prepared to start their own business. The training programme shall encompass the following specific areas:

Concept of entrepreneurship – basic principles of entrepreneurship, entrepreneur’s characteristics, the importance of entrepreneurship in the market economy etc.;
Personal skills and business planning tools – introduction and development of entrepreneurial competencies, identification of personal entrepreneurial characteristics, SWOT analysis, development of own business idea, etc.;
Marketing plan – concept, techniques for development of marketing plan, introduction to internet marketing, its benefits and promotion of the business, etc.;
Organization of work and selection of legal entity – production/service plan, organization and business management, selection of the most appropriate legal entity, energy efficiency, etc.;
Business operations – basic knowledge for the operational costs and profitability, initial investments for business start-ups, financial planning, sales techniques and forecast of the company income, etc.

The training programme shall be provided by the UNDP. The programme is based on practical skills and examples so that trainees (beneficiaries) could gain substantive understanding of the entrepreneurship and market principals, so to be equipped with knowledge that will enable them to finalize the training with a developed Business Idea and a Marketing Plan.

Training sessions shall envisage work in groups of up to 25 trainees. For each training session that shall include more than 10 participants, two trainers will be engaged to deliver the training. Training programme modules shall be organized in a way that each theoretical session is followed with a practical exercise, which shall help the participants to complete that particular aspect in the Business idea template.

Training participants shall obtain four (4) day training sessions in a period of one week or total 30 training classes, i.e. each day should consist of seven and a half (7.5) effective learning classes 45 minutes long. Successful completion of the training will be considered only for trainees with minimum 80% attendance record of the total number of envisaged training classes.

The trainer shall evaluate the developed business ideas and marketing plan after the training, using evaluation criteria previously prepared by UNDP and its project partners. The evaluation of the business idea and marketing plan shall be conducted in line with the evaluation criteria by the team of trainers at the end of each training together with the focal points from the Employment Centers and shall be completed within one day.

Trainers are expected to come with a lap top computer whereas LCD projector and other materials shall be provided by UNDP and/or ESA.

2. Preparation of business plan based on the developed business idea (only for trainees identified as people with disabilities)

Upon successful completion of the entrepreneurship training and selected business idea, the trainer(s) will be given a period of 7-15 working days to prepare up to 6 business plan(s) in communication and coordination with their trainees and submit them for evaluation. During this period, the trainers shall conduct at least one visit to the trainees’ future business premises as part of the business assessment process and data gathering necessary for the preparation of a good quality business plan. The templates of business plans and supporting materials to be used will be provided by UNDP.

Deliverables

Expected deliverables from the assignment are:

Delivered training workshops with duration of 4 days each, with up to 25 trainees per group, within timeframe (to be agreed upon the approval of work plan);
if the group includes more than 10 trainees, the training shall be delivered by a team composed of 2 (two) trainers;
Evaluated developed Business Ideas and Marketing Plan after training, using evaluation criteria previously provided by UNDP. The evaluation of the business idea and marketing plan shall be conducted upon completion of the training. The evaluation of the Business Ideas shall be conducted in cooperation with the focal points from the Employment Centers and shall be completed within a one-day period;
Prepare business plans (only for trainees with disabilities) for each selected candidate including a recommendation for the preparedness of the candidate to start a business;
Individual Assessment Report for each candidate who will go through the process of training and business plan development (only for people with disabilities). The consultant shall identify the challenges and barriers that the persons with disabilities are and will face in the future business activity, propose how to overcome them and identify beneficiary’s needs for additional types of support. This report shall be submitted together with the business plan and shall include a recommendation for the preparedness of the candidate to start a business and further continuation in the programme. The template of the Individual Assessment Report will be provided by the UNDP.

Duration of assignment

Each assignment will consist of 4-day training sessions in the period of two consecutive weeks.

In cases where the trainees are identified as persons with disabilities, the consultant will have maximum of two weeks for the preparation of up to 6 business plans for candidates depending on the size of the group.

Payment and Payment Schedule

The daily fee is pre-established in amount of 6,000.- MKD per delivered training day including evaluation of developed business ideas.

The price for development of business plan for the measure Self Employment of people with disability, will be 2,000.- MKD per completed and delivered business plan including personal recommendation and Individual Assessment Report.

The payment will be done 100% upon submission of deliverables stated above.

In addition to the consultancy fee, UNDP might cover accommodation and travel expenses only to the consultants that will have to travel more than 50 km away from their place of residence.

In cases where travel and accommodation are involved, UNDP will request via e-mail the trainers to provide their offers clearly indicating the travel itinerary and per diem for accommodation. In case of authorized overnight stay, the Individual contractor will be paid per diem as per her/his offer for accommodation. The per diem must not exceed UNDP established Daily Subsidy Allowance for that location. In addition, the trainers will be paid for travel costs applying the reimbursement rate of 28 cents ($0.28 USD) per km. The travel cost will be paid in MKD, in accordance with the official UN exchange rate calculated on the day of payment.

In case where both trainers will be carrying out the training jointly as a team, and have the same travel itinerary, the travel cost will be paid only to one trainer or equally shared to both trainers. If this option is not acceptable, the reimbursement rate for travel for each trainer will be calculated at the price of the bus ticket.

The individual consultant will need to submit standard UNDP F-10 form for reimbursement of above-mentioned expenses.

Competencies

Excellent communications and facilitation skills;
Excellent computer skills, ability to use information technology as a tool and resource;
Excellent analytical skills.

Required Skills and Experience

The trainer engaged to undertake the assignment must fulfil the following minimum requirements:

At least University Degree, MA and PhD will be considered as an asset;
At least 1 years of experience in delivering similar trainings, in different training programs in the areas of: entrepreneurship, business skills development, business mentorship, start-up businesses, development of business idea/plan and evaluation;
At least 5 conducted trainings (one or more days duration) within the last five years in the field of entrepreneurship, business skills development, start-up businesses, development of business idea/plan and evaluation for larger group of trainees (references shall be provided in the CV);
Proven experience in preparation of business plans; and/or practical business experience in private company/ies.

If any of the above listed minimum requirement are not met by any trainer, the evaluation grid shall not be scored and will lead towards disqualification of the proposal.

Language Requirements

Language proficiency in both written and oral Macedonian, and/or Albanian Language for the Albanian speaking trainers.

Note: Government officials shall not be hired by UNDP under Contract for professional services, unless the consultant submits along with the application documents: (i) no objection letter in respect of the individual issued from the Government/employer, and; (ii) written confirmation by the Government certifying that the individual is to be on official leave without pay (SLWOP) for the duration of the Contract for professional services.

Application procedure

Interested individual consultants must submit the documents/information listed below to demonstrate their qualifications. The system will allow only one attachment. Therefore please upload all required documents as one file:

A cover letter stating an expression of interest;
Most updated CV and/or Personal History Form (P11);
Reference list of at least 5 conducted multiple days trainings or similar work/projects within the last 5 (five) years and contact details of the clients as per Annex 1 - Template List of conducted trainings to be fulfilled by the trainer;
At least 2 references of positive previous performance related to similar assignment.

Terms and Conditions

The Contractor will be expected to perform the tasks as stated under the item 3 and 4 above;
The financial compensation for the consultancy services will be according to the UNDP price list indicated in the item 6 above.
The maximum threshold that individual consultant could be paid under one-year agreement is limited to 10,000.- USD.
The selected candidates will be issued with UNDP IC Framework agreement (sample attached). The duration of the initial agreement will be for one year with a possibility for extension of up to three years.
The contract does not form a financial obligation or commitment from UNDP at the time the IC is signed, and that such an agreement is non-exclusive (i.e., it does not prohibit UNDP from entering into another such framework agreement with another individual or entity). Financial commitments will only be established each time the services are requested within the scope of IC, through the agreed triggering document that signals commencement of a given engagement.

Evaluation of Applications

Applicants will be evaluated against qualifications and specific technical experience set bellow.

At least University Degree, MA and PhD will be considered as an asset;
At least 1 years of experience in delivering similar trainings, in different training programs in the areas of: entrepreneurship, business skills development, business mentorship, start-up businesses, development of business idea/plan and evaluation;
At least 5 conducted trainings (one or more days duration) within the last five years in the field of entrepreneurship, business skills development, start-up businesses, development of business idea/plan and evaluation for larger group of trainees (references shall be provided in the CV);
Proven experience in preparation of business plans and/or practical business experience in private company/ies;
Language proficiency in both written and oral Macedonian, and/or Albanian Language for the Albanian speaking trainers.
Reference list of at least 5 conducted multiple days trainings or similar work/projects within the last 5 (five) years and contact details of the clients as per Annex 1 - Template List of conducted trainings to be fulfilled by the trainer
At least 2 references of positive previous performance related to similar assignment.

All applicants meeting the established criteria will be contracted through a framework agreement.