EBRD-JASPERS Urban Sector Specialist

Country: Regional
Project number: 50826
Funding source: Bank Funded
Contract type: Consultancy Services
Notice type: Invitation for expressions of interest (CSU)
Issue date: 16 Dec 2015
Closing date: 14 Jan 2016   at  23:59   London

Project Description:

JASPERS is a partnership between the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EBRD. JASPERS aims to improve the preparation of major projects to be co-financed by the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the new EU Member States. Further details about JASPERS are available at http://www.jaspers-europa-info.org/.

The European Commission promotes sustainable urban mobility and the increased use of clean and energy efficient vehicles, to help strengthen Europe's economy and improve the quality of life of its citizens. New political challenges have emerged in recent years: climate change, energy policy, air quality legislation, and the difficulties of tackling congestion are just some examples. Therefore, in addition to the support for major projects, JASPERS has been requested to:

- Assist the process of preparing and implementing the Integrated Strategies for Urban Development and the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans by providing support and guidance to Managing Authorities, Intermediate Bodies and Urban Authorities, including integrated territorial investment (ITI) and community-led local development (CLLD) structures on the preparation of the Integrated strategies, elaboration of guideline for applicants, definition of evaluation criteria to select the strategies and projects financed under the Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020;

- Provide guidance to the Managing Authorities, Intermediate Bodies and cities to prepare the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans according to the EU policy on mobility and transport, as part of the Integrated Strategies for Urban Development;

- Provide specific guidance to the Managing Authorities, Intermediate bodies in preparing the guidelines for the priorities of the ROP 2014-2020 related to urban development namely – reduction of the pollution, urban development, protection of the patrimony, urban tourism development, health and social infrastructure, economic regeneration and education infrastructure.

Assignment Description

As part of its contribution to the JASPERS (Joint Assistance in Supporting Projects in European Regions) initiative, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "EBRD" or the "Bank") intends to engage a consultant to support the work of JASPERS in the area of urban projects.

The urban sector specialist (the Consultant) to be retained under the present contract will be based in the JASPERS office in Bucharest. The successful candidate will join one of the sector teams of JASPERS and, for all day-to-day work, will report to the corresponding sector manager and collaborate with other sector specialists in the same domain of expertise.

This is a full-time role. The Consultant is expected to be resident in Bucharest and will be required to travel to JASPERS recipient countries.

The outputs expected from the Consultant are:

- Expert opinion on the justification and eligibility of and projects in the urban sector, their technical feasibility, their proposed costs and procurement strategy, their economic and financial aspects, as well as the quality of the support documents, including the application for funding to be submitted to the Commission, if the case.

- Expert opinion on urban strategies, urban planning, urban transport plans Integrated territorial investment (ITI) strategies, regional smart specialisation strategies, smart city projects and the like.

- Preparation of formal comments to be submitted to the Managing Authorities through JASPERS summarising the above-referred expert opinion, which can also be used by JASPERS for the preparation of project guidance and completion notes.

- Support to the JASPERS team during discussions with the Managing Authorities, project beneficiaries, and their consultants regarding the strategies and projects.

His/her specific tasks will include, inter alia, the following:

- Review of existing documentation (such as strategic documents, pre-feasibility/ feasibility studies and applications to the European Commission for grant funding with a view to prepare opinions on the technical, financial and institutional aspects as well as overall justification of the projects;

- Review of funding and financing mechanisms for urban regeneration schemes, with a view toward community contributions derived from revenue sources such as urban development im‎pact fees, or other similar betterment taxes from the private sector in support of EU investment in local communities;

- Analyse major technical aspects of project options, in particular investment cost and operational characteristics;

- Assess compliance with EU law and conformity with EU policy;

- Where necessary, the drafting of the Terms of Reference for Contractors to be contracted either by the beneficiaries or by JASPERS to analyse the project preparation;

- Supervision of these Contractors and review of the documentation produced;

- Preparation of opinions on strategic urban plans, urban planning, urban transport plans Integrated territorial investment (ITI) strategies, regional smart specialisation strategies, smart city projects and the like;

- Develop, through the implementation of model projects, the dissemination of international best practice, and the skills needed to take advantage of EU-grants;

- Specific ad-hoc support to JASPERS teams in the Smart Development (SD) and Air, Rail and Maritime (RAM) divisions for the assessment of urban strategies and projects proposals in the urban area;

- When required, missions to that country to meet the beneficiaries and develop the scope of work for the particular task.

Status of Selection Process: Interested individual experts or firms interested to nominate an expert are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start approximately in February 2016 for an initial period of 12 months. A contract may be extended subject to the performance of the selected Consultant, availability of funding and the specific needs of the Bank. This is a full-time role. The Consultant is expected to be resident in Bucharest and will be required to travel to JASPERS recipient countries.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment:

The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: EBRD's own resources

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions. Individuals or consulting firms interested in nominating an expert from any country may apply. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.

Consultant Profile: Individual services are required (the Consultant shall be an individual expert or an expert nominated by a firm, see note 3).

The successful candidate is expected to have the following qualifications and previous professional experience:

- Completed university studies in engineering, architecture, urban/spatial planning, economics or finance area;

- Experience in key phases of the project cycle (preparation, appraisal, implementation, management) and relevant methodologies (e.g. feasibility studies, cost estimates, CBA, EIA);

- Extensive experience in urban policies, urban development and urban regeneration;

- Experience with Smart Cities concepts and initiatives;

- Practical experience with regards to EU funding;

- Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English, with knowledge of one or more languages of the countries under the responsibility of JASPERS being an advantage.

Candidate shall also demonstrate the following competencies:

- Good team working, interpersonal and communication skills;

- Ability to plan and supervise the work of consultants;

- Good analytical and reasoning skills with capacity to provide sound judgements;

- Ability to produce clear and concise reports;

- Good diplomatic skills and ability to deal with clients at all levels.

Submission Requirements:

In order to determine the capability and experience of experts seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Cover letter (max. 2 pages) including full contact details, summarising why the expert believes to satisfy the requirements as defined in the above section Consultant Profile;

2. CV (not exceeding 4 pages) which should include full descriptions of responsibilities carried out, not just a job title, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration), main activities, objectives.

3. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:

http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.

Expressions of Interest should be submitted in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The complete expression of interest (including cover letter, CV, declaration and contact sheet etc.) shall be one file (pdf) to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of experts submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size (4 MB) is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

Bank Contact Person:

Maria Haugh

Technical Co-operation

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

One Exchange Square

London EC2A 2JN

Tel: + 44 20 73387185

e-mail: haughm@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

Notes:

1. It is intended that up to six shortlisted candidates will be invited to interviews in London, Luxemburg or Bucharest before the completion of the selection process (the interviews may be conducted via video-link, etc.). Please note that travel or other costs associated with interviews will not be reimbursed to the candidates.

2. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. On completion of the selection process the highest-ranked consultant will be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.

3. Consulting firms (proposing individuals) and individuals may apply. Consulting Firms nominating an individual expert shall submit one complete individual application for each expert via eSelection. Single applications for a number of experts containing various CVs may result in rejection of such application and all concerned experts.

4. The shortlist criteria are:

- Qualifications in line with section Consultant profile - 20%

- Previous professional experience in line with section Consultant profile - 40%

- Interviews - 40%