Background

The dynamic nature of today’s development environment has made clear that local ownership of development and humanitarian programming is key to sustainability. Increasingly, donors, like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the wider international humanitarian and development communities seek to empower permanent local actors to chart their own path forward. To successfully manage their growing responsibilities and lead development in their nations, permanent local actors – from the public, private and non-profit sectors – are seeking innovative, professional technical assistance and capacity strengthening support in a variety of areas critical to programmatic and organizational performance and sustainability.

Catholic Relief Services’ 2030 agency strategy lays out a vision to catalyze transformational change at scale and recommits the agency to the principles of subsidiarity and local leadership. CRS defines local leadership as empowering permanent local actors to be effective and impactful leaders for sustainable change at scale. CRS’ approach to technical assistance is highly participatory and driven by priorities identified by permanent local actors themselves. CRS technical assistance is based on transparent partnerships built on mutual respect and accountability. CRS technical assistance applies non-formal learning and organizational change principles and emphasizes organizational, financial, political, and programmatic sustainability. To ensure that technical assistance results in sustainable improvements for permanent local actors, CRS always considers three elements: capacity building, institutional strengthening, and accompaniment.

Purpose

CRS has a long history of collaboration with the Global Fund. Since 2003, CRS has been awarded over $2.3 billion to implement programs in 27 countries, including 10 where CRS serves (or has served) as Principal Recipient. Through these partnerships, CRS seeks to accompany national government agencies and other health partners to strengthen their capacities in areas critical to Global Fund grant management and implementation.

To further bolster our ability to provide technical assistance, CRS seeks to expand our network of consultants[1] with expertise in providing technical assistance to Global Fund Principal Recipients, including ministries of health, national disease programs, and civil society organizations, to support their roles as effective and impactful leaders within the country’s health system. Areas for consultant support will be driven by the interests and priorities of Principal Recipients, but assignments will focus on a broad range of governance and leadership topics. Possible technical assistance areas are included in Appendix A for reference; candidates are expected to indicate roles for which they are qualified and interested by using the Microsoft Form as part of the application. (See Application Instructions, below.).   

Successful candidates will have demonstrated experience in providing technical assistance that supports permanent local actors (civil society organizations, including non-profit organizations and faith-based institutions and networks) and national and sub-national government institutions to expand their influence, reach and impact. Candidates with prior successful experience providing technical assistance to Global Fund Principal Recipients and Global Fund Principal Recipients, including ministries of health, national disease programs, and civil society organizations, and strong knowledge of local health systems are preferred.

Application Instructions

To express their interest in this opportunity, candidates should:

·       Email their resume and cover letter to pcsta@crs.org using the subject line “Global Fund Governance TA Opportunity.” The cover letter should speak to the candidate’s experience related to the basic qualifications, described below.

·       Complete this form to provide CRS with more information about your related qualifications, experience, and interests.

CRS will review all submissions and notify candidates who qualify for our database of potential consultants. If specific needs arise that align with the candidate’s interests, skills, and experience, the CRS team will invite the candidate to participate in a Request for Quote process, in which the candidate can confirm their availability. CRS would then initiate a full review, evaluation, and selection process, before entering into a consulting agreement with the selected consultant.

Potential Assignments

Specific assignments will vary in scope, complexity, level of effort, and location according to the needs of Global Fund Principal Recipients. Consultants may be expected to conduct some combination of the following activities:

·       Supporting Principal Recipients to identify their strengths and weaknesses against objective standards related to targeted capacity areas, such as program planning and coordination, organizational structure, human resources management, sub-recipient management, risk management, and leadership development. Capacity assessment tools will be determined based on context and needs.

·       Supporting Principal Recipients to develop (or enhance) a tailored, time-bound capacity strengthening plan to close identified capacity gaps.

·       Delivering technical assistance (capacity building, institutional strengthening, and accompaniment) to Principal Recipients as per their capacity strengthening plans in a variety of governance and leadership areas according to their needs and priorities. Examples include providing technical assistance to strengthen risk management policies and procedures; establish compensation packages aligned with local labor laws; or develop guidelines for sub-recipient management.

·       Accompanying Principal Recipients to implement and track progress on their capacity strengthening efforts, leveraging industry and CRS capacity strengthening resources where appropriate.

If selected for an assignment, consultants will participate in an orientation on CRS’ partnership and capacity strengthening approaches and available suite of capacity strengthening resources.

Appendix A: Potential Technical Assistance Roles

Interested candidates will indicate the roles that they are most qualified for and interested in using the form required as part of the application process. (See Application Instructions, above.)

Overall Partnership and Capacity Strengthening

-        Partnership reflections and relationship building

-        Organizational visioning and capacity assessment

-        Capacity strengthening action planning and prioritization

-       

Program Planning & Coordination

-              Defining/designing implementation arrangements for a Global Fund grant or program

-              Ensuring efforts in various health programs are harmonized and coordinated

Setting coordination and communication mechanisms

Organizational Structure & Planning

-              Ensuring compliance of the legal identity of the organization with relevant legal obligations

-              Determining the organizational structure

-              Developing operational plans and prepare budgets

Sub-Recipient Management

-              SR selection processes, procedures, and systems, including SR contract templates

-              SR capacity assessment, monitoring and performance feedback mechanisms

-              Ensuring internal human capacity to manage Global Fund SRs

Risk Management

-              Designing/updating the risk management process

-              Documenting risk management policies and procedures

-              Strengthening relevant systems, policies, and procedures to mitigate vulnerabilities

-             

Human Resource Management

-              Compensation and benefits

-              Organizational charts and policies

-              Performance management

-              Recruitment and retention

-              Staff training and development

Leadership Development

-              Support leaders to foster trust and inclusion within and across teams

-              Apply best practices in management, including goal setting, delegation, time management

-              Leadership coaching for application of leadership skills and knowledge

Safeguarding

-              Development of safeguarding policies, practices, procedures and systems

-              Supporting and monitoring compliance with global safeguarding standards