Legal and procedural consultant in local procurement procedures

Project: MA IMPLIC – Project on Civic Engagement in Local Governance, phase II
Task refers to MA IMPLIC Output 2: LPA groups produce models for joint public service delivery which are available for replication

Initial contract duration:                       April 2024 – December 2024

Initially expected workload:                up to 23 working days

1. BACKGROUND

The Project on civic engagement in local governance “MA IMPLIC” (Phase 2: November 2023 – October 2027) aims at ensuring that the rural population of Moldova has equitable access to quality public service provision and at supporting the government of Moldova in the implementation of the local government reform. The project is implemented by Skat Consulting Ltd., a Swiss consulting firm, and is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Skat Consulting Ltd, and its project implementation unit, a Moldovan-registered non-profit organization, implement donor-financed projects for a period of more than 10 years in Moldova already.

The project supports project partners at local and national levels. National activities support government institutions in implementing Public Administration Reform, and here especially the Local Government reform. At the local level, the project supports capacity development, civic engagement, and improvement of public service infrastructure in rural communities. In the 2^nd phase, Ma Implic aims to support groups (“clusters”) of rural LPAs which will jointly deliver better public services and improve governance processes.

Phase 2 of the MA IMPLIC Project will consolidate the results obtained in Phase I but will also broaden the area of interventions by providing support for LPAs in executing several functions assigned to them. Thus, in addition to improving communal services, the project will contribute to the development of other public services, such as administrative public services or public services for local and/or regional economic development.  

At the local level, the project will support ca 10 groups of partner communities in the development of Service Improvement Plans (SIP). The SIPs will be developed in the 2^nd half of 2024 (this process may extend until early 2025). The SIPs outline a complex of activities comprising procurement of equipment/ works, community engagement (i.e., service user relations), O&M plans for improving the performance of the Service Provider, financial aspects (tariff calculation and collection, as well as acquisition of other sources of financing for further investments) and capacity development measures for LPA staff and personnel of the service provider organisations.  The SIPs will be adopted by the respective local councils. The scope of activities outlined in the SIP is not limited to activities which are related to, or financed by the MA IMPLIC grants.

Following the adoption of the SIP by the local councils, the project will sign Grant Agreements with each of these groups of partner LPA. The partner LPA groups will receive a grant in the amount of up to 250,000 CHF. The implementation of the grant (i.e. the procurement) will be done by the LPA, with the support of the project. The procurement procedure shall be done in accordance with SDC procurement rules which is provided in art. 5 Exceptions, let. m: “according to the specific procedure of an international organization” of Law 131/2015. We must assume that partner LPA groups will be not very familiar with this procedure which requires different procedures than the standard public procurement procedure rules of the Republic of Moldova. Support to the LPA groups in the application of this procedure in practice will therefore be crucially important to ensure LPA ownership and accurate implementation of the procedures.

2. SCOPE OF WORK

The overall objective of the work of the Consultant will be to assist both the Grant and Procurement Manager (GPM) of MA IMPLIC project and the partner LPA groups in the legal and procedural aspects of preparing and implementing the procurement process.

Specifically, the Consultant shall carry out the following tasks:

1. To revise and approve the (project developed) Red Flag Tool on public procurements at local level;
2. To advise the project on various procurement issues like drafting the procurement guide including templates, the grant agreement etc.
3. Support the LPA groups in understanding, applying and communicating with other official bodies the specific procurement rules for the tender. This includes an assessment of individual needs for such support, presentations / trainings to larger groups of LPAs as well as individual consultancy to specific LPA.
4. The consultant is not expected to prepare the procurement documentation nor to conduct the procurements – this is the responsibility of the LPA and ultimate quality control of these documents rests with the project! However, upon need/request, the consultant will provide feedback and suggestions on the prepared procurement documentation.

3. Timeline and deliverables

4. QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS REQUIRED

5. APPLICATIONS

Interested individuals are expected to apply by sending the following information to info@int.skat.ch quoting Legal and procedural consultant in local procurement procedures in the subject line of the e-mail:

• Curriculum Vitae in English language;
• Motivational letter in English language;
• Financial Proposal

Applications must reach us no later than 31 March 2024. The candidates will be evaluated on the basis of the evaluation scale from 1 to 10  considering their qualifications and skills.

Interviews with shortlisted candidates will be held starting with 02 April 2024.