Republic of Moldova

National Consultant to support the transfer of the soft-skills development methodology to National Employment Agency and specialists of the Youth-centered Skills Observatory and Experimentation Lab

Vacancy Number: Pr17/01544

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	25 May 2017, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Jun 2017
Reference to the project:	Innovative Business for Local Development
Expected Duration of Assignment:	June – November 2017, up to 44 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted by by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than May 25, 2017. 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: Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Terms of Reference Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Contacts:

Mr. Dumitru Vasilescu.

Background

Unemployment is one of the most pressing socio-economic issues in the Republic of Moldova. The national labor market is a complex system that is witnessing dramatic challenges, related to a low number of vacancies compared to the existing demand in jobs on the market, significant skills mismatch, low labor productivity, regional disparities, discriminatory practices faced by many vulnerable groups etc. Public employment service modernization is slow and available public resources are too scarce and often spent inefficiently. Against such a background, the Government of the Republic of Moldova, with the support of UNDP Moldova and other development partners, is drafting the new Employment Strategy that is trying to put employment on top of the national development agenda. At the same time, pilot projects and policy experiments could support incremental progress in implementing this new strategy, by helping to identify cost-efficient solutions through a rigorous impact assessment, and upscaling/replicating the most successful ones.

At the moment, the public employment service lacks a modern training curriculum able to qualitatively support speedy (re)employment, thus generating potential savings. Despite being very much needed, no soft skills trainings are provided. Career advisory services are under-developed leading offer to either under-utilization of skills or incapacity to access existing jobs.

During 2013-March 2017, UNDP implemented the network of career advisory centers/services at the national level that were promoting the employability of skilled unemployed through the development of their soft skills.  The experience of the UNDP centers shows that acquiring and applying the needed soft skills is conducive to increased employability results. The achieved employability target for the direct beneficiaries in UNDP career advisory centers stood on average at 70%.

Scope of work

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Project Manager, the consultant will assist the project team in the implementation of the RCT through transferring of the soft-skills development methodology to NEA and specialists of the Observatory. The support involves training content adjustment, delivery of the ToT to NEA and Observatory specialists and monitoring of the implementation of the modules by the selected National Employment Centres, both for the Pilot, as well as for the Trial phases of the RCT. In all the stages of the assignment, the consultant will continuously interact with UNDP Project Management, National Employment Agency, and the staff of the Observatory, ensuring a continuous flow of information and timely involvement of the Observatory staff in the activities related to the current assignment.

Requirements for experience

I. Education:

• University degree in Human Resources Management, Education, Communication, Psychology, Sociology or other field from Social Sciences. Master degree in the mentioned area/s is an advantage. Additional training and certification in preparation and delivery of trainings (or TOTs) and/or M&E would be an asset.

II. Experience and competencies:

•  At least three (3) years of progressively responsible experience is required at the national or international level in the field of career development, human resource training or management, communication, teaching or related fields;
• At least one (1) year of experience in developing and/or delivering trainings (or ToTs) on career development or other related fields;
• Practical experience in dealing with the local job market and/or supporting unemployed people access relevant employment is a strong asset;
• Previous experience in development assistance or related work for a donor organization, governmental institutions, NGO/think-tank or private sector / consulting firm is a strong advantage.

 III. Competencies:

• Proficient user of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, PPP, Prezi, etc).

IV. Language Requirements:

• Fluency in both oral and written Russian and Romanian. Knowledge of English is a strong advantage.

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 (LUMP SUM) in USD, specifying in a total requested amount per day, including all related costs, travel, phone calls etc.;
3. Personal CV or P11, 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 to join duty station, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

 Travel

All envisaged project related travels through Moldova shall be included in the financial offer. Up to 18 visits (round trip) to various National Employment Centres are to be undertaken by the consultant. An average price for public transportation shall be included in the financial offer and will be reimbursed by UNDP based on travel incurred. 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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