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Job Description and Requirements
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The USAID Municipal Support Program (USAID MSP) is a five-year program supported by USAID/Jordan, awarded in August 2022, and implemented by DAI Global LLC. The overall goal of USAID MSP is to strengthen municipal-sector service delivery and promote Local Economic Development (LED) in Jordan. The USAID MSP team will achieve this goal through the following interventions: Outcome 1: Inclusive local administration strengthened, and Outcome 2: Capital investment for municipalities increased.
USAID MSP utilizes approaches that address structural issues, systems, processes, interrelationships, behavior, and organizational culture change. USAID MSP aims to strengthen municipal-sector service delivery by supporting improved governance and organizational culture across three interventions: key policy and service delivery reforms, municipal sector public financial management, and community engagement.
The program will support increased capital investment in Jordan’s municipal sector with the goal of catalyzing local economic opportunities and strengthening service delivery by supporting improved development planning, facilitating investor partnerships, increasing access to finance, and supporting renovation and construction of fixed assets including the provision of material resources. Foundational to these efforts, USAID MSP will leverage and institutionalize the participation of marginalized groups, including women, youth, and persons with disabilities, in municipal-level decision-making. Participatory planning will improve marginalized groups’ access to public services and increase their economic opportunities. USAID MSP will work across all of Jordan’s governates.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
Outcome 2 under USAID MSP aims to facilitate more investment in needed capital investment projects, the key two intermediate results under USAID MSP’s Outcome 2 are: IR 2.1 Municipal Sector Development and Investment Planning Improved, and IR 2.2 Municipal Access to Finance and Private Sector Partnerships Increased, where USAID MSP will facilitate more investment in needed capital investment projects in principal partner municipalities (PPMs) and associate partner municipalities (APMs) by strengthening the municipal sector’s systems for identifying and planning investments. This includes procuring and implementing the investments, mobilizing domestic resources, incentivizing private sector partnerships that could be utilized to improve municipal services, reduce costs, generate revenues for the GOJ and municipalities, and create economic opportunities in communities, especially for women, youth, and people with disabilities.
The objective of this assignment is to support three selected municipalities by USAID MSP in developing investment and marketing plans to seek financing for key projects and opportunities identified by Local Development Plans (LDP). The plans should formulate realistic development and investment vision statements, strategic objectives, and must ensure linkage with any current strategic development plans that reflect the long-term goals of national development policy for the municipal sector. The plans must incorporate benchmarks to advance gender equality, social inclusion, and actions to respond to and plan for climate change. The plans must provide stakeholders with an action plan to monitor the implementation and performance of them.
This assignment aims to provide support to municipalities in the development of investment and marketing plans by helping them assess their fiscal capacity, estimate future revenues and operating expenditures, and the amount of funds available to transfer reserves.
The investment plans should be coupled with marketing plans to attract investment and advance economic growth through identifying the municipality’s competitive advantage, differentiators, sectors to facilitate investment, define target markets, and deploy municipal marketing campaigns and activities to attract investment. Also, the investment and marketing plans should be anchored in economic and social analyses, demonstrating financial returns and potential for development impact. Both sets of metrics will be critical for impact-oriented investors, including development finance actors, and for building buy-in among local communities.
The investment and marketing plans will formulate realistic actions and consider the distinct approaches needed to successfully attract and promote investment from GOJ entities, donors, international organizations, and private sector entities or investors. The plans will demonstrate mutual benefits to all parties by articulating a potential project’s value proposition and/or economic benefits, such as economic internal rate of return and economic net present value.
The consultant will adopt a “hands-on” approach of transferring knowledge, experience, tools, and understanding to enable the municipalities to develop their own capital and investment plans independently in the future. The consultant will work closely with the municipalities to ensure that they fully understand the process of developing investment plans and that they have the necessary skills and resources to undertake the task on their own in the future. In addition to providing technical assistance, the consultant will also offer guidance and recommendations to the municipalities to help them make informed decisions throughout the development process.
The consultant will work in close consultation with Outcome 2 Capital Investment Lead, USAID MSP Chief of Party, and Deputy Chief of Party. The consultant is expected to work closely with USAID MSP and selected municipalities and any other stakeholders as may be required during the assignment. The Consultant shall be expected to carry out the services described but will not be limited to them.
KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Collect and review all available data and information, plans, and documents related to the capital investment planning and marketing plans for each of the three selected municipalities by USAID MSP including LDPs and information related to listed investment projects and local assets in consultation with local development units and investment related committees in the three selected municipalities and Ministry of Local Administration (MOLA). Findings will be documented in an inception report.
Meet with the three selected municipalities leadership teams/management to discuss their needs and define their goals and to ensure that the development plan, capital investment and marketing plan align with the municipality’s mission, vision, goals & objectives, reflect long term goals of national development policy for the municipal sector, and incorporate gender equity and inclusion for persons with disabilities and vulnerable group, and respond to and plan for climate change.
Liaise with three selected municipalities and other relevant stakeholders and carry out field visits as needed to gather information on local assets, fiscal capacity, and sector-level strategic planning.
Prepare an inventory list of capital assets that provides a base for developing the capital investment plan.
Combine the results of the capital assets inventory with plans for new capital projects in a comprehensive approach and determine the timing of the required investments.
Conduct thorough economic and social analyses to identify the municipality’s competitive advantage, differentiators, sectors for investment facilitation, target markets, and develop municipal marketing campaigns and activities.
Conduct market research and analysis to identify investment opportunities and market trends, be up to date with market trends and regulations.
Conduct public outreach to engage with the community and solicit feedback to ensure that their needs and priorities are reflected in the investment plan. The consultant will support the three municipalities in conducting as least one consultation session in each of the three municipalities including documentation of findings from the sessions.
Prioritize capital investment opportunities based on identified needs, potential for return on investment, and overall impact on the community in line with the municipality goals and objectives.
Demonstrate the financial returns and potential impact of the investments to generate buy-in among local communities and impact-oriented investors.
Advise on various financing options available to the municipality, including own-source revenues, grants from external sources, and long-term debt, and assess the costs and benefits of each option.
Assess the budgetary impacts of each capital investment project, including estimating costs, potential revenue streams, timeline, and potential funding source.
Gather data on existing debt service, commitments and the status of reserves, estimate future revenues, and future operating expenditures, to build and evaluate the municipality’s fiscal capacity.
Identify and evaluate various approaches required to successfully attract and promote capital investments and partnerships from GOJ entities, donors, international organizations, and private sector entities or investors.
Develop a tool that enables incorporation, tracking and analysis of information collected from above tasks to help each of the three municipalities in identifying and sequencing its investment priorities & financing plans. The tool should include projects criteria related to national sector priorities, municipalities’ strategic vision, competitive advantages, urban land use plans, potential for return on investment, overall impact on the community and annual budget. The tool should also help each of the three municipalities in making informed decisions regarding resources allocation and allow for scenario planning. This can help municipalities in assessing the potential impact of different investment scenarios and adjust their plans accordingly.
Based on findings from the above tasks, support each of the three municipalities in developing a three-year investment plan that aligns with the municipality’s financial goals and risk tolerance after assessing investment options and strategies. The plan must be linked with an action plan to monitor the implementation and performance of it. The consultants will provide hands-on support to the three municipalities to help them develop these plans as a model for practical, action-oriented investment planning that they can conduct independently in the future. This will lead to organizational culture change within the municipality and USAID MSP will use these three pilot municipalities to demonstrate what is possible to other municipalities in year two. The template and structure of the investment plans will be pre-approved by USAID MSP and agreed with the three municipalities.
Develop a marketing plan for each of the three municipalities to promote the capital investment projects to donors, international organizations, and private sector entities or potential investors and funding agencies. Each plan must be linked with an action plan to monitor the implementation and performance of it. The template and structure of the marketing plans will be pre-approved by USAID MSP and agreed with the three municipalities.
Create and deliver a presentation for each municipality for its feedback and revisions, and to stakeholders & other interested parties to explain investment options and strategies.
Ensure that the tools, templates, and methodology used in the three selected municipalities can be replicated in other municipalities in the future, whether through MSP or other projects, it is essential to establish them as a standard model.
DELIVERABLES
No.
Deliverable
Timeline
Language
1
Inception report covering work plan (including plan for data collection and conducting interviews, deliverables, and milestones).
2 Week from inception of work
Arabic
2
Develop a tool in editable excel format to help each of the three municipalities in identifying and sequencing their investment priorities, financing plans and enable scenario planning as per task 15.
6 Weeks from inception of work
Arabic
3
Draft a three-year capital investment plan document for each of the three municipalities covering tasks from 1-16 in editable Word format, including an executive summary, overview of the municipality’s current situation, fiscal capacity, investment opportunities, funding options, schedule, and timeline. The plan must be linked with an action plan to monitor the implementation and performance of it.
A PowerPoint presentation on the draft capital investment plan for each of the three municipalities.
12 Weeks from inception of work
English & Arabic languages
4
Develop marketing plans for each of the three municipalities in word format to promote the capital investment projects to donors, international organizations, and private sector entities or potential investors as per task 17. The plans must be linked with an action plan to monitor the implementation and performance of it.
A PowerPoint presentation of the marketing plan must be provided for each of the three municipalities.
15 Weeks from inception of work
English & Arabic languages
5
Conduct a consultation session for each of the three municipalities and other stakeholders to present and discuss the capital investment plans and marketing plans and collect feedback and recommendations.
The final document of the capital investment and marketing plan for each of the three municipalities that includes all the necessary information, data, and analysis to support the plans’ implementation and incorporating stakeholder suggestions.
17 Weeks from inception of work
The assignment has an expected duration of 17 weeks as per the above schedule. The consultant is expected to work on the capital investment and marketing plans with USAID MSP during the period of performance referred to above. The total LOEs for performing duties, responsibilities and deliverables under sections C and D for this activity has a ceiling of 60 days. The ceiling is set as a guideline and any changes per assessed project are subject to agreement with the USAID MSP.
QUALIFICATIONS
Education: A bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, or another relevant field, master’s degree and/or professional certifications is preferred.
At least 12 years of experience in capital investment planning, financial analysis, and marketing strategy development in the form of part-time jobs, or full-time positions.
Familiarity with national and sector-level strategic planning and capital investment planning.
Experience in working with municipalities or local government organizations, as well as knowledge of the public sector financial management.
Experience in working with development finance actors, international organizations, and private sector entities or investors.
Knowledge of economic and social analysis methods and metrics for assessing development impact.
Previous experience in the governorates and municipal sector is preferred.
Ability to work collaboratively in a team and with a high degree of autonomy.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Strong analytical, conceptual, and writing skills, strong problem-solving skills.
Excellent written command of the English and Arabic languages both verbal and in writing.
