Terms of Reference (ToR)

 Consultancy to Develop Medair’s Financial Management Guidelines for Partnerships, and to Conduct Capacity Strengthening for Partners
 

Background
Medair is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) implementing projects in various sectors, including health, MHPSS, and cash-based interventions, through local partner organizations in Jordan. Since mid-2024, Medair has established new partnerships with local organizations and is in the process of setting procedures to strengthen its operations and build partner capacities. A key aspect of Medair’s partnerships is capacity strengthening, focusing on both programmatic and organizational system development. Currently, the primary focus is on financial capacity building to ensure partners can effectively manage financial aspects of projects.

Medair is looking for an individual, team, or organization/company to support us to achieve this objective. Hereafter, in this document, Medair we only refer to “consultant”. The consultant is expected to work closely with Medair to establish clear processes and guidelines for financial management for partners and with its partner organizations to build their financial management capacity.
 

Work Context:

The consultant will be based within the Partnerships Department, reporting to the Partnerships Manager, and will work directly with:
- Medair staff: Finance Manager, Partnership Finance Officer, Programmes Coordinator, sector leads, and other relevant team members.
- External stakeholders: All Medair partner organizations, up to 10 local partner organizations.

The consultant is expected to mostly work from Medair's office in Amman, with regular visits to partner offices in different governorates (including Amman, Mafraq, Irbid) to ensure hands-on support and mentorship.
 

Objective:

To develop comprehensive partners financial management toolkit (including but not limited to guidelines and easy reference checklists) for Medair and partners, enhance financial capacities of Medair’s partners (Capacity Building), and ensure consistent and compliant financial practices and ways of working across Medair and its partners.
 

Scope of Work:

Medair expects an iterative and collaborative approach to the completion of deliverables prior to the next phase. 

Phase 1: Desk Review and Assessment

1. Internal Desk Review: Conduct a comprehensive desk review of Medair’s existing resources, processes, donor regulations, checklists, and partnership management procedures. Based on this review, provide recommendations and guidelines for Medair’s financial management of partnerships.

2. Partner Assessment:

Analyze the outcomes of Medair partners’ capacity assessments to gain insights into their financial strengths and gaps. Conduct discussion meetings and surveys with relevant Medair staff to further understand the financial capacities and needs of the partners. Additionally, a review of partners’ existing financial policies is to be carried out along with meetings with the partners to discuss their financial capacity needs and feedback. The assessment should identify critical areas for capacity building and further evaluation across all partner organizations, including but not limited to; financial systems and policies, reporting and auditing practices, risk management, and finance staffing and structure.

Based on the findings, a comprehensive report along with tailored capacity building plans will be developed, outlining key observations and recommendations for each partner.

Deliverables:

1. Internal desk review report for Medair highlighting gaps and recommendations for Medair partnership financial management.
2. In consultation with Medair, a defined scope of the ‘toolkit’ to be agreed upon and developed in Phase (2).

3. Financial capacity assessment report for each partner outlining findings, needs, and gaps with recommendations.

4. With Medair and local partner agreement, tailored training and capacity strengthening plan for each partner, including training schedule.

Phase 2: Development of Partnership Financial Management Toolkit

Develop a clear, comprehensive Medair financial management toolkit for partners (for internal use by Medair staff).

Deliverables:

5. Comprehensive Medair toolkit for partner financial management processes, including guidelines, roles & responsibilities, ways of working, checklists and templates for use.

Phase 3: Training and Capacity Building

3. Training for Medair Staff: Conduct sessions for relevant staff (Finance Department, Partnerships Department, sector leads, etc.) on the new toolkit.

4. Training for Partners: Conduct sessions for all partners to introduce the new toolkit, training material, and processes, per training scope and schedules

5. Capacity Building: Provide tailored training for partners with low to medium financial management capacity to enhance their financial skills and practices based on the financial capacity assessment report and the tailored capacity building plan.

Deliverables:

6. Develop training materials for Medair and partners.

7. Training sessions for Medair staff with accompanying materials.

*Venue and bookings will be handled by Medair.

8. Partner training sessions for the partners with tailored material based on the identified capacity building needs.
*Venue and bookings will be handled by Medair.

Phase 4: Follow-up and Support

6. Conduct at least one follow-up visit to each partner to review progress against the implementation of the new toolkit.

7. Provide hands-on support to address challenges and ensure correct practices.

Deliverables:

9. Follow-up visits for all Medair partners

10. Follow-up visit reports, including observations, challenges, and recommendations for each partner.

Phase 5: Recommendations and Final Report

8. Develop a comprehensive report summarizing findings, observations, and recommendations, including:
- Medair’s internal needs for partner financial management improvement.
- Ongoing capacity-building needs for partners.

Deliverables:
11. In addition to the partner follow-up visit report in phase 4 deliverable, a final report for Medair that includes:
- Progress achieved
- Recommendations
- Next steps
* The final report template for this report will be shared by Medair.

Payment Arrangements
The payment arrangements for this consultancy will be based on the completion of phases and approval of deliverables by Medair, as outlined below. The proposed timeline is not to exceed 5 months but it can be shorter based on deliverables and their acceptance by Medair.  

9. Transportation fees: the consultant is responsible for their own transportation.
 

Consultancy Qualifications:

- Advanced degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in partner financial management working for INGOs or similar organizations.
- Proven expertise in developing financial guidelines, SOPs, and capacity-building initiatives.
- Experience working with partnerships and local organizations in humanitarian or development contexts.

 - Excellent facilitation, training, and mentorship skills.
- Knowledge of major donor rules and regulations. Knowledge and experience working with SDC, ECHO, GFFO, BPRM is preferred.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills to engage with diverse stakeholders.
 

Work Arrangements:

The consultant will report to the Partnerships Manager under the Partnerships Department.
The consultant will work closely with Medair staff (Finance Manager, Partnership Finance Officer, sector leads, etc.) and external partners.
Based primarily at Medair’s office in Amman, with regular travel to partner offices in governorates in Jordan.
 

Application Process:

Interested candidates or organizations should submit the following:
- CV highlighting relevant experience, or organizational profile
- Technical proposal outlining the approach and methodology to achieve the deliverables.
- The initial offer should be for the entire scope of work (with up to 10 partners on certain deliverables).
- Samples of relevant previous work or recommendation and reference letters.

Successful candidates will be shortlisted and invited for an interview. At that point, Medair will confirm the # of partners, clarify any questions, and receive a final offer.

To apply, please send the requested documents to the email: log-jor@medair.org by March 12th at the latest, with the email subject “Finance Consultancy – Partnership”. Any application missing documents or received after the deadline will not be considered.

Financial Proposal

The initial financial proposal should be based on an assumption of 10 partners. As Medair will make payments in phases, the initial offer should specify the following:

• Phase 1 & 2 – Indicate the percentage weight of the total offer amount
• Phase 3 – Indicate the percentage weight of the total offer amount
• Phase 4 & 5 - Indicate the percentage weight of the total offer amount

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview, during which Medair will confirm the actual number of partners. At that stage, a more detailed financial offer will be requested and reviewed.

Note: If the consultant is a Jordanian resident, the total price quoted in the offer shall be subject to a 5% withholding income tax in accordance with the applicable income tax laws in Jordan. Medair will deduct 5% from each payment and remit it directly to the Jordanian tax authorities in compliance with Jordanian tax regulations.