National Expert - Quality Assurance in VET

Background

Albania’s vocational education and training (VET) and vocational skills development (VSD) system all too often has failed to equip students with the req­uisite knowledge, competences and skills for a suc­cessful transition into the labour market. This has resulted in an unsuitably qualified labour force, skills shortages and soaring youth unemployment. Recognizing the need to systematically address em­ployment by re-orienting the vocational education and training and vocational skills development sys­tem towards labour market needs, and modernizing and extending outreach of employment services, the Albanian government adopted the National Employ­ment and Skills Strategy 2014-2020.

UNDP globally and regionally has built a strategic vision that recognizes the importance of creating employment opportunities as a means to addressing both poverty reduction and inequalities and exclusion. Indeed, the first outcome of the recently adopted United Nations Youth System Wide Action Plan focuses on Employment and Entrepreneurship with the intention to ensure greater opportunities for youth to secure decent work and income over the life-cycle, contributing to a virtuous circle of poverty reduction, sustainable development and social inclusion. To support the integration of various youth employment policy objectives through coordinated action, UNDP Albania, in collaboration with other UN agencies has designed and implemented several skill development / employment related interventions.

Based on experience of previous interventions addressing labor supply, UNDP Albania’s strategic vision is to contribute to building a labour-market focused skills development system that is suited to enhance the employment and entrepreneurship aspects of the unemployed in urban and rural areas, while simultaneously addressing the skills needs of those employed in the formal and informal sectors and emerging entrepreneurs.

The ambition of the Swiss funded Skills Development for Employment (SD4E) Programme is to make a systemic contribution to the modernization of Al­bania’s VET/VSD system by addressing several key challenges: skills mismatch and unequal access to employment and training services; labour market challenges in rural areas; insufficient governance of funding for employment and training; lack of coor­dination / collaboration in the system; inadequate labour market information; and insufficient quality and relevance of VET and VSD providers and their programmes. The overall goal of the programme is that “more young women and men in urban and rural areas in Albania are employed or self-employed.” In order to achieve this goal the programme focuses on four outcomes:

Outcome 1:       Improving and diversifying employment promotion measures, and advancing their governance

Outcome 2:       Improved environment and regulatory framework for up-scaling work-based learning schemes (elements of dual system)

Outcome 3:       Quality assurance and accreditation of VET/VSD providers

Outcome 4:       Anticipating skills needs in the short and medium term

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant on Quality Assurance and Accreditation of VET providers, will provide technical support to the VET and Employment sector reform within the UNDP Skills Development for Employment programme. More specifically, the Consultant will work closely with the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE) of Albania and relevant government agencies to support the decision-making process on improving the overall system of VET quality assurance, performance and operation of the VET entities, ensuring that qualifications, assessment and programme delivery meet certain standards in VET system.

The specific tasks of the Consultant include:

• Provide expert support to the implementation of designated activities according to the programme operational plan for 2018 (Outcome 3), based on Government’s priorities in VET and employment area;
• Support NAVETQ in defining the features and feasibility of the quality assurance system;
• Provide expert inputs to the process of identification of the most feasible model/s of a National Quality Assurance Framework for VET that can be adapted to the Albanian context and would meet requirements of the new VET law and relevant bylaws
• Support and oversee legal research and follow up on the proposed legislative changes.
• Suggest further regulatory changes needed to support the introduction of a full-fledged VET quality assurance system, and assist in drafting them if need be;
• Contribute to defining standards, mechanisms, tools and instruments for the quality assurance and accreditation framework;
• Support capacity building interventions for NAVETQ, VET directorate within MoFE, public VET providers and other relevant institutions;
• Support the establishment of unit for VET Inspection and encourage the capacity building measures for the staff of this unit.
• Facilitate the functioning of the working group on quality assurance and accreditation of VET providers;
• Support the identification of needs of stakeholders and interested groups, and oversee the design and implementation of needed awareness raising campaigns;
• Work closely with the team of the Skills Development for Employment Programme for resolving any implementation issues or sharing information on progress of implementation;
• Contribute to research, needs assessment and fact-finding activities, information sharing etc;
• Ensure good collaboration and working relations with the working group members;
• Ensure good collaboration and networking with other national and international institutions concerned issues related to the area of responsibility;
• Coordinate the work and find synergies whenever possible at with other donors or GoA funded interventions in order to increase the impact generated by the programme.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgement;
• Self-development, initiative-taking;
• Act as a team player;
• Creating synergies through self-control;
• Conflict resolution skills;
• Learning and sharing knowledge;

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge and expertise in employment promotion and/or skills development;
• Analytical skills including presentation of analysis for decision-making and knowledge sharing;
• Strong communication skills (written, spoken, composing, presentation) and ability to share expertise for capacity building;
• Political and cultural sensitivity and commitment to UNDP’s development objectives in the country.

Required Skills and Experience

• University Degree in Education, Social Sciences or closely related field of studies
• Technical knowledge in the field of skills development, coordination experience in complex, multi-stakeholder environment;
• Demonstrated leadership abilities and organizational capacity;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Prior experience in employment related programmes is desirable;
• Previous experience/familiarity with UNDP, other UN agencies or international organisations is desirable;
• Excellent analytical skills
• Excellent communication and report-writing skills in English and Albanian

Evaluation Procedure

Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Individual consultants will be evaluated based on Combined Scoring method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Applicants obtaining 49 % or more of the total technical points will be considered for financial evaluation.

Combined weighted scoring:

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max points: 70

• Educational background. (15 points)
• Professional experience in vocational education and training. (30 points)
• Experience with the public administration and exposure to the private sector. (25 points)

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max points: 30

Application Procedure

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability-please fill in the attached form...http://www.un.org.al/doc/PSU_%20Individual%20Contract_Letter%20to%20UNDP.docx
• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Download here.
• Financial Proposal in ALL* - specifying a total lump sum in Albanian Lek  for the tasks specified in this announcement.  The attached template may be used - http://www.un.org.al/doc/Financial%20Offer%20template.doc Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period (e.g. fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).
• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

* Kindly note that Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal are two separate documents and should be both part of your application.

How to Submit the Application:

How submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs);

• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal, Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability  and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;

• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement); 

• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”

• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above);

• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded

UNDP retains the right to contact references directly. Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Qualified women and individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.