10046558-Short-Term Expert Pool for regional integration, employment, and digital transformation in the EU Southern Neighbourhood

To deliver technical assistance flexibly and on demand across these thematic tracks, UfM Hub II requires a Short-Term Expert Pool (STEP): a pool of qualified experts that can be rapidly mobilised to provide technical advisory services, analytical work, facilitation and capacity development in response to emerging needs, without the lead time of individual ad hoc procurements. The contractor will establish and operate this pool, ensuring the timely identification, mobilisation and quality assurance of experts assigned to specific requests from GIZ, covering regional cooperation on trade, investment and employment; digital and telecommunications regulation; digital skills; and cybersecurity. The contractor shall establish and operate a STEP capable of rapidly assessing and responding to technical support requests from GIZ; identifying, mobilising and managing qualified short-term experts; delivering high-quality, results-oriented technical assistance, analytical work and capacity development; and ensuring quality assurance, knowledge management and reporting in accordance with GIZ standards. Individual assignments will be commissioned by GIZ on a rolling basis according to programme priorities and emerging needs, and may take place remotely or on-site, primarily in the countries of the EU Southern Neighbourhood, EU Member States and other locations relevant to programme implementation. Work is organised into four interrelated Work Packages: Work Package 1 - Regional cooperation on Trade, Investment and Employment: technical expertise on regional economic integration, employment and private sector development, including trade facilitation, investment climate reforms, competition policy, sustainable value chains, SME competitiveness, employment promotion, and Union for the Mediterranean processes and initiatives. Work Package 2 - Digital and Telecommunications Regulation: technical expertise on telecommunications and electronic communications regulation, digital governance, data governance and Digital Public Infrastructure, AI governance, and regional regulatory cooperation, in particular through the Euro-Mediterranean Regulators Group (EMERG), delivered across three thematic clusters - Economic/Market Regulation; Technical/Spectrum & Infrastructure Regulation; and Legal & Digital Regulatory Affairs - as short-term, on-demand surge capacity complementing the programme's dedicated Regulatory Consultancy contract. Work Package 3 - Digital Skills: support to national digital skills strategies, demand assessments, competence and qualification frameworks, skills recognition and comparability, and regional cooperation and peer learning on digital skills for MSMEs and business support organisations. Work Package 4 - Cyber Security: support to national cybersecurity strategies and regulation, alignment with international standards (e.g. NIS-2, NIST, ISO), technical and organisational development of incident response organisations (CSIRTs/CERTs), capacity development, information sharing and cyber diplomacy. Across all Work Packages, indicative services include: technical advisory services to governments, regulatory authorities and regional organisations; regulatory, institutional and policy assessments and analytical studies; development of policy recommendations, strategies and action plans; capacity development through coaching, training and training-of-trainers formats; design and facilitation of workshops, expert meetings and regional exchange formats; organisational development and institutional strengthening of partner organisations and regional networks; stakeholder engagement and multi-stakeholder dialogue; and development of technical guidance, methodologies, toolkits and knowledge products. The contractor's team comprises a Team Leader / Pool Manager (key expert) with overall responsibility for the advisory package and day-to-day coordination with GIZ; a Senior Short-Term Expert Pool of 8 up to 10 experts covering international trade and investment, telecommunications and digital regulation, digital skills, institutional development, regional policy dialogue and cybersecurity, who lead complex technical advisory assignments; and a Junior Short-Term Expert Pool of 8 experts providing analytical and delivery support across the same thematic areas. The contractor is responsible for the selection, preparation and steering of all experts, and for proposing at least two suitable candidates per assignment request within three working days. The contractor plays an active role in results-based monitoring, reporting regularly on experts mobilised, results achieved, and each assignment's contribution to the programme's objectives and indicators, and ensures backstopping in line with GIZ's General Terms and Conditions of Contract.