National Local expert to draft a roadmap on human capacity development in the public procurement sector conducive to the professionalization of the procurement function.
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Background:
The fight against corruption remains one of the key challenges for the Albanian Government. In the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2019, Albania ranked 106 among 180 countries with a score of 35, declining by one point from its 2018 index score and falling seven positions in the global ranking . This lacklustre performance was maintained in other perception surveys during 2019. The United States Department of State’s Investment Climate report for Albania concluded that the perceived investment climate is problematic and that Albania remains a difficult place to do business. This was further confirmed by the latest “Doing Business in Albania Survey 2019” issued by the Foreign Investors Association in Albania (FIAA), which found that unfair competition (according to 68% of the surveyed businesses) and corruption (67% of the surveyed businesses) are the main obstacles to doing business in Albania. The Regional Cooperation Council in its Public Opinion Survey for 2018, published in June 2019, ranked Albania among those countries where political parties, judiciary, customs, and the healthcare system are perceived by the public as being highly corrupt.
Based on the above-mentioned recommendations, the Presence will support the establishment of a certified, mandatory and continuous training program for all public procurement officials, and concurrently unify the job descriptions of procurement officials and professionalize their functions. Because the process of designing a new mandatory training curriculum necessitates the engagement of several governmental institutions and has financial, legislative and human resource implications, there is an initial need to conduct a gap analysis. The gap analysis will detail all the necessary legal, policy-related and financial steps that the Government of Albania through the PPA shall undertake in order to establish a mandatory and certified public procurement capacity-training program. The final gap analysis will help to determine when and how the training certification will become mandatory for the relevant public officials engaged with the PPA, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), and the contracting authorities at central and local levels. It will also help assess whether and how economic operators active in the business sector will benefit from increased availability of procurement specialists.
The local expert will be contracted to develop a roadmap/action plan for human capacity development in the public procurement sector. The roadmap will detail all the necessary legal, institutional and financial measures that the Public Procurement Agency (PPA)/Government of Albania shall undertake to enable the professionalization of the public procurement function in Albania.
Tasks and responsibilities:
Task 1: Establish contacts and organize in-depth interviews, specifically with designated staff of the Public Procurement Agency, Public Procurement Commission, Albanian School of Public Administration and Department of Public Administration for the purpose of this assignment (at least 5 interviews). The local expert will also organize meetings with key Contracting Authorities (most frequent buyers) involved in the implementation of the public procurement framework, which will be identified in collaboration with Public Procurement Agency (at least 10 interviews).
Task 2: Collect primary and secondary data on the public procurement legal and policy framework through semi-structured interviews and desk review. In specific conduct semi-structured interviews with the designated staff of the Public Procurement Agency, Public Procurement Commission, Albanian School of Public Administration and Department of Public Administration for the purpose of this assignment. The local expert will interview also with the key Contracting Authorities (most frequent byers) involved in the implementation of the public procurement framework, which will be identified in collaboration with Public Procurement Agency. The desk review will focus on Albanian legislation, guidelines and internal orders approved and implemented within the scope of the Public Procurement Legal Framework, as well as the new draft law of the Public Procurement System, Standard Operational Procedures, Annual Reports prepared by PPA, the local expert will review –among other key documents- also High State Audit reports, European Commission progress
Task 4: Draft a Roadmap for the professionalization of the Public Procurement Function. The roadmap document will outline: a) analysis on assessed insufficiencies and needs; b) identify concrete administrative / institutional and legislative measures which the Government of Albania will need to undergo in order to achieve the strategic objective of the professionalization of the public procurement function, as well as provide a scenario of its financial implications for the state budget; c) detail a Results and Resources Framework (Log frame) to achieve the professionalization objective; d) define how a new standardized job description for public procurement officials (PO) will be structured with the Department of Public Administration; e) determine when and how the certification of the public procurement officials will become mandatory for the relevant public officials engaged within the PPA, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), and the contracting authorities at central and local level.
Task 5: Present the key findings. Upon clearance from the Presence, the local expert will hold two stakeholder meetings, with the above-mentioned institutions in Task 1, to discuss and validate the draft the roadmap report findings and recommendations. The expert will prepare and moderate the meetings; draft its agenda and list of invitees; prepare and hold the presentation of the gap analysis report. The expert will prepare a consolidated “response document” for the stakeholders, which would include how/where specific feedback was included, or offer explanation of why feedback was not adopted.
Task 6 Finalize the roadmap report. The expert will finalize the roadmap by incorporating the recommendations gathered from the stakeholders meeting, as well as reflect comments and suggestion gathered by the Presence project staff.
Necessary qualifications • Advanced University Degree in Law, Economics and/or Political Science with specialized training in policy evaluation and analysis, regulatory impact assessment, legal review; • Excellent knowledge of the Albanian public procurement legal framework (preferably also on EU and Western Balkan countries); • Minimum 6 years of practical experience in high level policy formulation, legal analysis, institutional and civil service reform and anti-corruption; • At least 5 years working experiences related to institutional reforms, especially on the public procurement framework in Albania and anti-corruption; • Evidenced ability to assess institutional set up and financial implications for drafting strategic documents; • Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people of different national, cultural and professional backgrounds while maintaining impartiality and objectivity; • Excellent organizational, communication, analytical skills, reporting writing skills and interpersonal skills; • Excellent written and oral Albanian and English; • Excellent computer skills; and • Preferably previous working experience with international organizations in Albania.
All applications are due by 31 August 2020. For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Presence in Albania, please see: http:// www.osce.org/presence-in-albania
If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://jobs.osce.org/.
The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise the vacancy or to cancel the recruitment.
The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply.
Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process. Delayed nominations will not be considered.