Institutional Consultancy on “Updating the Mapping of the Social Services Workforce in Bulgaria and Conducting a Costing Analysis”

UNICEF
Institutional Consultancy on “Updating the Mapping of the Social Services Workforce in Bulgaria and Conducting a Costing Analysis” Request for proposal

Reference: LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing
Beneficiary countries or territories: Bulgaria
Registration level: Registration at Level 1
Published on: 27-Apr-2026
Deadline on: 26-May-2026 17:00 (GMT 2.00)
Description

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND (UNICEF)

Wishes to invite companies to submit a proposal for a Consultancy on “Updating the Mapping of the Social Services Workforce in Bulgaria and Conducting a Costing Analysis”

               RFPS/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing

 

A.0 SPECIAL NOTES

A.1 PURPOSE OF THE Request for Proposals (RFP) for Services

The purpose of this RFP is to invite research organizations to submit a proposal to carry out an updated mapping and costing analysis of Bulgaria’s social services workforce (SSW).

A.2 FORECAST SCHEDULE

Closing date and time for submission of full proposal: 17:00h on Tuesday, 26th May 2026, Sophia (Bulgaria) time.

A.3 REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION  

All requests for formal clarification or queries on this RFP must be submitted in writing via email at BUL-PROCUREMENT@UNICEF.ORG   by 11th May 2026.

 

Please make sure that the e-mail mentions the RFP reference number in the subject: “LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing” and “Company Name”.

Only written inquiries will be entertained. A response to written inquiries will be provided in due course. Please be informed that all responses will be publicized at the UNGM link.

 

A.4 RFP RESPONSE FORMAT

HOW TO APPLY

Interested organizations should provide evidence of their experience and ability to fulfill the Terms of Reference by submitting, in separate documents:

A.4.1. Filled and signed Bid Form;

A.4.2. Technical Proposal;

A.4.3. Financial  Proposal,

 

Full proposals should be submitted in ENGLISH language and must be sent via e-mail to “bul-procurement@unicef.org” not later 17:00h on 26th May 2026, duly signed and dated. 

Proposals received after the stipulated date and time will be rejected.

The Technical Proposal should address all aspects and criteria outlined in this Request for Proposal, especially in the Terms of Reference.

 

The Technical Proposal should include:

1) A profile of the organisation including legal name, year incorporated, number of employees, description of services provided (indicate any in-house research and assessment capabilities and/or outsource partners that may be engaged as third parties); copy of the registration.

2) Names and CVs of designated core team members including as a minimum a Senior Team Leader and Research team including one or more national research consultants with expertise in child protection, social work and social services and financial analysis.

3) List of current clients (clients serviced in the last 3 years).

4) Three reference letters for work conducted in the past 3 years.

5) Detailed presentation of the methodology proposed for the completion of the assignment and

6) Detailed work plan for implementation of the assignment and the key deliverables.

All pages must be numbered accordingly. The technical proposal shall also be provided on a flash-drive, included in the Technical proposal envelope.

NB! No price information should be contained in the Technical Proposal.

Due to the nature of this RFP, there will be no public opening of proposals.

 

The Financial Proposal shall be prepared:

  • The currency of the proposal shall be in Euro (EUR).
  • All quotes stated in the financial proposal shall be without VAT as UNICEF is a tax-exempt organization.
  • The bidder will suggest a payment schedule for the Contract, linked to unambiguous Contract milestones (from the Terms of Reference).

Any activity described in the Technical Proposal but not priced in the Financial Proposal, shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items, as well as in the final total price. 

Proposals sent to a different e-mail address (bul-procurement@unicef.org) or in a different format than prescribed in this RFP, or which do not respect the required confidentiality, or received after the designated time and date, will be rejected.

 

All references to descriptive materials should be included in the appropriate response paragraph, though the material/documents themselves may be provided as annexes to the proposal/response.

 

A.5. VALIDITY

Each proposal shall be valid for a period of ninety (90) days from the proposal due date. Bidders are requested to indicate the validity period of their proposal in the Proposal Form. UNICEF may also request for an extension of the validity of the proposal.

A.6. PROPOSAL EVALUATION

Technical Proposals received will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria as below:

Technical Proposal: 70 points

1.1   Overall response: 10 points

 - Completeness of response

 - Overall concord between RFP requirements and proposal

1.2. Methodology for completing the assignment: 20 points

The methodology will be evaluated in terms of proposed methods and meeting the requirement of the ToR.

1.3. Timeline for implementation of the proposal: 20 points

The timeline will be evaluated against timeframe proposed to implement the methodology and accomplish the key deliverables in accordance with the ToR.

1.3. Experience of the organisation in relevant research and assessments and expertise of the proposed team: 20 points

The organisation and the proposed team will be evaluated against their experience, knowledge and expertise in conducting research and different kinds of surveys, assessments, studies related to child protection/social services and workforce strengthening.

Similar experience with the United Nations and its specialized agencies is an advantage.

Only proposals which receive a minimum of 70% (49 points) will be considered further.

 

2.  Financial Proposal: 30 points

The price/cost of each of the technically compliant proposals shall be considered only upon successful evaluation per the above technical criteria.

The financial proposals should be submitted in the budget breakdown template.

The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 30. The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened and compared among those bidders who obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical component. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price;

e.g.:Score for price proposal X = Max. score for price proposal * Price of lowest priced proposal / Price of proposal X

 

Total Technical and Price                                                                                       100 Pts

 

UNICEF will award the contract to the vendor, whose response is of high quality, clear and meets the projects goals, including:

  • The price/cost of each of the technically compliant proposals shall be considered only upon evaluation of the above technical criteria;
  • All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes as UNICEF is a tax-exempt organization. 

 A.7. CONTRACTUAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The UNICEF General Terms and Conditions are attached and will form part of any contract resulting from this RFP.

 

А.8. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals should be sent to: bul-procurement@unicef.org as attachments in a NON-EDITABLE FORMAT (e.g., PDF), clearly marked with the Tender number (RFP/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing) and Company Name, NOT LATER than 17:00 h on 26th May 2026, Sophia (Bulgaria) time.

 

Bidders are requested to submit the documents separately (see example below):

  • Bid Form;
  • Technical Proposal;
  • Financial Proposals; (The price proposal should be in Euro, VAT excluded.  If the bidder is not VAT registered, please indicate explicitly);

 

Example:

Subject: RFP/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing and Company Name (ex: Company A)

  • Technical Proposal file/folder clearly named as Technical Proposal RFP/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing - Company A
  • Financial Proposal file clearly named as Financial Proposal RFP/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing - Company A
  • Bid Form- RFP/LRPS-2026-9203679 SSW Mapping and Costing - Company A

 

 

If necessary, requests for clarifications can be sent to BUL-PROCUREMENT@UNICEF.ORG, not later than 11th May 2026, 17h00, Sophia (Bulgaria) time.

 

Emails should not exceed 10MB. If the bid response is larger than 10MB, please zip the files or divide the response into separate files and send in multiple emails instead.

 

All bids submitted by email must be submitted as attachments. Email links (e.g., to documents to be downloaded from cloud-based folders) are not acceptable. Bids received in any other manner will be INVALIDATED.

 

A.9.  PAYMENT TERMS

Payment will be made only upon UNICEF’s acceptance of the work performed in accordance with the contractual milestones (as per agreed payment schedule).  The terms of payment are net 30 days, after receipt of invoice and acceptance of work.  Payment will be effected by bank transfer in the currency of billing.

 

 

 

Attachments:

  • Bid form of the RFP;
  • Terms of Reference (ToR);
  • Special Notes SSW RfP March 2026 (this document);
  • General Terms and Conditions for Services 2025;