Market Systems Change Consultant

SCOPE OF WORK
USAID Serbia Big small business (BSB) activity

Background: As a flagship United States Agency for International Development (USAID) activity in Serbia, the Big Small Businesses Project(the Project) builds on previous and current efforts by USAID. Operating in a complex economic environment, the Project’s strategic five-year goal is improving two key small and medium enterprise (SME) sectors in Serbia, Agriculture and Food (A&F) and Equipment and Machinery (E&M), while driving solutions for wider adoption of green and digital solutions for improving growth in sales and investments. Gender and youth integration also plays an important cross cutting role across the entire Project, reflected in our Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion (GYSI) strategy.

Consultant Scope of Work: This assignment is for a Market Systems Change Consultant for the BSB Project. The consultant will work on improving existing and creating new System Change Stories. The consultant will report and coordinate on technical matters, issues, and deliverables with the Serbia project team, including both J.E. Austin Associates and ACDI/VOCA team members. The assignment will also involve liaising and gathering data and content from Project partners, beneficiaries, and market system actors, with active synergies with the BSB Project. The position may require periodic travel to Belgrade and potentially throughout Serbia.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

Draft and Finalize Systems Change Stories: Improve and prepare an initial estimated three “System Change Stories” that document and explain the Project’s impact on market systems change in targeted sectors in line with the Systems change strategy and assessment guide. This task will include, but is not necessarily limited to, the following activities:

• Liaise and gather information from the Project team and partners relevant for the Stories.
• Liaise with J.E. Austin Associates and ACDI/VOCA headquarters’ staff to meet organizational expectations on format, content and related deliverables.
• Gather relevant input from Project beneficiaries and market system stakeholders in coordination with and under the guidance of the Project staff.
• Conduct additional desk and field research, as appropriate, to further substantiate findings and system impact.
• Develop concepts and drafts for Stories while meeting USAID and organizational demands.
• Incorporate team and headquarters’ comments and inputs on drafts.
• Respond to agreed-upon deliverable and task deadlines in a timely and quality manner with the Project team.
• Work with the Project team to develop additional potential ideas and content.
• Provide recommendations for systems-level impact indicators and evidence that the team should continue to collect over the life of the project around the selected case studies.
• Provide any recommended structural changes to the communications of future systems change outcome stories for other outcome areas.
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The initially planned System Change Stories include:

i)        Localizing Business-to-Business (B2B) opportunities by creating sustainable, market driven platforms in Serbia, to improve and scale up matchmaking between buyers in key markets and broader pool of Serbian (and regional) firms. The story should focus on the Agro Belgrade initiative with a wider presentation of the same strategy applied to other initiatives (InterConnect). Since the B2B story has already been drafted by the BSB team, the Consultant's task involves its improvement based on the System Change Strategy guide.

ii)      Improving the business performance of key service providers by adopting digital solutions to agriculture extension (weather stations) to provide key data, improve production in response to changing climate and growing conditions in Serbia, and most importantly improve business growth.

iii)    Impact of targeted, local microfinance solutions for smallholders through deployment of Municipal Agriculture Revolving Funds, and its expansion, scalability and sustainability in Serbian municipalities, (with scale-up reference to similar programs developed with agricultural schools and for energy efficiency). Optionally, after agreeing with the consultant, the Project can replace the story of the Revolving Funds with another one (e.g., agriculture tokens).

The Specialist will establish a detailed timeline upon project commencement in coordination with the BSB staff.

Qualifications:

• Experience in USAID projects, project management, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting.
• Strong experience and technical capacity in producing and presenting deliverables, including written, oral and other formats.
• Relevant experience in donor-supported SME and economic development initiatives.
• Experience in Serbia and the region, including in relevant economic and subject matter areas and understanding of Serbia’s private sector and market systems stakeholders.
• Demonstrated skills in conducting capture, outreach and research directly with stakeholders.
• University degree
• Strong technical capability across Microsoft Office and other relevant applications.
• English fluency, both writing and speaking.