Background:

This project is a part of a phased approach launched in 2017 devoted to supporting socio-economic development in the Kyrgyz Republic. The 2024 project aims at assisting the host State in its efforts to advance economic growth and sustainable development through supporting the SMEs development in the regions by increasing access to business advisory services, strengthening public-private dialogue and supporting women economic empowerment.

To achieve the objective of the project, the project activities will be carried out in three directions: (i) capacity building support for the Entrepreneurship Support Centres (ESCs) established with the POiB support in Batken, Issyk-Kul, Jalal-Abad, Osh, and Talas provinces; (ii) Creating favorable conditions for the development of the regional Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); and (iii) Supporting women economic empowerment in the targeted provinces.

In order to advance the efficiency and professionalism of the ESCs to deliver high- quality and result oriented services for entrepreneurs in the regions the POiB will support conducting of trainings and workshops for the ESC consultants on a variety of topics, including business diagnostics strategic, business scaling, franchise packaging and on others. Retreats and exchange of experiences will be carried out to promote internal learning and mentorship between the ESCs and to promote positioning of the ESCs as a network of consulting institution. Promotion of visibility of the ESCs and communication with the Center`s beneficiaries will be maintained through providing up-to-date information and posts related to doing business on the official ESC’s pages in social media (Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok) and the ESC website and producing video success stories. Additionally, relevant work on obtaining legal status by the ESCs will be started in 2024. The acquisition of legal status will allow the Centres to fulfil activities efficiently towards achieving sustainability and financially self-sufficient.

To this end, Consulting Manager will be contracted to lead of consultants of five ESCs and to oversee the support and services provided to the customers of the ESCs. He/she will be responsible for analyzing organizational operations and the development of strategies to improve efficiency and performance and to meet high-priority objectives of the ESCs. The Consulting Manager will also set expectations and make sure all consultants are meeting standards to ensure client satisfaction. Besides, he/she will facilitate all legal documents (charter, regulations, structure of the ESCs) required for registering the ESCs as legal entity and implement strategic documents on provision of paid services (list of paid services, tariff, policy and mechanisms of paid services, system of bonuses).

Objective of Assignment: 

To contract Consulting Manager to supervise, and lead the consultants and cooperate with coordinators of five ESCs and to ensure the ESCs best performance and efficiency in service provision.

Duration of Assignment:

180 working days.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of Project manager, the Consulting Manager will perform the tasks within the following directions:

I.    Leading and supervision of the consultants of five ESCs: 

• Providing leadership, motivation, and guidance for the consultants to ensure that they are performing their jobs effectively;
• To implement these tasks, Consulting Manager effectively cooperates with ESC coordinators;
• Reviewing and monitoring the consultants’ performance (through analyzing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) reports) and identify areas for improvement, implementing corrective action where necessary;
• Conducting assessments to determine measures required to enhance overall the ESCs’ performance; through providing mentorship and coaching;
• Conducting needs assessment among ESC consultants to identify necessary trainings and planning training programs to advance service provision quality;
• Undertaking CRM and contribute in an on-going manner to customer interaction by identifying their priority needs for service and support;
• Developing policies and procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the ESCs as a network of consulting institution;
• Pre – and post – tests and feedback forms from participants (using online/ offline tool) used to measure effectiveness of trainings/seminars/capacity building activities (where applicable). The pre- and post- tests and feedback forms should be in format provided by the POiB).

II.    Coordinating and facilitating the implementation process of strategic and legal documents of the ESC:

• Determining organizational form, the most suitable for the ESC;
• Ensuring application of organizational structure of the ESC;
• Defining/ formulating corporate/organization mission, strategic goal, philosophy and modeling of business processes;
• Facilitating the development of Charter and other documents required to register the ESC with the Ministry of Justice.

III.    Developing policy and regulating/administrative procedures of provision paid services by the ESCs:

• Reviewing of the developed/existing Standards of Service provision, and if necessary to update/revise them;
• Finalizing and introducing the list of paid services, based on the market research developing tariffs/rates for services;
• Developing regulating/administrative documents to perform paid services: template of contract with customers that contains types and methods of payment; policy on the use and distribution of generated funds (for what purpose the funds will be used) from the paid services and mechanisms of bonus/motivation for consultants (who earned funds).

IV.    Providing support to local entrepreneurs and maximum outreach of the ESC’s services by:

• Providing ESC’s clients with efficient business consultations, continuous guidance and support to entrepreneurs;
• Providing entrepreneurs with relevant and up-to-date business information on individual basis and in groups via the trainings and workshops;
• Conducting at least one training in developing business plans, financial models (including analysis of the financial model, re-design) calculating business-related costs and expenses upon request;
• Consulting clients with attracting investments, getting finance and other financial resources.

Deliverables:

• Efficient work of the ESCs and high-quality service provision is ensured as a result of satisfaction report submitted before the final payment;
• Provided work plan with tasks, deliverables and dates, one week after signing the contract. Work plan to be approved;
• Provided at least ten consultations per month including paid;
• Consultants of the ESCs enhanced their professionalism, skills and knowledge through mentorship and training courses (based on mentorship/working visits to be provided monitoring report with recommendations for at least 15 consultants in 5 ESCs);
• The ESCs’ reporting (CRM) is improved;
• Provided recommendations based on review of existing Standards of service provision (SoSP) (if necessary);
• Policies and procedures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the ESCs as a network of consulting institution are developed;
• List of paid services identified and tariffs/rates for services based on the market research are developed;
• Regulating/administrative documents to perform paid services are developed;
• All legal and administrative documents required for registration of the ESC as a legal entity are developed.

For more detailed information on the structure and work of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, please see: https://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-bishkek.

Necessary Qualifications:

• University degree in business management, project management, economic, finance or related field. Advanced university degree in business administration preferable;
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in consulting, project management or business management;
• Strong working knowledge of business management best practices;
• Strong analytical, problem solving, and critical thinking skills;
• Ability to lead teams with a sound work ethic, intellectual curiosity, and exceptional client service;
• Ability to structure and manage intensive workloads;
• Familiarity with common business software, project management programs and IT systems;
• Ability to establish and maintain strong relationships and to influence others and move toward a common vision or goal;
• Proven experience in developing training modules and materials;
• Professional experience in conducting trainings, seminars, courses on issues of business planning, marketing, accounting, strategic management, etc.;
• Aptitude to grasp new concepts and effectively produce results;
• Fluency in Russian and Kyrgyz. Knowledge of English is an asset.

Remuneration Package:

Remuneration will be based on the selected consultant’s/expert’s qualifications, experience, the tasks and deliverables for this position and in accordance with the OSCE established rates.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE’s online application link found under https://vacancies.osce.org/.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment or to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds to apply to become a part of the Organization. 

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.