Employment Pathways and Job Matching Experts

Terms of Reference

Employment Pathways and Job Matching Experts

NEF invites qualified individuals to apply for the consultancy assignment described below through BambooHR.

Project: ProDIGI

Contract type: Independent consultancy service agreement

Location: Baghdad for the Baghdad and Anbar assignments; Basrah for the Basrah assignment

Number of contracts: Three individual service contracts, one covering each of Baghdad, Anbar and Basrah

Planned start date: 22 November 2026

End date: 30 June 2027

Delivery basis: Defined services and accepted deliverables

Application deadline: 2 weeks from publication

Coordination and acceptance: NEF

Application platform: BambooHR

About NEF

Near East Foundation (NEF) is an international nonprofit organization supporting economic development and community resilience. In Iraq, NEF works with communities, civil society and private-sector partners to strengthen livelihoods, enterprise development, access to finance and employment opportunities, including for women and other underserved groups.

Background Information

ProDIGI supports workplace readiness, digital and green skills, career planning and improved employment opportunities in Baghdad, Anbar and Basrah. Activities combine participant outreach and profiling, blended training, individual coaching, employer engagement, job matching and follow-up. The project also supports training for Career Development Centre staff in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and monitoring of the existing Revolving Credit Fund in Anbar. The assignments support project implementation and closure through 30 June 2027.

Purpose

Profile 300 people and select 200 participants for training in the assigned governorate. Select Master Trainers, coordinate training delivery and provide career planning, individual coaching, employer engagement and job-matching services. Support participants seeking work and those seeking improved working conditions, retention, income stability or career progression.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Labour market mapping and employer engagement

• Map employers, businesses, professional networks and employment opportunities in the assigned governorate, including digital and green economy sectors.
• Engage 15 distinct employers or private-sector actors in the assigned governorate. This allocation totals 45 distinct actors across the three expert assignments. Each actor must participate in at least one structured activity, such as a consultation, vacancy sharing, interview day, matching, workplace feedback, recruitment follow-up or skills validation. Keep a dated record of the actor, activity, findings and follow-up; maintain an employer/opportunity database. Agree one reporting owner for actors engaged by multiple experts to avoid duplicate counting.
• Prepare a training-needs summary before Master Trainer selection and training design, drawing on employer consultations and participant profiles. Identify barriers affecting women and other underserved participants and recommend practical responses.

Master Trainer selection and training coordination

• Select suitable Master Trainers using NEF’s requirements and selection procedures. Review qualifications and relevant experience, assess suitability for the planned training, and submit the assessment records and selected trainers’ details to NEF for contracting.
• Agree training content, session plans and delivery schedules with the Master Trainers. Check that the content addresses identified needs, workplace readiness, digital and green skills, and practical employment pathways.
• Agree technical delivery interfaces and dates with field coordinators and Master Trainers. Master Trainers deliver training; the expert does not supervise their employment, attendance or day-to-day work.
• Review the readiness evidence supplied for each cohort and record technical or accessibility gaps requiring action before delivery. Field and logistics providers remain responsible for their own contracted arrangements.
• Assess the overall technical quality of each cohort against the agreed session plans, trainer performance, participant engagement and practical learning. Document findings and recommended corrections; this does not create line-management authority over trainers or field personnel.
• Prepare a report after each cohort using a template agreed with NEF during implementation. Cover delivery and attendance, participant assessment results and feedback, trainer performance, issues and corrective actions, and coaching or follow-up needs.
• Review enrolment, attendance, guided remote-learning records, and pre- and post-training assessments. Verify completion against at least four of five training days, including at least two in-person days, and both assessments. Submit complete records to NEF using the approved tools.

Outreach, profiling, selection and career planning

• Produce outreach targeting guidance and review coverage against the 300-person profiling target. Recommend corrective targeting actions. Field coordinators conduct local outreach and arrange appointments; the expert profiles and selects participants.
• Complete participant profiling for 300 people reached in the assigned governorate, using NEF-approved forms to assess their skills, employment circumstances, interests, availability, barriers and support needs. Field coordinators support outreach, registration and appointments.
• Select 200 participants for training in the assigned governorate using NEF-approved project criteria. Document the assessment and selection reasons, confirm participation and prepare the enrolment lists for the two training cohorts.
• Submit the completed profiling and selection records to NEF. Across the three assignments, these responsibilities cover 900 people reached and 600 selected for training. Each expert then selects 100 participants for intensive support using agreed needs-based criteria, giving 300 intensive-support participants overall.
• Develop one individual career or employment-improvement plan for each of the 100 intensive-support participants, with practical actions and milestones based on profiling and assessment.
• Identify participants’ additional support needs, arrange appropriate referrals and update their plans as they progress. Maintain access to general vacancy information and collective employer-linkage activities for participants outside the intensive coaching group.

Individual coaching and follow-up

• Personally deliver coaching to 100 intensive-support participants in the assigned governorate. Each receives two core sessions of approximately 60 minutes and one action-plan follow-up of approximately 30–45 minutes: 200 core sessions and 100 follow-up sessions per expert.
• Provide practical support with job searches, CVs, applications, interviews and professional communication. For employed participants, address retention, working conditions, income stability and career progression according to their needs.
• Agree session schedules with field coordinators, who contact participants, coordinate appointments and follow up missed sessions. Keep a record of each session, including its date, duration, topics, agreed actions and progress.

Job matching and recruitment events

• Match participants with suitable vacancies based on their skills, preferences and employer requirements. Obtain consent before sharing participant profiles, arrange referrals and interviews, and record employer feedback.
• Organize employer participation and participant referrals for the employer-linkage events in the assigned governorate. Coordinate with field and administrative support providers on delivery arrangements and follow up the opportunities generated.
• Flag unsuitable or unsafe opportunities to NEF. Do not charge participants recruitment or placement fees.

Placement follow-up and reporting

• Follow up directly with participants and, with their consent, employers after referrals, placements or workplace improvements. Record approximately one-month and three-month follow-up where these fall within the assignment, and hand over any later follow-up due.
• Work with field coordinators and NEF to document employment outcomes and retention using approved tools. Keep participant records complete and avoid double counting. Report unsuccessful referrals, unchanged outcomes and barriers accurately.
• Submit a concise output summary with each monthly invoice, linking the completed deliverables and supporting records. Report urgent concerns promptly.

For Key Deliverables, Coordination and Reporting, Professional Standards, and Qualifications and Requirements, click here.

Payment and Acceptance

Month

Deliverable bundle required for payment

Fee per expert in IQD

22–30 November 2026

One accepted workplan and outreach targeting brief, approved profiling/selection tools, employer-mapping framework, and dated deliverable and review schedule.

750,000–990,000

December 2026

150 completed participant profiles; mapping and documented consultations with five distinct employers/private-sector actors; first training-needs summary; Master Trainer shortlist assessment tools.

2,500,000–3,300,000

January 2027

150 further profiles, bringing the total to 300; documented selection of 200 trainees with unique records, reasons and consent; final training-needs summary; complete Master Trainer assessments and selection recommendations.

2,500,000–3,300,000

February 2027

Agreed session plans and technical readiness review for both cohorts, enrolment lists for 200 trainees, and documented structured engagement with five additional employers/private-sector actors (10 cumulative). Submit an updated opportunity database and referral/recruitment-event plan.

2,500,000–3,300,000

March 2027

First cohort quality report and reconciled learning/attendance records. Select the first 50 intensive-support participants, complete their 50 career plans and deliver their first 50 core coaching sessions.

2,500,000–3,300,000

April 2027

Second cohort quality report and reconciled learning/attendance records, completing coverage of 200 trainees. Select the remaining 50 intensive-support participants, complete their 50 career plans and deliver 50 first core sessions plus 25 second core sessions.

2,500,000–3,300,000

May 2027

Deliver the remaining 75 second core coaching sessions and 50 action-plan follow-ups. Document structured engagement with five additional employers/private-sector actors (15 cumulative), consented referrals/interviews and recruitment events due under the governorate calendar.

2,500,000–3,300,000

June 2027

Deliver the remaining 50 action-plan follow-ups. Complete assigned recruitment-event records and outcome follow-ups due. Submit the employer register showing 15 distinct actors, and one final report with indexed participant files and outstanding follow-ups.

2,500,000–3,300,000

Total per expert

300 profiles; 200 trainees; two cohort reports; 100 career plans; 200 core coaching sessions; 100 action-plan follow-ups; 15 distinct employers/private-sector actors; assigned recruitment events and final handover.

18,250,000–24,090,000

Invoice monthly after NEF’s written acceptance of the bundle, with payment processed in the last week of that ‎month. Agree submission and review cutoffs before commencement, allowing corrections before the payment ‎run. ‎

If an event, approval or supplier record is delayed, agree a revised delivery schedule in writing. A partly ‎completed bundle is not payable in full. Any separately payable partial output must have a written agreed value ‎deducted from the remaining bundle fee, with no double charge or increase in the total. Where no alternative ‎output or partial value is agreed, defer the affected payment until acceptance.‎

Evaluation Methodology

Applications will be evaluated using 70 points for technical expertise and 30 points for the financial offer, for a total of 100 points. Applicants must score at least 49 out of 70 in the overall technical assessment to proceed to financial scoring. There are no separate criterion-level pass marks.

Technical assessment

• Relevant experience: 10 points
• Career assessment and coaching: 15 points
• Employers and local labour-market knowledge: 10 points
• Job matching and referrals: 10 points
• Records and outcome follow-up: 8 points
• Inclusion and sector experience: 7 points
• Digital tools and languages: 8 points
• Qualifications and relevant training: 2 points

Financial assessment

Applicants must quote a monthly deliverable-bundle fee within IQD 2,500,000–3,300,000 and a separate positive daily rate, both inclusive of Iraqi income tax. Show the proposed nine-day November fee and total fee for the assignment. The monthly fee is used for comparable scoring; accepted deliverable bundles determine payment. The daily rate applies only to expressly agreed scope adjustments. Identify additional costs separately.

Financial score = (lowest valid comparable monthly fee among technically qualified applicants in the relevant selection pool ÷ applicant’s valid comparable monthly fee) × 30, rounded to two decimal places. The combined score is the technical score plus the financial score.

Baghdad, Anbar and Basrah are separate coverage pools, with one selection per pool. The Baghdad and Anbar assignments are based in Baghdad; the Basrah assignment is based in Basrah.

How to Apply

Submit all application documents through the relevant NEF vacancy on BambooHR by the closing date and time shown there. Follow the vacancy’s upload instructions.

• Curriculum vitae: An updated CV showing dated assignments and evidence relevant to the qualifications above.
• Brief cover letter: Explain relevant experience, confirm availability for the anticipated start and agreed activities, and state the preferred coverage assignment (Baghdad, Anbar or Basrah) and duty station (Baghdad or Basrah).
• Financial offer: Submit the monthly fee, positive daily rate, total assignment fee and deliverable-based fee breakdown, all in IQD and inclusive of Iraqi income tax, as described above. Identify additional costs separately.

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.