TOR FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE DESIGN, DELIVERY AND INSTITUTIONALISATION OF A LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR MID & SENIOR MANAGERS

Background

SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia (SOSCVE) is a non-governmental, non-political, non-denominational charitable child welfare organization. For the past more than 50 years, we have been working to build families for children in need, help them shape their future, and share in the development of their communities.

Everything we do is based on the best interest of the child. We help vulnerable families care for their children, and we work to prevent the breakdown of parental care. When children lose parental care (the care of families of origin), we provide quality alternative care in different care settings according to the children’s best interests. We support young people in their efforts to become independent adults and succeed in life.

We collaborate with donors, communities, governments, and other organizations to reach the children who need support when emergencies strike; we focus on providing humanitarian assistance, care, and protection for children and families in coordination with the government and other relief agencies. We continuously measure the impact of our program.

For more than five decades, SOS CVE has been designing various interventions to support vulnerable children and youth in Ethiopia. With its midterm plan and strategy for 2030, the organization is striving to reach many more Children and Youth with its programs.

Rationale for the assignment 
As part of its refreshed strategy, SOS CVE is investing in strengthening organisational effectiveness by aligning talent with its strategic priorities. A key pillar of this agenda is leadership development—building a strong internal leadership pipeline, accelerating localisation, and enhancing the managerial and strategic capabilities of leaders across program and functional areas. While leadership development initiatives have been implemented over the years, these efforts have largely been ad-hoc and fragmented. The organization therefore seeks to establish a structured, scalable, and institutionalised leadership development program that can be sustainably owned and delivered internally.

Accordingly, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia invites sealed technical and financial proposals from qualified and legally registered consultancy firms, higher learning institutions, or consortiums—whether based in Ethiopia or internationally—with demonstrated expertise in leadership development, organisational development, and capacity building to design, deliver, and institutionalise a Leadership Development Program for Mid- and Senior-Level Managers.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

To institutionalise a structured leadership development framework that strengthens leadership capability across mid-level and senior management, and to leave SOS CVE with the internal capability, materials and ownership required to continue delivering the programme without further external support.

Scope of services

The assignment covers the following activities:

 Leadership standard and pathway design

• Review the organisation’s strategy, competency architecture, People and culture policy  and internal leadership diagnostic finding
• Define a reasonable number of behaviourally specific leadership standards; indicatively four to six — with observable behavioural anchors at mid-level and senior level, rather than a comprehensive competency inventory
• Design a structured learning pathway for each leadership level, weighted towards development through experience and exposure and reinforced by formal learning
• Align the standards with the organisation’s succession planning and talent management processes

Curriculum and programme development

• Develop a competency-based, modular curriculum with facilitator guides, participant materials, case studies and digital learning content, contextualized to the Ethiopian and East African non-governmental sector
• Address leadership mindset and identity alongside technical and behavioural skills
• Design action learning projects capable of being applied to live organisational challenges nominated by the Senior Leadership Team

Cohort delivery

• Deliver four workshop modules to two cohorts (senior managers and mid-level managers, indicatively five participants each) over approximately six months, co-facilitated with SOS CVE internal leaders
• Provide structured coaching and mentoring support across the delivery period
• Support the organisation in tracking participation, learning and application

Assessment, evaluation and institutionalisation

• Design and administer a baseline multi-rater capability assessment before the first module, and a comparable endline assessment at the close of the programme
• Provide a monitoring and evaluation framework covering reaction, learning, behaviour and results
• Transfer full ownership of all curriculum and materials to SOS CVE in editable source
• Certify not at least two SOS CVE employees as competent to deliver the full programme independently.

The transfer of all materials in editable source form and the certification of at least two internal facilitators are contractual conditions of final payment and are not negotiable.

Deliverables

• Inception report and detailed work plan

• Leadership standard with behavioural anchors, and the leadership pathway per level

• Full programme curriculum, facilitator guides, participant materials and digital content

• Baseline assessment instrument, administration and cohort baseline report

• Delivery of four modules to two cohorts, with coaching and action learning support

• Certification of at least two SOS CVE internal facilitators

• Endline assessment, comparison report and monitoring and evaluation report

• Complete handover of all materials, source files and data to SOS CVE

Ethical standards and fraud prevention

SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia applies a zero-tolerance policy to fraud, corruption, coercion, collusion and sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. The organisation does not charge any fee at any stage of a procurement or recruitment process, does not operate through agents or intermediaries, and will never request a payment in connection with a tender.

• Bidders, their personnel and their subcontractors must not offer any inducement, gift or facilitation payment to any person connected with SOS CVE. Any such offer will result in disqualification and may be reported to the relevant authorities and to other organisations in the sector.
• SOS CVE is committed to fair and transparent competition and encourages proposals from firms led by or substantially employing women, and from Ethiopian and regional firms, consistent with its localisation commitments

Reservation of rights

SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia reserves the right to: accept or reject any proposal in whole or in part; annul the tender process at any stage without incurring liability; extend the deadline for submission; request clarification or additional documents from any bidder; conduct due diligence and reference checks; negotiate scope and price with the highest-scoring bidder; award the assignment in separate lots; and decline to award at all. No bidder acquires any right to the award by reason of submitting a proposal, and SOS CVE is not obliged to give reasons for its decision beyond those required by law or by its own policies.
Intellectual Property Rights

All reports, documents, training materials, manuals, presentations, datasets, software, designs, methodologies, and any other work products developed, produced, or generated by the consultant/service provider under this assignment shall become the sole and exclusive property of SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia upon completion of the assignment and full payment, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Safeguarding Commitment for consultants

At SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. It is a fundamental value that guides our actions, decisions, and relationships. We are firmly committed to protecting the children, young people, adults, and communities we serve, as well as our workforce, assets, and resources.

We foster a culture of trust, respect, accountability, and transparency, where every individual’s voice is valued and heard. All successful bidders, contractors, consultants, and service providers are required to adhere to our safeguarding standards and principles, including compliance with our Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, Sexual Misconduct Regulation and Anti-Corruption Regulation and any other form of unethical conduct.

Successful contractors are expected to integrate these standards into all aspects of their work and service delivery, ensuring the highest levels of safety, professionalism, ethical conduct, and integrity at all times.

Any violation of SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia’s safeguarding policies, Code of Conduct, or related regulations will be treated seriously and may result in disciplinary and contractual actions, including contract termination, disqualification from future procurement opportunities, reporting to relevant authorities, and any other legal or administrative measures deemed appropriate.

By working for SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia, contractors acknowledge and commit to upholding these safeguarding obligations and contributing to a safe, respectful, and protective environment for everyone.

Mandatory eligibility requirements 

This tender is open to consultancy firms, institutions, academic bodies and consortia. A bidder must satisfy all of the following requirements; a proposal which fails any of them will be declared non-responsive and will not be evaluated further.

• A minimum of Ten (10) years’ experience in leadership and management development.
• Proven experience in designing competency-based leadership frameworks, leadership pathways, and institutional learning programmes.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating leadership development initiatives for mid-level and senior managers.
• Experience working with international NGOs, development organizations, humanitarian organizations, or public sector institutions is highly desirable.
• Previous experience in Ethiopia or the East African region is considered a strong advantage.
• Professional certifications in leadership coaching, executive coaching, organizational development, facilitation, or related fields (desirable).
• Strong facilitation and coaching skills with experience delivering programmes for senior leadership teams.
• At least three (3) completed assignments of comparable scope and value within the last five (5) years, with contactable client references. Experience with non-governmental, humanitarian or development organisations, and experience in Africa, will be assessed favourably.