Background

In accordance with the statute of the association, Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina’s (IJAV)mission is to encourage, support and develop independent, objective, professional and responsible journalism, to promote the protection of journalists’ rights and interests and the values of civil society. IJAV was set up in Novi Sad on 17 January 1990 on the initiative of group of distinguished local journalists.

Together with other four Serbian mayor media organizations, IJAV is today strongly involved in improvement of the media legislative and media system in Serbia and in the networking and supporting of community media in Serbia, besides our permanent work in the field of rights and protection of journalists. IJAV is running the investigative web site VOICE (Voice.org.rs)which deals with corruption on the level of local communities and the daily internet news portal Autonomija (Autonomija.info), a news site containing different points of view and opinions of prominent Serbian journalists and intellectuals.

Today, 32 years after its foundation in 1990, IJAV has a total of 613 members (45% women), four permanent staff members (President, Project Manager, Technical coordinator and Financial Manager) and more than 30 associates. Its government structure consists of Managing Board (five members) and its President, an Executive Board headed by its President, and the Court of Honor (three members).

IJAV has been selected for organizational development support from PeaceNexus Foundation
(www.peacenexus.org). This ToR is based on recommendations from two-day workshop that was conducted in collaboration with PeaceNexus with seven IJAV staff to identify priority needs in organizational development of IJAV.

Nature and focus of the assignment

The scope and focus of the assignment is to strengthen the work of the IJAV by providing technical, strategic and facilitation support towards:

• The development of an organisational strategy (for the next 3 to 5 years) accompanied by an implementation plan.

All the deliverables need to be delivered in English.  The consultant(s) will work closely with the IJAV staff, which will supervise the consultant’s work, progress and deliverables, in cooperation with PeaceNexus.

Objectives of the assignment and role of the consultant(s)

Work strand 1: Strategy development

The strategy developed through this consultancy needs to:  be informed by an in-depth understanding of the specificities and risks associated with IJAV’s context; build on IJAV’s unique positioning in Serbia’s media landscape; provide IJAV with clear programmatic priorities and promising options to deliver on them.

To this end, the consultant is expected to:

• Undertake a context analysis that is tailored to IJAV’s positioning and needs,
• Facilitate strategy development workshops with IJAV’s team,
• Support the drafting of the new strategy (3-5 years) and implementation plan.

Work strand 2: Internal organisation review

Through the review of its internal-set up and management structures, IJAV seeks to make adaptations which will:

• Provide a solid basis for future growth,
• Facilitate decision-making,
• Enable IJAV to make the full use of internal capacities,
• Strengthen internal and external communication.

To this end, the consultant is expected to:

• Undertake a review of current internal systems and practices against IJAV’s needs and activities and identify possible gaps and capacity needs,
• Provide concrete and actionable organisational development recommendations in view of IJAV’s new strategy.

Deliverables:

• Inception report, providing a detailed workplan for both work strands including timelines and methods applied,
• Findings on the context analysis and stakeholder consultation, including strategic implications for IJAV,
• Report on the internal review, including organizational development recommendations on roles and responsibilities, internal communication and allocation/strengthening of capacities,
• Draft strategic document (3 to 5 years), and draft action plan for 2019-2020,
• Final strategic document and action plan (including recommendations of the consultant for the implementation).

Project duration and timeframe

The assignment is expected to include approximately 35 days of work, (20-25 days for strategy development and 10-15 days working days for internal organization). This assignment will need to include both face -to-face work (workshops, retreats, interviews) with IJAV staff and relevant stakeholders as well as remote support (feedback, monitoring).  The assignment is expected to be carried out over a period of 6-8 months, starting in March 2019.

Qualifications

Independent national and international consultants, consulting firms with proven track record of relevant experience of similar assignment/work (ideally in the context of Serbia) are invited to apply.

We are also open to teams of consultants combining the different required skills, and to individuals applying for partial assignments.  If that is your case, please indicate clearly what part of the work you are applying for, or if in case of a co-application of different consultants, how you are going to divide the work. 

Required qualifications

• Demonstrated track record of successfully facilitating participatory strategy development;
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating organizational change/building capacities of non-profit organizations;
• Excellent analytical and drafting skills;
• Strong facilitation and (oral and written) communication skills in English;
• In depth knowledge of the Western Balkans (and Serbian in particular) context;
• In depth knowledge of the field of media.

Assets

• Fluency in BCS will be considered a strong asset;
• Experience with human resources management.

Application process

If you are interested in supporting us as our strategy development /OD consultant and meet the

criteria, we encourage you to submit your application via email to ndnvns@gmail.comno later than February 8^th, 2019. Application needs to include:

1. CV;
2. Expression of interest indicating your understanding of IJAV´s mission and relevant skills for this assignment, including recent experience with strategy development and/or organisational development processes.
3. Please include your proposed methodology and related timeframe;
4. Financial proposal comprising detailed quotation for the assignment, showing working days and expected fee, availability as well as travel costs from place of residence and back; and,
5. Contact details of two references/previous clients who are able to comment on your ability to deliver on the strategy /organisational development.

Terms of Reference in PDF format.