Seeking proposals for a media consultant in South Sudan 

IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board) is seeking proposals from qualified individuals to provide short-term technical support to a media project in South Sudan. The anticipated award will be a cost reimbursable/fixed price contract. IREX reserves the right to withdrawal this request for proposal at any time up to award the contract.  

Purpose 
IREX is implementing the USAID-funded Sustainable Independent Media Activity (SIMA) in South Sudan to improve South Sudanese citizens' access to credible, accurate, and reliable information by promoting the sustainability of high-quality, independent radio operations. 

IREX is seeking a short-term Organizational Development and Sustainability Consultant to train and advise SIMA's national technical partner on its sustainability initiatives and organizational capacity strengthening.  

Proposal Requirements:  
Individuals interested in providing this service must submit a proposal, including a breakdown of costs, which demonstrates the individual’s capacity to:  

• To improve the Media Development Organizational capacity areas such as Resource Mobilization, Financial Management, Administration and Procurement, Organizational Management and Program Development, Performance Management, and Human Resources Management.   

• Work with the Media Development Organization to develop its capacity and review the organization's policies and systems that enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization in working with radio partners and stakeholders.    

• Advise the Media Development Organization on practical methods to increase financial, social, and/or institutional sustainability through the best practices and mentorship/capacity-building delivery.  

Duties and Responsibilities  

IREX expects that this deliverable based consultancy will begin in April through August 2024, working in South Sudan and remotely. The assignment will be mainly in Juba, South Sudan.  The consultancy will not exceed 20 days from April to August 2024.  

The Scope of work will include training, mentorship, coaching, organizational policy review, updating, and orientation. It also requires the consultant to:  

• Prepare customized coaching/mentorship approaches for the Media Development Organization. These include reviewing and updating financial management policies and procedures.   

• Coach/mentor staff to understand financial risk and management adequately and improve their financial reporting and documentation processes.    

• Update operations and procurement policies and procedures, including travel policies, cash handling procedures, and information management systems. This involves strengthening the partner staff's capacity to execute an effective procurement process.   

• Improve the capacity of the staff to advance M&E process and M&E system, including orientation on data analysis and reporting.  

• Update partner Human Resources Management policies and procedures to meet the needs of the current legal context and orientating partner staff to implement the Human Resources Management policies and procedures effectively.  

• Strengthen partner staff capacity in developing work plans, timelines, calendar management, the scope of works, terms of reference, and tracking of deliverables.   

• Produce a progress report and a final report of consultancy including, steps taken, and recommendations for IREX to implement through the SIMA project.  

• The consultant will be stationed at the partner office during trainings, mentorship, and coaching.  

• For regional or international consultant, part of the coaching will be implemented remotely in follow-up but note that the Consultant must be willing and able to travel to South Sudan for a maximum of 5 business days as infrastructure challenges limit most partners’ ability to connect remotely.  ​​​​​​​

IREX may select multiple consultants to ultimately provide relevant needs and advisory support. The selected Consultant(s) will have the following skills and experience:   

• Demonstrated experience working in the media sector and sustainability, preferably in the East Africa region and/or South Sudan specifically.  

• Proven results in overseeing or advising operations at media development or similar media, including community-based and/or national advocacy organizations, that could enhance media financial and programming strategy.  

• Demonstrate experience developing staff capacity with staff management experience and ability that are conducive to the learning environment.  

• Experience in strengthening policies and curricula and facilitating trainings and mentorship   

• Knowledge in identifying innovations in sustainability, including an understanding donor-driven environments and the context of an emergent economy.  

• Professional level fluency in written and spoken English is required. Arabic language skill is a plus but is not required.  

• Previous experience conducting analyses and studies of the media or civil society sectors.    

Proposal Submission  
If you are interested in providing this service, please e-mail a proposal to [email protected]   with the subject line “Proposal for Organizational Development and Sustainability Consultant in South Sudan.” If you decide to submit a proposal, it must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. Central Africa Time on the closing March 22, 2024. All proposals submitted must be valid for a period of not less than sixty (60) calendar days from the closing date indicated above.  

Note: Resumes submitted without a full proposal as described above will not be considered.

Proposal Evaluation  
The criteria are listed in descending order starting with the most important factors to be evaluated.  

• Overall, Price Competitiveness, to include expected daily rate in USD (25%)  

• Sufficiency of methodology outlined (20%)  

• Qualifications of the consultant (20%)  

• Individual capacity (20%)  

• Past references (15%)  

Evaluation and ranking of proposals will be done by IREX in Juba, South Sudan. IREX may at its discretion ask for additional information or perform site visits.  

Renewal  
IREX reserves the right, based on availability of funding and vendor performance, to enter into subsequent contractual agreements with the winning vender for a period of up to three years without issuing a new RFP.  

Contact Information  
James Boboya  
Senior Technical Advisor, Sustainable Independent Media Activity   
IREX  
Juba, South Sudan  
[email protected]