Republic of Moldova

National consultant to participate to the evaluation of applications to the Innovation Challenge Scheme, supporting innovative business start-ups, under the Network of Career Development Centers in Moldova Project

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01433

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	31 Oct 2016, 11:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	07 Nov 2016, 10:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	07 Nov 2016
Reference to the project:	Innovative Entrepreneurship Phase II
Expected Duration of Assignment:	12 working days (November-December, 2016)
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted by by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than October 31, 2016. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: dumitru.vasilescu@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Dumitru Vasilescu.

Ms. Jana Midoni.

jana.midoni@undp.org

Background

The Network of Career Advisory Centers in the Republic of Moldova Project aims at promoting relevant employment and self-employment in Moldova through the development of soft skills of unemployed to develop and executive substantive individual job search and employment plans, as well as entrepreneurial skills of highly motivated beneficiaries to start-up new businesses at local level. In doing so, the Project is implementing two distinct but inter-linked components, i.e. employability and entrepreneurship.

As it regards the employment component, the SYSLAB methodology is applied. It includes trainings, simulations, individual councelling and other tools to develop the soft skills of skilled unemployed to search and get relevant employment, making best use of their skills, knowledge, academic background, previous work experiences, competencies and interests. It nevertheless includes a specific training module on generic business planning (BPS), that is stimulating creative thinking towards potential self-employment pathway.

As it regards the entrepreneurship component, the Project is implementing a tailored methodology that includes trainings and coaching for motivated beneficiaries. Such component is open towards potential beneficiaries with or without specific business ideas, with different levels of understanding of entrepreneurship and different skills. It aims to provide a company-style enabling environment for individual and group work that starts with theoretical trainings, combined with practical business and financial planning exercises, and coaching. It further permits access, on a competitive basis, to a seed-fund for matching support towards the initiation of new start-ups.

Both components are under implementation by a network of 5 Career Advisory centers located in Chisinau, Rezina, Balti, Comrat and Cahul, each having a dedicated team.

The seed-money fund

The seed-money fund is created jointly by UNDP Moldova, through the entrepreneurship component of the Network of Career Development Centres in Moldova Project and Starnet SRL, as part of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the mentioned parties. The Parties to the MoU will equally contribute to the implementation of the seed-money fund, both in terms of financial resources and knowledge. The overall goal of the fund is to pilot financial non-reimbursable support to direct beneficiaries in full-time groups in all Career Advisory Centers opened as part of the Project to spur innovative business start-up. More specifically, the fund will (a) complement the entrepreneurial training courses offered by staff in Career Advisory Centers, (b) will promote only business start-ups that have at least an innovative element as part of the business model and (c) will permit for scaling-up the intervention with additional support from private sector and the Project.

Key specific objectives of the seed-money fund are:

• Promote entrepreneurship spirit and support emerging entrepreneurs;
• Promote various forms of innovations in business start-ups;
• Promote creation of new decent jobs;
• Offer equal opportunities for men and women and various vulnerable groups to conduct a socially responsible innovative entrepreneurship.

Potential applicants to be considered for the financial support shall be direct and full-time beneficiaries in SYSLAB Centers, should have passed at least 10 (ten) out of 15 training modules on entrepreneurship as part of the teaching curriculum, should have a viable business model developed with support from SYSLAB staff and presented in full-time groups, and have innovative component as part of their business idea.

Social entrepreneurship

In addition, the Project runs a competition on supporting innovative social entrepreneurship development, as per the ICS here: http://www.undp.md/tenders//tnddetails2/1357/

Main objectives of the ICS to support social entrepreneurship are:

• to promote and stimulate social entrepreneurship for solving pressing societal challenges, including lack of jobs, job opportunities, income generation schemes, and similar.
• to stimulate development of innovations within Moldovan SMEs, local business associations, potential entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and expansion motivation, business incubators’ graduates, public-private partnerships, start-ups by providing financial awards for market-oriented new or improved products, services and technologies with high commercialization potential;
• to pilot and evaluate experiments by sourcing innovative solutions from private or public sector or mixt for tackling the unemployment phenomena through social entrepreneurship, by involving socially excluded groups or making for-profit ideas from private/public sector work for the benefit of socially marginalized or excluded groups.

Scope of work

The scope of the assignment is to support the Project in the selection of the best applications to both ICS competitions. For the ICS on innovative business start-ups, there are over 40 beneficiaries enrolled in the entrepreneurship groups of the Centers and who are planning their business start-up with support from the Centers. The Project expects that at least half of the beneficiaries will apply to the ICS.

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualification

• University Degree in business administration, economics, business law or other relevant fields;

Experience

• At least three (3) years of experience in consulting or facilitating business start-ups, including at the level of business incubators and/or start-up companies;
• At least two (2) years of experience in evaluation of project proposals and/or grants applications in various national programmes related to business development. Similar experience in the field of broad innovations into SMEs, as defined by OECD, is a strong advantage;

Competencies

• Strong analytical and report writing skills in such areas as: local economic development, innovations in business and business development;
• Knowledge of social entrepreneurship;
• Knowledge of the national innovations system in the Republic of Moldova or EU systems is a strong advantage;
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills;
• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status.

Language requirements

• Fluency in written and spoken Romanian or Russian. Knowledge of English would be an asset.

UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are equally encouraged to apply.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal: explaining why they are the most suitable for this position;
2. Financial proposal: in (USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days if other than foreseen).
3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and the contact details of at least 3 reference persons.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including fee, taxes, travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

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