United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Commercial Contracts Costing and Finance Consultant

1.Background/ context

Plan International UK (PIUK) strives for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan International UK is currently bidding for a number of commercial contracts and requires additional support during a busy period. The role will be supported by the Grants Finance Team which is part of the Programme Effectiveness and Compliance Unit (PEC) and work closely with the relevant Bid Lead within the International Policy and Programmes Directorate.

The Grants Finance Team supports the organisation in budgeting for institutional and major donor proposals as well as ensuring sound financial management, compliance and reporting on active grants and contracts, all of which contribute towards the effective delivery of programmes.

2.Purpose

This assignment is to provide budget development support and advice to upcoming DFID commercial contract bids.

The overall objectives of this assignment are:

• Work closely with the Bid Lead, to develop commercial tender budgets and costings, in line with Plan UK financial requirements, as well as provide financial inputs for the definition and weighting of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the commercial offer.
• For each commercial bid developed, work closely with the Bid Lead, individual programme units and Grants Finance Manager to develop the accompanying internal Payment by Results (PbR) risk-based financial models.
• Provide efficient and effective support in order to manage the financial compliance and financial risks in the development of commercial bids.

3.Approach

The assignment will entail four main stages:

· Briefing: This will be carried out by the Grants Finance Manager at Plan International UK’s offices and will entail an overview of: Plan International UK’s approach to fundraising and contract management and budget development; the assignment at hand and; individual tasks to be delivered.

· Upcoming bids Overview: This will be carried out by the Bid Leads from relevant programme units.

· Undertaking Tasks: To be performed by the consultant over the duration of the consultancy.

· Debrief and Handover: To be undertaken between the Consultant and staff within the Grants Finance team and will entail a detailed bids update, highlighting the state of play for each submission.

4.Deliverables/ Expected Outputs

The specific tasks under this assignment are:

a) Bid Development Support:

Working closely with the Bid Lead, the Grants Finance Manager and wider Bid Team (including in-country staff and partners), the consultant will provide Bid Development support to a selection of upcoming bids, including but not limited to:

• DFID Commercial contract opportunity in Zimbabwe
• DFID Commercial contract opportunity in Ethiopia

Bid Support will include:

• Coordination, development, consolidation and finalisation of competitive commercial tender budgets in line with relevant Plan International UK policies and standards including but not limited to PIUK cost recovery policy.
• Coordination, development and review of internal and partner budgets required for the relevant bids, as appropriate.
• Providing financial and commercial narrative inputs for the relevant bids, including inputs on Value for Money sections.
• Development of financial inputs for the definition and weighting of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the commercial offer.
• Development of and inputs to internal Payment by Results (PbR) risk-based financial models.
• Identifying gaps within country office finance capacity and develop and deliver relevant tools to enable Country Offices and partners to deliver required inputs for the development and financial management of commercial budgets (depending on the stage of the commercial contract).
• For each bid, developing and providing financial inputs for internal approval processes
• Conducting in-country-based bid development support (where required).
• Donor Compliance: DFID donor compliance support as relates to the budgetary and financial aspects of commercial contracts.
• Supporting in completing donor financial due diligence and self-assessment reports where appropriate.
• Contributing to the various Grants Finance compliance tools and trackers where appropriate.
• Developing and delivering an internal workshop for non-finance staff on DFID financial donor compliance, including but not limited to best practice application of the latest DFID Pro Forma template and guidance.

5.Indicative timeline

The timeframe for this consultancy is estimated to be 3 months. It is anticipated that the support will be provided over the period 4^th February 2019 to 26th April 2019.

Activity &Date

Upon satisfactory induction and commencement of consultancy (10%) - w/c 04/02/2019

Half way into the assignment (40%) - w/c 04/03/2019

Upon debriefing and handover (50%) -26/04/2019

6.Responsibilities of Plan International UK

· Provide a detailed induction of Plan International UK’s and Plan International Inc’s key Grants Finance related policies, systems, procedures and tools as part of the Consultant on boarding process.

· Provide an overview of key bids and current status.

· Provide an overview of key donor rules and regulations as relate to budgetary, financial management and reporting aspects across commercial contracts.

· Provide ongoing guidance and advice to the Consultant in case of emergence of nuanced issues within bids being developed.

· Provide timely inputs to drafts shared for review and approval.

· Process timely payments in line with the milestones set out under section 5 above.

7.Qualifications skills and experience

• Developing DFID commercial budgets and costings along with complex PbR risk-based financial models.
• Demonstrated experience of using DFID’s pro forma templates and up to date understanding of DFID supplier code for conduct/cost eligibility policies etc
• Experience in coordinating budgetary inputs from a diverse range of stakeholders, by providing practical timelines and appropriate guidance and templates
• Substantial experience of working with Excel.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse and manage large volumes of data.
• Experience in an International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) environment.
• Be flexible in approach and able to undertake tasks of varying complexity and interest in quick succession working under own initiative where required.
• Awareness of sector issues included but not limited to Value for Money and International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).
• Demonstrate an awareness of child protection issues and child safeguarding standards.

8.BID REQUIREMENTS

Interested consultants or firms are requested to submit:

· An expression of interest detailing their interpretation of the TOR, work schedule and a statement demonstrating how they meet the required qualifications and competencies.

· A detailed budget for proposed costs including all taxes liable to be paid

· Curriculum Vitae (CVs).

· Two references (including one from your last client/employer).

· N/B: The entire bid should be a MAXIMUM OF Four (4) pages including the budget. Bids not meeting this requirement will not be considered.

9.APPLICATION PROCEDURE

a. If you believe you qualify for this post and you are the candidate that we are looking for, please submit your applications as per the bid requirements in English by submitting proposals to: shoumojit.kanjilal@plan-uk.org

b. The closing date for this post is 28/01/2019.

c. The shortlisted 3-4 candidates may be invited to submit modifications or make a short presentation for the final selection.

2.CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION

a. All documents and data collected will be treated as confidential and used solely to facilitate analysis.

b. Where necessary, the respondents will not be quoted in the reports without their permission.

c. All those contracted by PIUK must agree to sign and abide by the ‘safeguarding policy’. *