Senior Experts for The Preparation of the 2021-2027 IPA III CBC programming documents

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Senior experts for the preparation of the 2021-2027 IPA III CBC programming documents 

Reference number: IPA 2017/CBIB+3/NKE/009 

Western Balkans Region

RE-LAUNCH 2

The project ‘Cross-border Institution Building - CBIB+ Phase III’ is a multi-beneficiary project funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium led by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with STANTEC sa/nv from Belgium. The CBIB+ Phase III is a new project conceived as an extension of CBIB+ Phase II (December 2015 – December 2018) for an additional period of 3 years (January 2019 – December 2021).

The second generation of cross-border cooperation (CBC) programmes at intra-Western Balkans borders under the 2014-2020 Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) undergoes a number of substantial changes in the management, implementation methods and mechanisms compared to the 2007-2013 IPA financial cycle. In addition, following the entrustment of budget implementation tasks, some of the programmes are being implemented in indirect management by the IPA II beneficiary instead of by the Delegation of the European Union (DEU). Despite the changes introduced under IPA II, managing and coordinating cross-border cooperation programmes remains complex. There is a need for technical and logistical support to a wide network of stakeholders to act in a coordinated, consistent and harmonised way.

CBIB+ Phase III will therefore focus on the following areas: 

• enhanced networking and cross-border cooperation management capabilities between CBC stakeholders in the Western Balkans;
• the promotion of a culture of best practice and sharing of experiences (better capitalisation and dissemination), with an eye to the improvement of the quality of CBC operations (e.g. stronger CBC dimension and synergies with other policies and strategies, better capacity to respond to the cross-border areas' needs and improved sustainability);
• strengthened capacity of IPA II relevant authorities to programme, manage, implement, monitor and report IPA II programmes;
• enhanced monitoring of the IPA II CBC programmes through a streamlined performance measurement methodology; 
• enhanced visibility and communication of the CBC programmes at intra-Western Balkans borders.
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The consortium is currently recruiting up to two senior non-key experts to facilitate the preparation of some of the 2021-2027 IPA III CBC programme documents in the Western Balkans. They must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Higher education degree or alternatively 10 years of general professional experience in one or more of the following areas: regional policy, economic development, social and employment policy, environmental policy, structural funds’ implementation or spatial analysis and planning;
• Fluency in both written and spoken English;
• At least 8 years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas: regional policy, economic development, social and employment policy, environmental policy, structural funds’ implementation or spatial analysis and planning;
• Experience in preparing strategic or programme documents related to regional policy or economic development for EU funded programmes;
• Experience gained as trainer and/or facilitator of multi-stakeholders events

In addition to the minimum requirements, candidates proving that they have acquired the following qualifications, skills and specific experience will have an advantage:

• Fluency in any of the official languages of the Western Balkan countries (Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin or Serbian);
• Experience in the management of CBC programmes and/or projects;
• Experience with at least one assignment for preparing EU funded cross-border cooperation (CBC) programmes, preferably in the Western Balkans.

The location of the assignment will be Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the candidates shall bear in mind, among other conditions, that there could be some travel restrictions during their assignment in some or all of these countries, requiring the possession of special medical certificates and keeping quarantine as necessary.

Tasks and responsibilities of the experts

• Prepare the situation analysis of the programme’s eligible area.
• Facilitate and guide the SWOT analysis of the eligible area.
• Advise on the strategy formulation of the respective cross-border programme, involving the preparation and delivery of one workshop on the strategy development and one participative workshop with local and territorial beneficiaries for strategy discussion. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, training and consultation may be carried out by digital means as, for instance, a webinar.
• Select and elaborate indicators for the programme document.
• Compile the financial table of the programme document.
• Support the programming process in any other aspect that the IPA III legislation would require.

This assignment will last up to 50 working days for both experts together (i.e. an average of up to 25 working days per programme), starting from July 2020 and ending by April 2021[1].

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Please note that civil servants and other staff of the public administration of the beneficiary countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) cannot be recruited as experts.

Please submit electronically by 5 July 2020 not later than 24.00 hours your motivation letter (max one page) together with your comprehensive CV only using the EU format available on the following web page: https://www.cbibplus.eu/sites/default/files/documents/attachments/Model_standard_CV_non-key_experts_revised.docx. All interested candidates should send their CVs in English indicating that the position or vacancy is CBIB+3 – senior expert for the preparation of the 2021-2027 IPA III CBC programme documents. No other supporting documents should be sent at this stage. The CV should be no longer than 4 pages. In case of CVs longer than 4 pages, only the content of the first 4 pages will be taken into account. At a later phase, successful applicants will be expected to document the relevant qualifications and experience in their CVs with copies of diplomas and certificates of employers. If the selection panel finds it suitable, only the best compliant candidates may be contacted for an interview.

Candidates submitting their CVs in a format or language other than the ones required in this vacancy announcement will not be considered for the position.

N.B. Candidates having difficulties to understand or handle the application mechanism in the vacancy platform where this advertisement is published can directly send their application to the following email address: office@cbibplus.eu.