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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST For

Individual Consultant to Develop a Program Management Manual
for the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI)

(ACBF/REOI/027/24/HESPI/SALCA)

30 July 2024

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1.Background

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is implementing the “Strengthening African Leadership for Climate Change Adaptation” programme, which aims to improve the performance of organizations working in climate change adaptation to a sustainable ecosystem for adaptation to climate change on the African continent. The overall expected outcome of the program is to have a strong group of African-based and African-led organizations capable of shaping Africa’s response to climate change through effective policy dialogue, advocacy and using a common voice to raise awareness and influence policy.

More specifically, the program will strengthen the capacity of selected organizations to play a leading role in climate adaptation by improving their efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, and sustainability, while improving their capacity to develop an organizational culture of excellence, with the overall aim of improving the continent’s capacity to undertake the necessary actions to prepare for and adapt to the current and future impacts of climate change.

The program emphasizes a data- and evidence-based approach in its implementation, as well as gender sensitivity and social inclusion in the climate adaptation strategies of selected organizations. As part of its implementation strategy, the program has developed and is implementing customized performance improvement plans (CICIPs) through a capacity needs assessment (CNA) process, to address priority capacity challenges of target organizations working with poor and vulnerable African communities to develop sustainable and resilient climate adaptation strategies.

As part of the implementation of the SALCA, four organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa have been selected, including the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI), a research organization and Policy Think Tank.  HESPI promotes high-quality socio-economic policy research and analysis, advisory services and capacity building to assist the governments, private sector and other stakeholders of the IGAD member countries[1] and Africa at large.

As a reputable home-grown organization, the Institute recognizes that to realize its ambitious programmatic and operational goals, it requires robust Program Management System which in turn will help its program delivery and impact monitoring.

HESPI’s research and institutional capacity building portfolio at HQ and country levels are apportioned into distinct programs and projects.  As projects inherently have a narrow and defined scope, focusing on specific deliverables, HESPI prefers to bundle its portfolio into programmatic units as this has a broader and more complex scope, encompassing multiple related projects and initiatives. The research and capacity building projects, which usually are short-term and temporary with a defined start and end date, will be subsumed into programmatic units. This programming culture and future ambition of the Institute requires proper program management function and tools to ensure the right programmatic objectives, outcomes are set, achieved, and measurable impacts are realized for its interventions in the region.

HESPI recognizes that the risks of poor program performance – reduced impact, fraud, reputational damage, lost opportunity – are important issues to consider while managing programs of various sizes and nature. HESPI believes that good program management saves time and increases impact and accountability. It can also reduce costly mid-implementation “fixes” and can help easily quantify our accountability to communities, donors and other stakeholders.

Together with the aforementioned, the CNA also recommended that HESPI develops a Program Management Manual (PMM)-  a tool that will help the organization strengthen its program management practices and decision-making processes, thereby helping to solidify the Institute’s programmatic lines such as (i) institutional capacity building on PFM (ii) Research program on Economic growth and Macro-economic performance (iii) Policy Research Work on Environmental Sustainability (v) Social development, protection and governance (vi) Trade and Regional Economic Integration, and (vii) financial inclusion. It is in this context that ACBF seeks to recruit an individual consultant to support the development of HESPI’s Programme Management Manual.

2.Objectives of the Assignment

The primary objective of this assignment is to develop a detailed Program Management Manual tailored to the specific needs and objectives of HESPI.

Essentially, the manual should provide clear guidelines, procedures, and best practices for effective project and programme management across all thematic areas. Additionally, the consultant will deliver training sessions to staff members, ensuring their understanding and effective utilization of the manual’s content. The consultant will also

recommend suitable Program Management Software to support the adoption and implementation of the manual.

3.Scope of work

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

3.1 Conduct assessment of program/Project management practices of HESPI to understand the culture, gaps, needs and opportunities for effective program/project management.

• • • Assess and understand how initiation of the HESPI interventions is made as a starting point of a program life cycle; understand how and how business needs and objectives of the intervention are described, and approval is obtained to proceed.
    • Assess and understand how intervention planning is made within the HESPI organizational system. Know how program definition (goal setting, deliverables, required resources, budget and timeline) are made?
    • Understand how project/program execution is made – how the plans are implemented, and the program outputs are delivered.
    • Assess and understand how program monitoring, controlling and evaluation is done. HESPI’s practice of regularly monitoring progress, control of risks, making adjustments to ensure that the program stays on track to meet its goals.
    • Assess how interventions closure is made within HESPI and how this process can be improved. Take account of how project/programs are closed, how results are documented.

3.2 Develop a program management manual/guideline that clearly outlines:

• • • The background, the drive and purpose of the Manual within the HESPI organizational context- in reference to operational requirement and a tool to program the strategic plan.
    • Provide the program lifecycle and minimum standards checklist (definition of the program cycle phases, minimum standard and available or envisaged resources)
    • Define and explain the program identification and design phase (new programs formulation, ideas soundness, funding opportunities, intervention logic, proposal development, etc.)
    • Define and elaborate the project/program setup and planning phase (work plan, stakeholder management plan, team requirement, work breakdown structure, budget flow plan, program schedule, etc.)
    • Explain the program implementation phase (launching or kick-off, implementation management, tracking and adjustment, managed human resources, etc.)
    • Describe the Monitoring and Evaluation phase (M&E in program design and planning, setting and tracking key indicators during implementation, evaluating results, and documenting lessons learnt, etc.)
    • Explain program and project completion procedures and requirements (recording of results, meeting donor requirements, financial and audit requirements, transition plan or exit strategy, etc.)

3.3 Train relevant staff members on PMM usage

• • • Conducting a skills audit of the HESPI team in program/project management.
    • Prepare a training module/tailored curriculum based on identified critical capacity gaps of program management.
    • Provide hands-on training for relevant HESPI staff members from the Nairobi and Addis Ababa offices in reference to the HESPI/IGAD context and share international best practices.
    • Introduce digitized program management systems (software) and train staff on application of the digital tools
    • Sharing training/reference materials on Program Management with the trainees and for the Institute’s repository

4. Methodology

The assignment will be conducted using various methods such as but not limited to:

• Conduct desk review of relevant documents including HESPI’s exiting Strategy and project documents (proposals, periodic reports, Mid Term Review reports, Terminal reports, etc), operational and corporate policy documents, donor requirements
• Conduct interviews with HESPI staff (HQ & regional offices), and with identified partners and other relevant stakeholders on matters related to HESPI Program/project Management culture and practices
• Review standard program management documents or guidelines (both digital and non-digital) to distil the most fitting guideline for knowledge generating and disseminating organization like HESPI
• Write-up the PMM and pass through an iterative review process among the HESPI staff and partners to gather comments, observations and additions to enrich the manual and to make it more useable.
• Validate the manual in a participatory session (in-person and virtual hybrid session) and incorporate comments and produced advanced version
• Assess the Program management skills and knowledge gaps among the HESPI team
• Prepare user-friendly training materials and train relevant staff of HESPI on standard best practices of Program Management (combination of digital hands-on training and conceptual understanding)
• Provide reference materials that can continually build staff skills and knowledge on Program Management tenets and practices.
• Use other methodologies as deemed appropriate.

5.Expected Deliverables and timelines.

At the end of the assignment, the following deliverables are expected:

• An inception report detailing the approach/methodology that the consultant will follow in developing the PMM and training HESPI staff members.
• Program/Project Management Manual for review and feedback.
• Final Project/Program Management Manual incorporating revisions and feedback received.
• User-friendly templates and tools to support project and program management activities.
• Submission of specifications of cost-effective Program Management software.
• A training plan outlining the key topics, activities, and duration of the staff member training sessions.
• Training materials and presentations for staff training sessions
• A training report summarizing participant feedback and recommendations for ongoing capacity-building efforts.
• The final updated Programme Management Manual suitable for distribution and reference by staff members.

The deliverables must meet ACBF’s quality standards. The text of the reports should be illustrated as appropriate. The final delivery of the manual and training materials along with other relevant attachments is expected to be submitted by November 26th, 2024. The deliverables and tentative timeline are presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Delivery Schedule

No.	Milestones	Timeline	Proposed Fees USD
1	Submission of Inception Report Including draft PMM outline	5th September 2024
2	Conclusion of Consultations, desk reviews and interviews	10th October 2024
3	Assessment report of HESPIs Program Management capacity	21st October 2024
3	Submission of 1st draft of Program Management Manual and training materials	30th October 2024
4	Provide training and train selected staff	13th November 2024
5	Submission of final revised and updated Program Management Manual and specifications of program management software	26th November 2024

***NOTE: Please include the above table as part of your Financial Proposal. All financial proposals should be submitted separate from the Technical Proposal and encrypted with a password

6.Academic Profile, Experience, Skills.

To fulfil the requirements of this consultancy, the candidate should possess:

 6.1 Academic Qualifications:

• • • An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree, or PhD) in business administration, Project Management, management, economics, development studies, M&E or related fields is required.
    • Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is an advantage.

6.2 Work Experience:

• • • A minimum of Ten years of progressively responsible experience in project or program management, data analytics, administration or related area is required.
    • Demonstrable previous experience of developing high quality PMM for regional or international institutions with recorded concrete evidence (samples could be requested during recruitment).
    • Experience of working in a regional context or multilateral institution is desirable.
    • Familiarity with international best practices in effective and efficient Program/Project Management
    • Experience in assessing and identifying gaps in skills and competencies of employees and experience in designing new training programs and delivering tailored training programs
    • Experience of preparing training manuals and developing training plans and providing training for middle and senior level staff members in procurement

6.3 Competences:

• • • Excellent organizational and communication skills, ability to prioritize, to lead and work independently with minimum supervision from the client.
    • Strong analytical skills to assess the existing Program Management practices and identify areas for improvement.
    • Good understanding of participatory approaches to management and operations
    • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate and work well with diverse people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
    • Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English
    • Strong training administration, facilitation and time management skills

7.Supervision and Duration of the Assignment and Remuneration

The provisional start date of this assignment is on 29 August 2024, with the expected end date being the 26^th of November 2024, spanning a maximum of 60 working days. The consultant will submit a financial proposal in their application for this assignment.

8.Location and Working Arrangements

This assignment will be carried out remotely. The Consultant may work in his own office or that of the HESPI regional coordination office in Addis Ababa. The Consultant will be given access to the relevant information required to carry out the tasks set out in this assignment. The consultant will be required to provide his/her own workstation (laptop, Internet, telephone, scanner/printer, etc.) and have access to a reliable Internet connection.

HESPI, in collaboration with ACBF, will review draft reports for quality assurance and provide feedback on the deliverables. Approval of the documents and reports by HESPI as deliverables will be a prerequisite before any payment to be made to the consultant.

9.Languages

All reports should be written in English, single spacing font size 11, Times New Roman and submitted as both word and pdf versions.

10.Evaluation

The evaluation criteria will be based on the Consultant’s Qualifications Selection Method.

The evaluation committee shall evaluate the technical Proposals based on their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, applying the evaluation criteria, and point system specified below.

The minimum technical score required to pass is: 70 Points and above. A technical proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the Terms of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated.

The financial proposal will be evaluated based on the most competitive rate given by the compliant bidder.

The Criteria, sub-criteria, and point system for the evaluation of the Full Technical Proposals are given below:

Table 2: Evaluation criteria

N°	Criteria	Maximum Point
01	Hold an advanced university degree (Master’s Degree, or PhD) in business administration, Project Management, management, economics, development studies, M&E or related fields is required.	15
02	Proven 10 years’ of progressively responsible experience in project or program management, data analytics, administration or related area is required.	30
03	Proven 10 years of progressively responsible experience in project or program management, data analytics, administration or related area is required.	20
04	Proven a minimum of 2 samples of program management manual developed	10
05	Proven experience facilitating training on program management within development/research institutions.	10
06	Excellent written and oral communication skills in English	15
	Total

 11.Submission process

The submission should include:

• A cover letter outlining how the candidate or firm meets the above qualifications.
• Technical Proposal to ACBF interpreting the terms of reference and elaborating the consultancy methodology and design, level of effort required to fully deliver the assignment, and with a work plan.
• Brief overview of consultant or and the skills and experience they would bring to assignment
• The consultant Resume
• Copies of three similar assignments undertaken in the last 5 years and contacts of the clients, contact details of three referees from organizations that have recently contracted the consultant to similar or related work in the last 5 years.
• A financial offer with an encrypted password and a detailed breakdown of costs, disclosing all relevant budget items for completing this assignment.

Individual consultants that meet the required profile are requested to submit their Proposal together with requested documents no later than 6^th August 2024, to the following address: submission@acbf-pact.org  later than 5:00 p.m. (Harare local time). The e-mail and all documents are to be marked with the Ref: ACBF/REOI/027/24/HESPI/SALCA “Programme Management Manual for the Horn Economic and Social Policy Institution (HESPI).

 

[1] Current Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member countries are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda