Request for Proposal RFP JTAP 044 Future Foresight and Strategic Planning Advisor

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

To: Offerors

From: Creative Associates International, Inc.

Subject Request for Proposal (RFP) No. RFP-JTAP-044 – Future Foresight and Strategic Planning Advisor

Type of Award: Consultancy Agreement -Fixed Term award

Basis of Award: Best Value

RFP Issue Date: 28/02/2024

RFP Closing Date: 13/03/2024

RFP Closing Time: 4:00 PM – Local Time, Amman, Jordan

Reference: USAID Contract No. 72027821C00005

Enclosed is a Request for Proposal (RFP). Creative invites Individuals to submit a proposal for the Jordan- Technical Assistance Program (TAP) under the referenced USAID 72027821C00005, After the evaluation, as described herein, resulting in selecting a winning proposal, the issuance of an award is subject to successful negotiation of the terms and conditions and receiving USAID’s Contracting Officer consent, if required.

The requirements for this activity are described in the “Statement of Work” in Attachment I. Creative encourages individual to indicate its interest in this procurement by submitting a proposal according to the instructions in Attachment II “Instructions to Offerors”. Proposals will be evaluated based on the “Evaluation Criteria” in Attachment III. Creative will make an award to the responsible Offeror(s) submitting an offer which provides best value to the project: technical merit and price will be both considered.

To be considered, Offerors should submit a complete proposal no later than the closing date and time indicated above. Offerors should ensure that the proposals are well-written in English, easy to read, follow the instructions provided and contain only requested information.

Any questions should be submitted via email to [اضغط هنا لمشاهدة البريد اﻹلكتروني] no later than Mar 04, 2024. No questions will be entertained if they are received by means other than the specified email address, and any communications to alternate e-mail addresses will result in the disqualification of the bidder. The solicitation number (listed above) should be stated in the subject line. Answers will be compiled and distributed on Mar 06, 2024.

Proposals must be comprised of one electronic copy of the Technical Proposal and one electronic copy of the Cost/Business proposal, sent in separate e-mails, and labeled with the above-stated RFP number and title. Submissions shall be delivered to:

Creative Operations Department

[اضغط هنا لمشاهدة البريد اﻹلكتروني]

Sincerely,

Creative Operations Department

Attachments:

Attachment I : Statement of Work

Attachment II : Instructions to Offerors

Attachment III : Evaluation Criteria

Attachment IV : Proposal Cover Letter

ATTACHMENT I: STATEMENT OF WORK

Future Foresight and Strategic Planning Advisor

  1. PROGRAM SUMMARY

The Technical Assistance Program (TAP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year education and youth project that seeks to transform the organizational culture and improve the abilities within the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth to ensure officials can implement desired reforms. Creative and its partners will provide technical assistance in the development, roll-out, and tracking of policies and procedures to incorporate international best practices for public education and youth programming. Among the many activities in the Jordan Technical Assistance Program, it will support curriculum development, promote inclusive learning techniques, improve the skills of teachers and school managers, and other tangible activities that ultimately support changing the organizational culture within the two ministries and relevant agencies. The program will further support Jordan’s outreach and behavioral change communications initiatives that are aimed at creating a culture of reading, the inclusion of vulnerable children, and increased youth engagement.

The Ministry of Youth is guided by the National Youth Strategy (2019-2025) which came in response to major transformations politically, socially, economically, and culturally, which have had a great impact on the Jordanian youth. The strategy set a vision for the Ministry where it aspires to develop “Globally thinking Jordanian youth with a firm identity and sense of loyalty” and a mission to promote youth work and the development of young people skills enabling them to innovate, create, produce, and participate in political life and public affairs. To achieve this mission and vision, the Ministry of Youth seeks to develop annual plans at the directorate level including goals, activities and targets that are aligned with the strategy. Moreover, the Ministry is also looking to develop annual plans to monitor its efforts and improve reporting processes.

  1. Consultancy service Summary:

TAP is seeking applicants for a 7-months Future Foresight and Strategic Planning Advisor with an estimation of 80 days LOE.

TAP anticipates sourcing Future Foresight and Strategic Planning Advisor who will support TAP’s efforts to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Youth in reviewing the updated current strategic plan (2021-2024), conducting future foresight analysis, developing a new strategic plan for the ministry (2025-2028), developing of an execution plan (2025-2028), and building the capacity of the leaders and relevant staff in strategic planning and future foresight.

  1. Duties and Responsibilities:
  2. Conduct desk review: Review the National Youth Strategy (2019-2025), the MoY’s strategic Plan (2021-2024) documents and national documents such the Economic Modernization Vision, the public sector modernization roadmap, the Government Indicative Executive Program, and the Royal Commission to Modernize the Political System, the recently enacted Administrative Organization Bylaw, and any other related documents, to assess the National Youth Strategy's alignment with the government's broader strategies, and to reflect all on the future planning of MoY.
  3. Analyze the present strategy's results and identify any shortcomings or deficiencies in comparison to the strategy's achievement indicators (lessons learnt).
  4. Benchmarking with other relevant countries MoY's future foresight plans such as UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, KSA, and any other international experiences.
  5. Engaging with the ministry stakeholders such as ministry officials and staff, youth representatives, and external partners to ensure that the strategic plan reflects a comprehensive understanding of the needs, aspirations, and expectations of all relevant parties.
  6. Defining the scope and area of future foreseeing foresight and the needed time frame, besides identifying the affected parties that might be involved.
  7. Environmental Scanning: Analyzing the current global trends and drivers of change in the youth sector to identify potential future challenges/threats and opportunities using quantitative and qualitative methods and identify the impact (influence) and level of ambiguity of trends to identify priorities.
  8. Scenario planning: identify ranges of potential outcomes and impacts to identify potential alternative future scenarios for youth and youth-related organizations (possible, preferred, and probable), and evaluate responses and manage for both positive and negative possibilities. Then determine the preferred future after evaluating different scenarios.
  9. Strategic Plan Development: Assisting the ministry in developing a comprehensive strategic plan (based on the preferred future) that includes the vision, mission, and goals, strategic objectives, strategic initiatives/programs/projects, cost estimates, key performance measures (KPIs), and targeted values for KPIs.
  10. Execution plan: Assisting the ministry in developing a four-year executive plan.
  11. Facilitating Workshops: assisting the ministry in planning and facilitating internal and external workshops for the relevant employees and key stakeholders involved in the strategic planning process.
  12. Finalize the Strategic plan of MoY based on all the above and prepare the final draft of the strategic plan and execution plan.
  13. Training and Capacity building: Providing training to the leaders and related employees on future foresight and strategic planning concepts and tools to build their capacity. Training should coincide with the strategy preparation workshops.
  14. Required Qualifications:
  • Minimum bachelor’s degree of Industrial Engineering, Business or Public Administration, strategic planning, or related field. A higher degree is preferable.
  • At least 10 years of experience in Strategic Planning and policy analysis: Prior experience in developing strategic plans, especially for government entities or similar organizations, is crucial. Experience in working on multi-year plans that involve policy development and implementation is highly valuable. preferably has regional /international experience.
  • Minimum 5 years of demonstrated experience in future foresight. Professional certificates in these areas are highly favorable.
  • Hands-on experience in preparing well-written documents such as strategic plans, future foresight analysis and executive plans.
  • Experience in conducting capacity building, training, and coaching is highly desirable.
  • Work experience with international organizations is highly favorable. Practical knowledge and experience with government ministries and departments are highly favorable.
  • Experience of working with the MoY, is highly desirable.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are required to engage diverse stakeholders, facilitate workshops, conduct interviews, and lead discussions effectively.
  • Proficiency with relevant computer software programs, especially MS Office.
  • Proficiency in both Arabic and English languages.
  1. ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE and LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE)
  • ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 7 Months.

* Creative anticipates issuing a Consultancy Agreement (CA) valid for a Period of Performance for approximately 7 Month.

  • LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE): 80 Days
  1. Ordering Procedure

Purchases may only be made by Creative via written Fixed Price Level of Effort (LOE) Consultant Agreement.

Daily rates are based on an 8-hour working day. Any hours worked in excess of 8 hours will not be paid. Working days consisting of less than 8 hours shall be prorated accordingly.

  1. Key Working Relationships:

• This consultant will administratively report to the Operations and Security Manager and technically report to the Institutional Development and Automation Lead in TAP.

• This consultant will coordinate with the manager of the Monitoring of Achievements and Institutional Performance Department at MoY and the Institutional Development Specialist.

  1. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Amman – Jordan
  2. RESULTS AND/OR DELIVERABLE/MILESTONE SCHEDULE

The performance benchmark will be based on the following task:

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #1 Road map for the proposed mission including detailed activities, responsibilities, timeframe, milestones, deliverables, risks, assumptions, etc.

& Kick-off meeting and PowerPoint presentation for TAP and MoY

Estimated LOE (Days) #1: 5 days.

Estimated Timeline #1: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #2 Report including analysis of desk review and benchmarking activities.

Estimated LOE (Days) #2: 8 days.

Estimated Timeline #2: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #3: Methodology for future foresight

Estimated LOE (Days) #3: 3 days.

Estimated Timeline #3: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #4: One capacity building workshop for MoY managers on future foresight

& Report on the results of the workshop.

Estimated LOE (Days) #4: 5 days.

Estimated Timeline #4: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #5: Workshop for related stakeholders to conduct future foresight analysis

Estimated LOE (Days) #5: 5 days.

Estimated Timeline #5: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #6: Future foresight analysis report is prepared.

& Presentation for the main outcomes of the report to MOY and TAP

Estimated LOE (Days) #6: 10 days.

Estimated Timeline #6: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #7: Two Internal workshops for the relevant employees and managers to be conducted for the purpose of capacity building and building the new strategic Plan for the ministry (2025-2028).

& Report on the results of the two workshops

Estimated LOE (Days) #7: 15 days.

Estimated Timeline #7: TBD.

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #8: One external workshop for the stakeholders is conducted.

& Report on the results of the workshop

Estimated LOE (Days) #8: 5 days.

Estimated Timeline #8: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #9: First draft of the strategic plan (2025-2028) is developed in collaboration with MOY.

Estimated LOE (Days) #9: 8 days.

Estimated Timeline #9: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #10: Second draft of the new strategic plan is ready.

Estimated LOE (Days) #10: 4 days.

Estimated Timeline #10: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #11: Final draft of the new strategic plan is ready

Estimated LOE (Days) #11: 2 days.

Estimated Timeline #11: TBD

Performance Benchmarks /Deliverables #12: Execution plan for the new strategic plan is developed including conducting workshop for the MOY organizational units.

Estimated LOE (Days) #12: 10 days.

Estimated Timeline #12: TBD

TOTAL LOE (Days): 80 days.

The above LOE/Working days are tentative and subject to decrease depending on program needs.

How to apply

Attachment II

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS

  1. General Instructions

These Instructions to Offerors will not form part of the offer or of the Agreement. They are intended solely to aid Offerors in the preparation of their proposals. Read and follow these instructions carefully.

  1. The proposal and all corresponding documents related to the proposal must be written in the English language, unless otherwise explicitly allowed. Additionally, all proposals should be single-spaced with clear section headings, and be presented in the order specified in Attachment III – Evaluation Criteria.
  2. Proposals must include only the Offeror’s own work. No text should be copied from sources outside of your organization, unless those sources are adequately cited and credited. If Creative determines that any part of the proposal is plagiarized from outside sources, the Offeror will be automatically disqualified.
  3. Proposals and all cost and price figures must be presented in local currency or USD. All prices should be gross of tax.
  4. The Offeror must state in their Proposal the validity period of their offer. The minimum offer acceptance period for this RFP is 90 days after the closing date of the RFP. If an Offeror has provided a validity period of less than 90 days, they will be asked to revise this. If the Offeror does not extend the validity period, their proposal will be rejected. Creative reserves the right not to make an award.
  5. The Technical Proposal and Cost Proposal must be kept separate from each other. Technical Proposals must not make reference to cost or pricing information at any point. This will enable in order the technical evaluation to be made strictly on the basis of technical merit.
  6. No costs incurred by the Offerors in preparing and submitting the proposal are reimbursable by Creative. All such costs will be at the Offeror’s expense.
  7. Responsibility Determination: Award shall only be made to “responsive” vendors. To enable Creative to make this determination, the Offeror must provide a cover letter, as provided in Attachment IV.
  8. Late Offers: Offerors are wholly responsible for ensuring that their Offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. A late Offer will be recommended for rejection, even if it was late as a result of circumstances beyond the Offeror’s control. Late offers will only be considered at Creative’s Procurement Department’s discretion.
  9. Modification/Withdrawal of Offers: Offerors have the right to withdraw, modify or correct their offer after it has been delivered to Creative at the address stated above, and provided that the request is made before the RFP closing date.
  10. Disposition of Proposals: Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will not be returned. Reasonable effort will be made to ensure confidentiality of proposals received from all Offerors. This RFP does not seek information of a highly proprietary nature, but if such information is included in the Offeror’s proposal, the Offeror must alert Creative and must annotate the material by marking it “Confidential and Proprietary” so that these sections can be treated appropriately.
  11. Clarifications and Amendments to the RFP: Any questions regarding this solicitation must be emailed to [اضغط هنا لمشاهدة البريد اﻹلكتروني]. No questions/clarifications will be entertained if they are received by another means. The solicitation number should be stated in the subject. Responses will be complied and emailed to the requesting potential Offeror and will be sent to all offerors that requested this RFP or re-posted publicly if offered as a full and open competition.
  12. Creative anticipates that discussions with Offerors will be conducted; however, Creative reserves the right to make an award without discussions. It is strongly recommended that Offerors present their best offer.

Failure to agree and comply with any of the above specifications will result in the Offeror being considered unresponsive and the proposal may be rejected.

  1. Submission of Proposal:

Proposals must be submitted in two separate e-mails:

  • E-mail 1 – Technical Proposal
  • E-mail 2 – Cost proposal
  • Each e-mail should be clearly labeled with the RFP number and project title.
  • Proposals must be delivered no later than the specified date/time.

Offerors who do not submit their technical and cost proposals separately may be automatically disqualified.

  1. Content of Proposal:

The proposal shall be comprised of Three sections:

  1. The Cover Letter (Attachment IV)

  2. The Technical Proposal

  3. The Cost/Business Proposal

  4. The Cover Letter: should be on the Offeror’s letterhead and MUST contain the information requested in Attachment IV.

  5. Technical Proposal:

    1. The Technical Proposal is the opportunity for the Offeror to demonstrate that the Individual is “technically capable” of implementing the activity and should demonstrate the Offeror’s understanding of and capabilities to carry out the work, and address the key issues described in the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III.
    2. The Technical Proposal should be divided into clearly separate sections following the same order of the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III. A mis-ordered proposal that makes information hard to find will result in lower scores.
    3. If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.
  6. The Cost Proposal: must be submitted separately from the technical proposal and will primarily indicate the cost for performing the work, Daily rate subject to 5% income tax deduction.

Failure to comply with any of the above points will result in the Offeror being considered “unresponsive” and the proposal may be rejected.

If an Offeror provides insufficient information in their technical and/or cost proposal, Creative reserves the right to request additional information, or to request a revised proposal from the Offeror, if necessary.

Creative reserves the right to make no award, or multiple awards, under this RFP.

Attachment III

EVALUATION CRITERIA

  1. BASIS OF AWARD:

  2. A Creative will evaluate proposals on a best value basis, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.1 – Source Selection Processes and Techniques. In all solicitations, Creative will consider and conduct an evaluation on the basis of both technical and cost submissions. The relative importance of these two factors places technically above cost. In rare cases, Creative may also award to an offeror other than the highest technically rated Offeror or the lowest price Offeror, in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.

  3. The award will be made to the Offeror whose offer presents the Best Value which is the optimal combination of technical merits and reasonable cost and does not exceed the internal budget established for this effort. Proposals will be scored on technical factors first. Only the Cost/Business proposals of those offers that surpass the minimum qualifying score of 70 points in the technical evaluation will have their Cost Proposal reviewed. Those that do not reach this qualifying score in the Technical Evaluation will be considered non-competitive and their Cost/Business proposals will not be considered.

  4. EVALUATION CRITERIA

  5. Technical Competence – presented in the Technical Proposal.

The award will be given to the person who achieves the highest score within the following competitive criteria.

  1. Qualifications and Experience: 30 points
  2. Past Performance/Reference check: 30 points
  3. Technical Proposal: 10 Points
  4. Technical Interview/Presentation: 30 points

The offerors shall achieve a minimum of 50 out of 70 Points in the Qualification, Past Performance and Technical Proposal in order to be eligible for technical interview.

As described in table below: The evaluation will be done according to the criteria shown in the table:

Item#1: Qualifications and Experience

Requirement#1: The applicant must attach any evidence of experience and success stories to support his/her file with the CV.

  • Minimum bachelor’s degree of Industrial Engineering, Business or Public Administration, strategic planning, or related field. A higher degree is preferable.
  • At least 10 years of experience in Strategic Planning and policy analysis: Prior experience in developing strategic plans, especially for government entities or similar organizations, is crucial. Experience in working on multi-year plans that involve policy development and implementation is highly valuable. preferably has regional /international experience.
  • Minimum 5 years of demonstrated experience in future foresight. Professional certificates in these areas are highly favorable.
  • Hands-on experience in preparing well-written documents such as strategic plans, future foresight analysis and executive plans.
  • Experience in conducting capacity building, training, and coaching is highly desirable.
  • Work experience with international organizations is highly favorable. Practical knowledge and experience with government ministries and departments are highly favorable.
  • Experience of working with the MoY is highly desirable.

Points Available#1: 30 points

Item#2: Past Performance/ Reference Check

Requirement#2: Document and summarize your proven track record of successfully implementing similar activities clearing using the above technical qualification to include a description of similar services provided in the past and any lessons learned that will be incorporated into the activity described in this RFP. Offerors with past performance using the mentioned above technical qualification, in the same geographic area and/or of similar scale to the activity described in this RFP will be scored more favorably than offerors that do not meet these criteria.

Points Available#2: 30 points

Item#3: Technical Proposal

Requirement#3: The applicant must prepare a technical proposal that covers -but not limited to:

  1. Understanding the scope of work.
  2. Methodology: Explanation of the approach addressing the Technical required output.
  3. Action plan: should include milestones, deliverables, outputs, and timeframe.

The assessment will be on the technical writing skills as scored hereunder:

  • 0 points: Poor writing skills.
  • 5 points: Adequate writing skills.
  • 10 points: Excellent writing skills.

Considering that it should not exceed 2-3 A4 pages.

Points Available#3: 10 points

Item#4: Technical Interview

Requirement#4: The qualified applicant will go through a technical interview, where the incumbent should prepare a Power Point presentation covering mainly the following:

  1. Understanding the scope of work.
  2. Methodology: Explanation of the approach addressing the Technical required output.
  3. Action plan: should include milestones, deliverables, outputs, and timeframe.

Experience: Description of the applicant’s qualifications and similar previous experience.

Points Available#4: 30 points

Total points: 100 points

If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested

in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.

  1. Past Performance and Experience (at least 3)
  2. (a) Activity Title
  3. (b) Location(s) of activity
  4. (c) Synopsis of the activity and its relevance to this RFP
  5. (d) Performance period (date, duration and if completed on schedule)
  6. (e) Prime or Subcontractor?
  7. (f) Amount for the activity
  8. (g) Name & Contact Info (E-mail and phone) of client

Cost Reasonableness & Financial Capability – presented in Cost Proposal. Not Scored.

Submit fully burdened rates for each category, including illustrative consultant rates Creative’s review of the Cost Proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror’s Technical Proposal. Creative will also review individual line items and determine if they are allowable, allocable, and reasonable.

If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.

Creative reserves the right to request additional supporting documentation or a revised proposal from an Offeror if insufficient information has been provided in the Offeror’s technical and/or cost proposal. If the requested information is not provided, Creative has the right to disqualify the firm from further consideration.

ATTACHMENT IV

FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL COVER LETTER

City, Country

To: Creative Procurement Team

Dear Sir / Madam:

We, the undersigned, offer to undertake the [Insert RFP No], [Insert project title], in accordance with your Request for Proposal dated [Insert MM/DD/YYYY] and our Technical and Cost/Business Proposal submitted herein.

Offeror personal details are as follows:

  1. Offeror’s Name
  2. Offeror’s Address
  3. Telephone #/Cellular Phone #, Email address:
  4. Copy of the offeror ID

Our proposal shall be binding upon us, subject to any modifications resulting from negotiation, up to expiration of the validity period of the proposal. We understand you are not bound to accept this or any Proposal you receive.

The Offeror also certify that:

  1. is able to comply with the described delivery or performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing commitments and constraints.
  2. has a satisfactory performance record.
  3. has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics.
  4. has the necessary technical capacity, as per Attachment III.
  5. otherwise, qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

Sincerely,

Authorized Signature:

Name and Title of Signatory:

Date:

تاريخ النشر: ٢٨ فبراير ٢٠٢٤
الناشر: Akhtaboot
تاريخ النشر: ٢٨ فبراير ٢٠٢٤
الناشر: Akhtaboot