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National consultant to provide coaching for the shortlisted SMEs to develop the full applications in the IGS.

Vacancy Number: Pr15/01055

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	29 Jul 2015, 15:59 (GMT+2:00) 29 Jul 2015, 15:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	04 Aug 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	10 Aug 2015
Reference to the project:	Innovative Business for Local Development
Expected Duration of Assignment:	up to 14 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted by pressing the "Apply Now" button no later than August 03, 2015. 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

Mr. Dumitru Vasilescu.

Background

One of the key components of the Project is to develop, implement and evaluate impact of an matching grants scheme for SMEs. Such Scheme will permit for the provision, on a competitive basis, of small matching grants to SMEs to implement innovative projects. The Scheme should serve as a pilot intervention, based on the assumption that both central and local authorities will strongly support and gain from the benefits of promoting innovations for more intense and innovative entrepreneurship.

The main objectives of the Scheme is to: (i) stimulate development of innovations within Moldovan business environment by providing financing for market-oriented development of new or improved products, services and technologies with high commercialization potential; and (ii) pilot an  innovation support mechanism and provide insights, lessons learned and best practices for future governmental innovation-support programs.

The detailed description of the scheme is available in the Baseline Study conducted by a team of external consultants and already validated with the Ministry of Economy. Such description contains detailed information on the eligibility of SMEs, amount of the matching grant, application and selection procedures, among others. 

Scope of work

The scope of the assignment is to support the shortlisted SMEs that pass the phase 1 of the competition in the IGS to develop full-fledged applications under stage 2 of the process. Details about IGS are publicly available at http://tenders.undp.md/tenders/1040/. The consultant shall undertake the following steps: (a) revise the concept applications shortlisted to enter stage 2 of the competition; (b) prepare, plan and implement a pre-bidding meeting with shortlisted candidates to explain the full-application guidelines and toolkit; (c) bilaterally support SMEs to come up in deadline with full-fledged applications to the IGS through organizing bilateral coaching sessions with shortlisted SMEs. In doing so, the consultant will ensure impartial consultations and coaching to the SMEs in the most critical areas related to the development of the full application, in particular: (a)  writing a project proposal and financial plan development, (b) innovative marketing and possible sales techniques, (c) market research and analysis of the export channels and opportunities, (d) technological challenges in key sectors and segments within which the applications may fall into, (e) innovative management of the key internal business processes, in particular HR and labour productivity, among others. 

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

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in Development Economics, Business and Administration or other relevant fields;

Experience:

• At least 3 years of proven analytical and report writing skills in such areas as: local economic development, innovations in business and SME development;
• At least 3 years of progressive experience in consultancy for SME development at national level;

Competencies:

• Experience in evaluation of project proposals in the field of broad innovations into SMEs, as defined by OECD, is a strong advantage;
• In-depth 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. Adherence to UN’s values and ethical standards.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English, Russian and Romanian is mandatory. 

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);
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 instalments 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.