Request for Proposals: Government Relations Consultant

Job description

VVOB Zambia invites suitably qualified consultants to submit a proposal for a part-time Government Relations Consultant assignment. The engagement is intended to support effective government engagement, institutional collaboration and alignment within Zambia’s education sector.

The procurement is a limited-value contract awarded through a negotiated procedure without prior publication, with a voluntary announcement intended to increase participation. The contract is not divided into lots.

Assignment Focus

• Strategic engagement with senior government stakeholders, particularly Director and Permanent Secretary level, within the Ministry of Education and/or Ministry of Finance.
• Technical knowledge of Zambia’s education sector, including foundational literacy and numeracy, early/primary education and remedial learning approaches.
• Advisory insight on Ministry institutional strengthening, inter-Directorate coordination and education policy implementation.
• Credible national and regional networks supporting public-sector partnership alignment and stakeholder engagement.
• Capacity development, including designing and facilitating professional development for institutional teams.

SELECTION, SUBMISSION & PROCUREMENT INFORMATION

Selection Criteria

• Applicants will be assessed against the qualitative selection requirements in the full tender document, including:
• Expertise and experience of the consultant/economic actor.
• Prior experience working with or alongside international NGOs or development organisations operating in Zambia’s education sector.
• Familiarity with current national education priorities, including the Catch Up Programme, Closing the Learning Gap and/or digital education initiatives.
• Experience advising on Ministry institutional strengthening, inter-Directorate coordination or education policy implementation.
• Regional networks and experience in education system strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Expression of interest (maximum two pages) covering relevant experience, proposed approach and understanding of the VVOB Zambia context.
• Up-to-date CV, proposed daily/monthly rate and contact details for three professional references.

TECHNICAL — 60/100

Quality, experience and proven success in similar assignments. Minimum provisional technical score: 42/60.

PRICE — 40/100

Proportional assessment; the cheapest tender receives 40 points. Applies only after technical evaluation.

What to Submit

• Administrative information and required declarations/evidence, including identity of the tenderer, tax and social security compliance, VVOB code-of-conduct compliance and authorised signatory information.
• Technical proposal describing the approach, services, rationale, work plan, timetable, proposed expert/consultant and execution deadline.
• Financial proposal using the required price list, with prices stated in EUR and applicable VAT information.
• Only one quotation may be submitted. Subcontracting, free variants and options are not permitted.
• Quotations are valid for 90 calendar days from the submission deadline.

Procurement Rules & Clarifications

The detailed procurement rules, administrative and contractual provisions, required tender forms, full terms of reference and supporting documents can be obtained from the VVOB Zambia Procurement team by email.

Submission:

Signed quotations must be emailed to procurement.zm@vvob.org, with jack.jarret@vvob.org in copy, by 24 August 2026 at 12:00 hours local time. Subject: “quotation ref VVOBZM 2026 08 01 Government Relations Consultant”

Important: This is a two-page summary of the full Call for Quotation. Applicants should obtain and review the complete procurement documentation from VVOB Procurement by sending an email to procurement.zm@vvob.org before submitting a proposal.