Building Mentoring Capacity in Support of UNICEF's County Representatives

Terms of Reference

Building Mentoring Capacity in Support of UNICEF’s Country Representatives

Purpose

To design, develop and deliver a customized programme of coaching and mentoring skills development for to retired UNICEF Country Representatives, who are part of a roster of mentors supporting first time Country Representatives as part of UNICEF’s Country Representative Induction Programme.

Background and Context

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), with headquarters in New York City, provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. UNICEF's work is carried out in 192 countries through country programmes and National Committees. Some 88 percent of the organization's posts are located in the field. There are 36 National Committees, eight regional offices and country offices worldwide, as well as a research centre in Florence, a supply operation in Copenhagen and offices in Tokyo and Brussels.

Each country office is headed by a UNICEF Representative, who is responsible for all UNICEF activities undertaken in the country. The Representative is responsible for establishing dialogue with the government to develop the framework of cooperation in the country and for working closely and collaboratively with the government and national institutions, stakeholders and partners, to develop a country program in support of UNICEF’s and national and international development efforts to advance children’s rights. As head of a country office, the Representative is responsible for leading and guiding managers of programs/projects and operations, ensuring delivery of quality results, leveraging resources, leading innovation, knowledge management and capacity building, and maintaining the safety and security of staff, programs and organizational assets.

It is imperative for the organization to support first time Representatives in understanding expectations with regard to her or his new role and responsibilities, enable him or her to become ‘effective’  in this new role as soon as possible and provide opportunities to discuss key strategic issues with UNICEF senior leaders.

As part of this effort, UNICEF has elected to set up a voluntary mentoring scheme, which will allow recently appointed Representatives (mentees) to establish a mentoring relationship with former colleagues, who have been identified as having strong leadership development skills (mentors).

The decision to create a pool of retired UNICEF Representatives to act as mentors serve to guarantee the purpose of mentoring as a safe learning space, where individual challenges are kept confidential, and the topics of discussion do not impact on mentees’ performance management assessments.

Scope of Work

Under the direction of the Chief, HR Capacity Building and Learning Coordination, the selected organization shall undertake the following tasks:

1. Design and deliver a face-to-face training intervention on mentoring skills to UNICEF’s identified mentors;
2. Provide practical tools and support mechanisms that facilitate preparing and conducting mentoring conversations.

Expected Deliverables

1. Provide UNICEF with a detailed agenda of the mentoring capacity building intervention, including facilitator’s notes, as well as faculty resumes;
2. Deliver face to face mentoring skills development programme;
3. Provide a follow-up report after each intervention, summarizing delivery, lessons learnt, and participants’ feedback.

Expected Organisational Expertise

Successful organisations should possess the following profile:

1. Experience in implementing coaching and mentoring skills development programmes for managers and senior executives in the public/non-for profit sector, for a minimum of 10 years;
2. Proven record of designing and delivering adult learning programmes on leadership or management development, team coaching, decision-making, in cross-cultural and multi-team environments;
3. English will be the language of reference for this service. Faculty proficiency in French and/or Spanish is highly desirable. 
4. Previous experience delivering management or leadership development programmes to UN audiences, or other similar international organizations, is highly desirable.
5. Expertise of the project team must include work experience in Executive Coaching, Organization Development, Learning and Development, and/or Management Development, UN/Public Sector/Non-Profit and/or Multi-Cultural global organization experience;
6. Ability of vendor to provide UNICEF with facilities and logistical support for the delivery of training is considered an asset;
7. Strong financial stability.

Submission details

Responses to the TOR must include the following documentation:

1. Credentials
   1. Company Profiles, indicating core areas of expertise, number of staff available for the intended, their roles;
   2. Evidence of past successful experiences providing similar type of services to other organizations; and
   3. References from organizations similar to UNICEF in terms of its global presence and multicultural environment.

1. Approach
   1. Describe the methods, practices, and pedagogies that guide the tendering organization’s overall approach to projects of the type described in the Scope of Work.

1. Delivery

Describe how your proposal satisfies the technical requirements and deliverables included throughout the Scope of Work (above). In addition, please ensure that the following are addressed in your proposal:

1. Provide a draft agenda or table of contents for the proposed intervention;
2. List examples of resource materials that Representatives could use as part of ongoing learning.

1. Summary of Financial Proposal

Vendors are requested to provide a financial proposal covering all costs related to the technical proposal submitted, including the following cost indications:

1. Overall lump-sum cost for the works and services described in the Credentials, Approach, and Delivery sections above.
2. Breakdown of work and services described above.
3. Amounts to be indicated in USD only.

Based on all submissions received, UNICEF will conduct a panel assessment of all technical proposals. Financial proposals will only be reviewed for submissions that satisfy the requirements of the technical assessment.

This TOR does not entail any commitment on the part of UNICEF, either financial or otherwise. UNICEF reserves the right to accept or reject any or all TOR submissions without incurring any obligation to inform the affected applicant/s of the grounds.