CONSULTANCY - TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff.

Technical Director, Gaza Gateway Social Enterprise

Background

The Gaza Gateway

Gaza’s small ICT sector is the object of many hopes, with more than 1000 annual ICT graduates. However, the sector is not growing. Research shows that the sector is locked in a double bind. An employment paradox combines chronic high unemployment with poor recruitment outcomes, while competitive obstacles preclude the international contracting which would generate concentrations of new jobs.

Neither the commercial nor the human resource issue will be overcome in isolation: the sector cannot grow without a stronger skills base, but graduates cannot gain employable skills without work to do.

In response, UNRWA has piloted, and is preparing to launch, a social enterprise called the Gaza Gateway. This enterprise is Gaza’s first end-to-end solution to the IT sector’s needs. The Gaza Gateway exists to contribute to the growth of the sector, by expanding its business opportunities and professional capacity. The Gaza Gateway’s business and social objectives are two halves of a single solution.

The Gaza Gateway will offer temporary employment for recent graduates while they deliver commercial projects for work experience. Concurrently the graduates will undergo structured professional development in a project-centered, learning workplace. At the end of their Gateway year, graduates will move into the private sector with employable CVs, and the Gaza Gateway will sub-contract its own work to the firms employing its graduates. Thus the Gateway will expand the private sector’s commercial experience and its skills base.

The essence of the Gaza Gateway will be its commercial delivery. As a capable marketplace actor, the Gateway will help to build the Gaza brand and attract new international outsourcing buyers to Gaza. Gaza has competitive strengths as an outsourcing destination, including its highly educated and multilingual workforce, its location near the Middle East’s rapid ICT expansion, lower costs and higher staff retention than other proximate suppliers.

The Gaza Gateway’s marketing will focus on building enduring commercial relationships which offer long-term workflow for Gaza. It anticipates targeting Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies able to manage Gaza’s inherent risks among a diversified set of suppliers.

Since late 2013, UNRWA has housed the Gaza Gateway while it conducts pilot projects to amass marketable experience, using UNRWA’s own IT needs as its seed projects. The Gaza Gateway has, or is preparing to, offer services in the following areas: ERP testing, business process automation, educational MIS data management and user support, participatory planning, and database management for enterprise information integration. A prospective funder is expected to finalize a commitment shortly, covering the Gaza Gateway’s operations from a late 2015 launch through 2017. From that time forward, the Gaza Gateway will be expected to earn the great majority of its income from market revenues. In recognition of its inexperienced, perpetually refreshed workforce, some ongoing training may require ongoing funding.

The Gaza Gateway concept was developed in early 2013, with UNRWA and an experienced social entrepreneur who will serve as the initial Executive Director of the enterprise through 2016. She presently manages the pilot Gateway with an outstanding local team of IT professionals.

With this recruitment, UNRWA seeks a Technical Director to complete the Gaza Gateway’s senior team. The Technical Director will be responsible for delivering business results for the enterprise and the sector.

Functional Statement

The Technical Director will be employed as a Consultant by UNRWA, fully dedicated to the Gaza Gateway project. The Technical Director will work within UNRWA through 2015, establishing the direction and marketing of the Gaza Gateway prior to its launch late in the year. Moving with the Gaza Gateway into the private sector, the Technical Director is expected to remain with the Gaza Gateway until mid-2017.

The Technical Director will be responsible for the enterprise’s business results: service development, standards and technical delivery of projects, marketing and workflow. In addition, the Technical Director will lead, enable, and hand over to the local technical team which has built the Gaza Gateway from its early concept to reality. Complementing the Technical Director’s work, the Executive Director is responsible for the development of the Gaza Gateway as a workplace and business model, for management development and for the achievement of the enterprise’s social or employability, objectives as a publically funded project.

After its launch, the Gaza Gateway will report to a local Board and owner. The Technical Director will continue to be employed by UNRWA, reporting to the Gaza Field Office Deputy Director for Programmes.

Description of Duties and Responsibilities

The Technical Director is responsible for the Gateway’s development as a competitive outsourcing business in a challenging setting, for its marketing and client relations, for the technical training and delivery of inexperienced project teams, and for the ongoing professional development of the enterprise’s technical management team who will operate the enterprise in the future. Responsibilities, with supporting policy and standard development, include:

  • Establish an evidence-based marketing direction appropriate to the skills base of Gaza;
  • Carry out marketing, contracting, client and contract management for the Gaza Gateway’s outsourcing business;
  • Review and adjust the Gaza Gateway’s project operations: intake selection, testing, technical training, project management and delivery;
  • From 2016, establish sub-contracting processes and oversight / integration of sub-contracted project delivery to realize sector growth with local business partners;
  • Deliver / enable Gaza Gateway management to deliver any commercial skills support which is necessary for local business partners to successfully sub-contract and complete projects;
  • Provide support to the Gaza Gateway’s planned freelance platform for self-employment, and evaluate its success and continuity;
  • Ensure that the Gaza Gateway’s in-house IT environment, security and usage policies are appropriate, to manage technical risk;
  • Manage technical, commercial and fulfillment risks; and support local business partners to establish risk management practices which clients will require in order to outsource to Gaza;
  • Lead, mentor and coach the Gaza Gateway’s management team in their technical work and ongoing professional development;
  • Represent the Gaza Gateway in visibility, marketing and commercial functions. In particular, represent the Gaza Gateway to Gaza’s own IT sector and stakeholders, so that the social enterprise fulfills its intended role as an enduring asset to the industry;
  • Prepare technical reporting appropriate to clients, donor(s), Board, UNRWA and other stakeholders;
  • Support the management team as they take on additional responsibilities at the departure of the Executive Director, and then at the completion of the Technical Director’s work. Undertake any recruitment or adjustment of operations for the enterprise’s continuity.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

This is an exceptional role: holistic, challenging, creative and demanding. The ideal candidate will be both an industry expert and an experienced social entrepreneur, able to view the Gaza Gateway as a commercial and a social undertaking, equally able to lead and to foster leadership in others.

Technical qualifications

  • Advanced degree from an accredited educational institution in one of the following areas: Business Administration, Management Information Systems, or Computer Science;
  • 10 years of business experience is essential, combining some or all of the following: technical project delivery, entrepreneurialism, business analysis, marketing and management;
  • Social enterprise experience will be highly advantageous, combining some or all of the following: design, launch, or financially viable operations in a development or conflict-affected context;
  • Marketing and project delivery experience within the IT and / or business process outsourcing spheres. Client and contracts management will be advantageous.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

  • Impact sourcing experience;
  • Experience of applied ICT in development contexts;
  • Professional experience in the MENA region;
  • Training design and delivery, adult education or professional development with young professionals;
  • Arabic language skills;
  • Knowledge and experience of IT industry standards and service development (Prince 2, ITIL, COBIT5, IEEE);
  • Experience with donor-funded project management.

COMPETENCIES

  • Strategic and innovative leadership;
  • Creative problem solver, starting with the ability to view business itself flexibly;
  • Highly organized analysis, planning, and follow-through;
  • Client service orientation, a relationship builder with stakeholders at many levels;
  • Influencer and negotiator, tireless in advocating for outsourcing in Gaza;
  • A natural teacher, engaging generously with young professionals as mentor, coach and trainer;
  • Excellent judgment, to be relied upon in a complex project and fluid setting;
  • Strong sense of upward and downward accountability;
  • Deep, demonstrated commitment to opportunity and employment for young people;
  • Personal resilience as will be required in Gaza’s difficult circumstances;
  • Unshakeable integrity, adhering to vision and principle, setting an example such that all stakeholders and participants in the Gaza Gateway can work with confidence and trust.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

●Remuneration for this consultancy will depend on the qualifications and experience of the expert;

●The incumbent is expected to be based in Gaza;

●The duration of the initial contract will be one year, with extension until mid-2017 subject to satisfactory performance.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personal History Form demonstrating clearly the knowledge and experience required to meet the consultancy requirements via indicating the title of this consultancy ‘Technical Director, Gaza Gateway Social Enterprise’ in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the submission of applications is7February 2015.

UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified and experienced female candidates. Only those applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking environment.

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