| Overview :
To hire a number of consultants with specific expertise and experience in EU standards on public procurement, to provide support to the Public Procurement Office (hereinafter: the PPO) and the Republic Commission for Protection of Rights in Public Procurement Procedures of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter: the Commission) in legal harmonization with the European Union standards and practical implementation of EU directives in the field of public procurement.
Objective
To provide support to the PPO and the Commission in aligning the public procurement system with the EU legislative framework in the course of the EU integration process and preparing for the revision & amendment of the public procurement legislation.
Background Information
In the past decade, the Republic of Serbia has established a set of new institutions for overseeing the management of public finances. Their capacities have been gradually developed and they are in position today to unveil irregularities in the public finance system. The project will support institutions at central and local level in establishing mechanisms to prevent irregularities, by instilling a full system of checks and controls and improving enforcement capacities of the prosecution and judiciary in processing public finance related cases.
Key institutions recognized under the Strategy for Developing the Public Procurement System in Serbia (2011) in charge of public finance management are the Ministry of Finance, State Audit Institution, Public Procurement Office and the Commission. The project is conceived as a joint sector initiative of these institutions, along with the Judicial Academy targeting capacity development of judges and prosecutors and the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities for country-wide outreach. Such a sector initiative is designed to give a greater contribution to the impact of decreasing the misuse of public funds.
The present ToR is related to a component of the project implemented with and for the PPO and the Commission, which seeks to support the PPO and the Commission in implementing the newly adopted Law on Public Procurement and contribute to regular exchange of best practices in the region. The incumbent will support the PPO and the Commission in aligning with requirements presented in the EU public procurement directives and preparing for the revision & amendment of the public procurement legislation.
Description of Responsibilities
Scope of work
The experts will act as advisors, tasked to support the PPO and the Commission staff in their work related to overseeing public procurement system and to protection of rights in public procurement procedures, as well as to provide consultations to the PPO and the Commission senior management on legal harmonization with the European Union standards in the field of public procurement and EU Directives implementation practice within the scope of the EU negotiation process.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Design and conduct on the job training/workshops on complying with the requirements of the EU Directives on public procurement, as well as on the implementation practice;
- Provide advisory services and consultancies for selected staff of the PPO and the Commission;
- Conduct analysis/ research.
Per request, these activities will be conducted covering the selected topics from the following fields:
- Monitoring of the Public Procurement System;
- Data collection and reporting; Procurement planning;
- Interpretation of the provisions of the law;
- Professionalization in public procurement;
- Economic performance in public procurement;
- Misdemeanour procedures in public procurement;
- Anti-corruption and conflict of interest in public procurement;
- Legal remedies in the public procurement procedures;
- Filing the requests and delivery of decisions in protection of rights;
- Special and exclusive rights in classical and „utility“ sector;
- Public-private partnership and concessions;
- Special authorities in protection of rights in public procurement procedures;
- Administrative dispute against the decisions of the Republic Commission;
- Exemptions from applying the EU Directives;
- Other relevant cross cutting issues related to the implementation of the Public Procurement Law.
- During the assignments, the consultants shall closely cooperate with the PPO and the Commission management and personnel, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
Duties, responsibilities and key milestones:
The consultants are responsible for the following deliverables:
- Deliverable 1: Design and conduct on the job training/workshop as per request;
- Deliverable 2: Provide advisory services and consultancy as per request;
- Deliverable 3: Conduct an analysis/research as per request;
- Deliverable 4: Report produced upon completion of each activity.
All deliverables will have to be quality reviewed and approved by the UNDP Project Coordinator in consultation with the PPO/ Commission management. The consultant may be required to meet with UNDP Portfolio Manager and UNDP Governance Officer at the end of each activity for a de-brief.
Competencies:
- Consistently ensures timeliness and quality of project work.
- Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.
- Evidence of ability to express ideas clearly; to work independently and in teams.
- Ability to summarize and systematize complex information and identify priorities for follow up activities.
- Shares knowledge and experience.
- Focuses on results and responds positively to feedback.
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
- Demonstrates integrity by modelling ethical standards.
Qualifications:
- Master degree in the field of economics, law, business administration, organizational sciences or related field;
- Track record of professional experience in public procurement of minimum 8 years;
- Sound knowledge of requirements listed in and implementation of the public procurement directives and insight into their development;
- Broad understanding and knowledge of comparative experiences in EU accession negotiations of current and former accession countries and/or excellent knowledge of national institutional and legal framework and implementation practice in public procurement.
Language:
- For international experts: Fluency in English; ability to communicate in Serbian will be considered an asset;
- For national experts: Fluency in Serbian.
Application Procedure:
Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
- Letter of Interest containing the following information:
(i) Explaining why the candidate is the most suitable for the work
(ii) Provide a brief methodology on the approach to the work and how it will be conducted (max. 300 words);
- Updated and signed P11 (PDF format);
- Financial offer – The financial proposal shall specify professional fee per day;
- List e-mail contacts of three referees in P11 (section 26 & 29).
The above information should be included in the following documents:
Additional Information:
- Individual Contract (IC) will be applicable for individual consultants applying in their own capacity. If the applicant is employed by any legal entity, IC would be issued upon submission of Consent letter from the employer acknowledging the engagement with UNDP. Template of General Conditions on IC could be found on: http://www.undp.org.rs/download/ic/Confirmation.docx.
- Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) will be applicable for applicants employed by any legal entity. Template of RLA with General Terms and Conditions could be found on: http://www.undp.org.rs/download/RLA%20with%20General%20Terms%20and%20Conditions.doc. In the case of engagement of Civil servants under IC contract modality a no-objection letter should be provided by the Government entity. The ‘no-objection’ letter must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status (if applicable), and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any. If the previous is not applicable ‘leave-without-pay’ confirmation should be submitted.
Engagement of Government Officials and Employees
- Government Officials or Employees are civil servants of UN Member States. As such, if they will be engaged by UNDP under an IC which they will be signing in their individual capacity (i.e., engagement is not done through RLA signed by their Government employer), the following conditions must be met prior to the award of contract:
(i) A “No-objection” letter in respect of the individual is received from the Government employing him/her, and;
(ii) The individual must provide an official documentation from his/her employer formally certifying his or her status as being on “official leave without pay” for the duration of the IC.
The above requirements are also applicable to Government-owned and controlled enterprises and well as other semi/partially or fully owned Government entities, whether or not the Government ownership is of majority or minority status.
UNDP recognizes the possibility that there are situations when the Government entity employing the individual that UNDP wishes to engage is one that allows its employees to receive external short-term consultancy assignments (including but not limited to research institutions, state-owned colleges/universities, etc.), whereby a status of “on-leave-without-pay” is not required. Under such circumstance, the individual entering into an IC with UNDP must still provide a “No-objection” letter from the Government employing him/her. The “no objection” letter required under (i) above must also state that the employer formally certifies that their employees are allowed to receive short-term consultancy assignment from another entity without being on “leave-without-pay” status, and include any conditions and restrictions on granting such permission, if any. The said document may be obtained by, and put on record of, UNDP, in lieu of the document (ii) listed above.
Please note that you may upload your application documents at following the link: Home | UNDP. For more information on the application procedure please refer to the enclosed Procurement Notice.
When applying, please note that only files with PDF extensions are allowed, character limit must be maintained in respective fields and security code displayed on picture must be typed in appropriate field. In case one of these requirements is not met application will be unsuccessful and warning will be displayed on screen.
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